Two charities let Ennis dogs have their day

THEY say every dog has its day. Well in Ennis this weekend, hundreds of dogs will have their very own doggy day in aid of two local charities. Darren O’Connor of Doggy Daycare at the Ballymaley Business Park has organised a five-kilometre dog walk and family fun day for this Sunday. He is expecting nearly 500 pooches to get involved and help raise money for these worthy causes.
The sponsored walk will raise funds for Paw Pourri Rescue Centre and Clare Animal Welfare and Darren is encouraging dog lovers to come along and show their support. You don’t even have to own a dog to get involved, as a number of dogs currently looking for foster homes will also be there on the day for people to walk.
The event begins at 11am at Doggy Day Care and owners and their dogs will walk five kilometres from the Ballymaley Business Park to Ballyalla and back again. As well as the walk, there will be plenty of fun events taking place on the day including face painting, bouncy castle and barbecue. For the dogs, there will be lots of competitions, with a variety of categories including waggiest tail, droopiest tongue, best dressed dog and a 30-second bark-off.
“From what I know, this is the first dog walk of this scale that has been organised in Clare. We are trying to raise funds for these two very worthy charities, they have both been struggling and the work that they do is amazing. They get calls in the middle of the night to come and look after abandoned animals and they get straight into their cars and make sure everything is all right. All of this costs. The work they do is incredible and the need all of the support they can get.”
He said organisers are really looking forward to the event on Sunday. “It really should be a spectacle. We don’t know how many dogs will be there on the day but we would say maybe about 500 from the interest that has been shown so far. There is a registration fee of €5 and we are asking people to take a sponsorship card and maybe raise some money, every bit helps and it all counts but you don’t have to get sponsorship. And even if you don’t want to do the walk, you can always come along to the events and maybe make a donation to these great charities,” he said.
According to Darren, this walk is a great way for people who love their own dogs to help take care of abandoned pets who have not been lucky enough to find a good home yet. “Dogs are part of people’s families and it’s great to see the care people take of them. We have dogs coming here where they really benefit from being socialised, they get good exercise all day with plenty of space and maybe they come here a couple of times a week.”
With 500 dogs set to take part in the walk, Darren has urged people to ensure they bring their leads and that the dogs are kept under control. “There has to be mutual respect there. We are really looking forward to a fantastic day and I hope lots of dog lovers come along and get involved,” he concluded.
To get involved contact Doggy Day Care on 065 6703581/0863095536 or check www.doggy.ie, or email info@doggy.ie.