May 20, 2012
The RSPCA’s annual Million Paws Walk, held in Kingaroy’s Lions Park this morning, was the most successful held to date, according to Kingaroy RSPCA spokesperson Kirsty Minter.
A record 85 walkers turned out with their favourite pooches for a brisk (or leisurely) 4km walk around the adjoining parklands in the bright morning sunshine.
And afterwards many stayed on to enjoy a barbecue breakfast, browse market stalls, give their pets a hydrobath, get them micro-chipped or simply take part in a number of fun competitions like “Slobberiest Dog” and “Best Roll-Over”.
Most pleasing of all for RSPCA staff were that two dogs were adopted into new homes as a direct result of the annual fund-raising effort.
“In previous years the Million Paws Walk has been just for existing dog owners,” Kirsty said.
“We charge a fee for entering the walk and the money raised goes into helping pay the Kingaroy RSPCA’s operating expenses.
“But this year we invited people without dogs who wanted to help the RSPCA to get involved too, by offering to supply them with dogs from our shelter.
“This let the dogs get some exercise and let the walkers get to know the dogs at the same time.
“And as things turned out, two people liked their dogs so much that they’re taking them home with them tonight. Which is just wonderful!”
The RSPCA Million Paws Walk was started in Queensland in 1994 by celebrity vet Dr Cam Day who believed a special event like this could be a “win-win” situation: providing a fun day out for pets and their owners, while promoting responsible pet ownership and raising much-needed funds for the RSPCA.
Since then the event has expanded nationally, with around 70 similar walks held around Australia today.
The South Burnett’s own Million Paws walk began in 2007 and it’s a “dogs only” event.
But it has gradually grown in popularity over the past six years and become a great awareness-raiser for the local RSPCA shelter.
“We honestly don’t know why we had such a terrific turn-out today,” Kirsty said.
“It could be the weather – it’s a perfect morning, isn’t it? – and it could be that we’ve made it bigger and put it in a much more high visibility location.
“We have a lot of sponsors offering great discounts on hydrobaths and micro-chipping today, and that could be a factor too.
“But whatever it is, we’d really like to thank everyone who came out and supported it.”
Pawnote: Eric Munday, (top photo), and his wife have raised an incredible 71 newborn puppies for the Kingaroy RSPCA over the years, providing them with a safe and caring environment for the first eight weeks of their lives until they become old enough for adoption.
Eric finally decided to get a dog of his own today when he adopted Milly, a young blue dog,
“She’s just beautiful,” he said. “I couldn’t really say no to her.”
But even though the couple now have their own dog, they will continue to look after RSPCA puppies.
