Cadence Bank presents 'Bark in the Park'

Blairsville City Police Chief, Johnny Carroll, and Assisitant Police Chief, Bear Baxter, have issued a challenge to other community leaders to raise money for the Humane Society's Mountain Shelter's "Pup Strut," the 2k Pledge walk at this Saturday's 'Bark in the Park'.

Saturday, June 16, goes to the dogs as the CADENCE BANK "Bark in the Park" raises much needed funding for the Humane Society's Mountain Shelter. 100% of money raised supports the local Shelter which serves Towns and Union counties.

The 5k 'Run for Rover' and 1k 'Kids for Canines' people races begin at 8 a.m in Meeks Park and then the festivities switch across Hwy. 515 to the Union County Dog Park for the 2k Pledge Walk-a-thon, 'PupStrut". Pre-registration for the three runs is $20.00/$25.00 the day of the race. Racers will receive trophies and t-shirts. There will be goodie bags for the dog pawticipants. Race applications and pledge forms may be found on the Bark in the Park website, www.brodi.com/pupstrut or at Cadence Bank, the Blairsville and Hiawassee Thriftstores, the shelter or by calling 706-781- 3843.

The Festival will feature demonstrations by the Hawassee River Valley Kennel Club and their agility dogs, the Union County k-9 Dog and the Mountain Dog Boarding Staff.

Deborah Evans, owner of Auntie Deb's Park-a-Pet will offer her unique recipe for natural pet treats.

North Georgia SPCA will bring information about their organization as will Kent Wall from UC Animal Control and ENVIRONCLEAN will demonstrate their animal products.

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church's Father Richard Wise will perform the traditional Blessing of the Animals. Doggie Bistro coordinator, HSMS Board Member, Charlotte Thompson and her volunteers will raise additional funds for the Shelter by serving a delicious lunch.

Dogs and their owners can compete for prizes in the Pet/Owner Look-a-Like, Trick, Best Costume, Biggest/Smallest and the Stick Retrieval Contest. CADENCE employees and Master of Ceremonies, CADENCE President, Darrin Sparks, will choose the "Best in Show Dog". Sonja Nastyn and her seeing eye dog, Betsy, who was chosen "Best in Show, 2006" will be Grand Marshalls for PupStrut Walk-a-Thon.

The Shelter will raise funds by offering microchipping for $20.00, normally a $45.00 charge. Affectionately known as "immunizing against homelessness", microchipping is no more painful than a vaccination, and carried out the same way. A tiny capsule, the size of a grain of rice, is injected under the skin in the nape of the neck. Vets and Shelters have a universal scanner that can read the digital number on the the chip inside the capsule; one phone call to the microchip company will reunite you and your lost animal. Shelter staff members will microchip and record your animal's information.

Cheryl Shook, longtime employee of the Mountain Shelter and canine coordinator, stated, "It's so heartbreaking to take a call from a distraught pet owner who's animal has gone missing. So many animals are brought in who have no form of identification, no tattoo or their collars and tags have broken off. The first thing we do is scan the animal for a microchip and 100 percent of those chipped animals are returned to their owners. We feel that it is VITAL to have this form of identification and are proud to be able to offer it to the citizens of the two counties. All of the animals adopted from the Humane Society's Mountain Shelter, in addition to being spayed or neutered, are now microchipped.