Dogs

Dogs

From Page A1

Many of the shelter’s adorable creatures will be at RAWL’s “Dog Day Afternoon,” the shelter’s primary fundraising event on Saturday, May 15 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. Anybody with a dog or without is invited; $5 for adults and children are free.

They have “laugh along dog classes,” terrier races, a canine good citizen test, and RAWL Roulette to mention only a few events.

Reinhardt Lynch, one of the proprietors of the Inn at Little Washington, will be the official of RAWL’s show-off ring with one or more of his famous dalmations. He’ll be leading things like the hot-dog hustle and the dog/owner look alike contest.

The fund-raising program is vital to keep RAWL running. Most of the dogs it gets are abandoned, some brought in by the county’s animal control officers, James Leake and Jack Sharp, others left like Simon or brought in by people who find them alone in the woods and fields.

As a result each animal needs a complete health workup which they get through an arrangement with Dr. Johnny Clark of the Blue Mountain Animal Clinic. The dogs are quarantined for a period and trained and retrained on the social skills of living with a family.

The dogs start out alone, then live with a cage mate, then get tried with other dogs and there is even a cat at the shelter to test the dog’s ability to live with cats. The cat has survived, Want said, but a few dogs have been scratched.

The real secret to RAWL is love and kindness. “These dogs get handled a lot,” Want said. “There is a lot of touching, playing and talking with the dogs.”

The dogs get out numerous times a day to run around. A lot of people don’t believe that dogs smile, but they do and a lot of these dogs were smiling the other day.

Nicholas M. Horrock may be reached at nhorrock@timespapers.com.