PET OWNERSHIP
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WE’RE top dog when it comes to our rates of pet ownership, but when it comes to desexing and vaccinating them, Tamworth owners pretty much belong in the doghouse.
And that’s one of the reasons behind this Sunday’s Million Paws Walk, the annual fun-raiser and fundraiser the local branch of the RSPCA organises to boost its money box to help with the desexing and vaccination programs it provides.
“Tamworth people love their pets,” says local RSPCA secretary Alison Richmond.
“And they love all sorts of dogs, from small ones to big ones.”
But while we love them to death, we often literally do that. We consign them to illness, premature problems and often, fatally, the dog kennel in the sky, because we’re not as committed when it comes to protecting them better. We don’t always put our money where our hearts are.
“We get a lot of people who don’t desex or vaccinate their dogs, some are good, some are not, and yes, I think money plays a big part in that – but it’s also about education,” Ms Richmond says.
“Often people don’t worry about that; they think a dog having a litter early is good, and yes, there are people who just don’t really care, but on the whole, people do care about their animals in Tamworth.”
And that care factor should be on show and striding out on Sunday with organisers hoping they’ll get at least 400 dog owners to the starting line with pets on a leash for a stroll in and around the park.
The walk last year attracted about that many participants – with young and old walking one or even multiple mutts and raising about $1500 for the paws cause.
Nundle’s take-two on dog race on May 25
NUNDLE will try to go to the dogs again on May 25 after a bone-chilling washout of the race day event three weeks ago.
For only the second time in its 30- year history, the Great Nundle Dog Race was pulled before the first pup hit the ground on May 3.
The track was too wet and the cold and windy weather in the Hills of Gold also brought snow around the tops and the icy outdoor conditions would have kept too many away for the day.
So, because the family fun day out with the dog is the most important fundraiser of the whole year for the small public school – and it relies so much on the money raised from such a great day out, the organisers blew the whistle on it.
“It wasn’t the best weather for dogs and kids,” race co-ordinator Joy Warden said.
So instead of running races and serving barbecue lunches, Nundle parents took their kids and dogs to see the freshly-fallen snow on the range above Hanging Rock.
Snowball fights, slippery surfaces and frozen fingertips are the memories of the first Sunday in May 2014 – when usually it’s puppy play.
The Great Nundle Dog Race attracts owners, dogs and tourists from as far as Sydney and right across the region. Originally, it was to be re-run on May 18 but that clashed with two big other events, the Tamworth Cycle Club Tamworth to Nundle cycle run and the Million Paws Walk.