May 18, 2018
This Sunday (May 20) dogs and their families right around Australia will be taking part in a Million Paws Walk event to help raise money for the many animals living and waiting in RSPCA shelters.
The South Burnett will be part of this fundraising effort, too, with its annual Million Paws Walk at Memorial Park in Kingaroy.
“We are hoping to create a great fun day out for all the family, with lots of fun activities for children including face painting and a jumping castle,” RSPCA team leader Sally Chambers said.
“We’ll also have dog demonstrations, stalls, food, and lots of dog events with prizes.
“There’ll be raffles, money boards where you can win $100, a sketch artist who will sketch you and or your dog, pet products and more!”
Registrations will start at 8:00am, accompanied by live music from the Nanango ukulele group.
After this, Cr Danita Potter will start this year’s 4km walk at 9:00am, followed by a shorter walk for those whose dogs are closer to the ground.
At about 10:15am, participants will gather together for a group photo, and this will be followed by fun, games and dog events running between 10:30am and 12:30pm.
“There are lots of prizes to be won,” Sally said.
“We will have the primary school age events and open events.
“All the traditional events such as the 11 legged race, ball and spoon, musical sit, best dressed, best trick, longest ears, and smallest dog will be on again.”
This year, there’ll also be a new event organisers are calling the Kingaroy Million Paws Walk Dog Challenge.
“It will cost $5 to enter and there are four events,” Sally said.
“Each event will have a winner and a prize, but the dog with the highest score at the end of all four events will be declared the winner of the 2018 Dog Challenge.
“The events are Obedience, Agility, Sniffer Dog and Catch, and Netta Bainbridge, the president of the Nanango Kennel Club, will be helping us with the Dog Challenge.”
Spectators are also very welcome to come along and cheer the dogs and their owners as they compete for honours in some of the more unusual competitions including biggest and smallest dogs, dogs with the longest ears and dogs with the waggiest tails.
Registrations for this year’s Million Paws Walk can be made online or at Memorial Park on Sunday morning.
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The Kingaroy RSPCA has two sponsors for this year’s Million Paws Walk – the South Burnett Regional Council and Kingaroy couple Leanne and Barry Krosch.
The South Burnett Regional Council are contributing $810 towards this year’s event through their Community Events grants program.
But Leanne and Barry eclipsed them by more than sixfold recently with a $5000 donation from their own pockets.
The couple has been long-time supporters of the RSPCA’s work and regularly attend the Million Paws Walk to make a donation to the RSPCA.
This year they made an extra large contribution.
“We’ve reached the stage in our lives where we can give back to the community, and we’ve always been impressed with the wonderful work the RSPCA does caring for animals in our region,” Barry said.
“We know our donation will be used to help keep the South Burnett’s RSPCA shelter operating, and we know the RSPCA bend every penny double to ensure the animals in their care are treated in the most humane way possible.
“We hope this year’s Million Paws Walk breaks all records and sees a wonderful turn-out.
“It’s always a great day out for the whole family.”
