Big crowd turns out for ‘Paws for a Cause’ at Clinton’s dog park
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Diane Laviola, a veterinarian, prepares to insert an ID chip in Soto, the dog of Konnor Caldwell of Clinton, during last Saturday’s event at the new Clinton dog park. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Visitors and their dogs enjoy the beautiful day at the Carden Farm Dog Park in South Clinton during Saturday’s Paws for a Cause event. - G. Chambers Williams III
Organizers say that about 1,500 people turned out Saturday for the grand opening event at the new Carden Farm Dog Park in Clinton – a charity fundraiser for two local animal rescue groups that also featured several dogs that were available for adoption.
The “Paws for a Cause” daylong festival also drew more than 30 vendors, including five offering people food for the visitors. Vendors also included dog-training services, a pet vaccination service, and other services or products for pets.
Event coordinator Katrina Hall said that a lot of the people attending the event brought their personal dogs, and at least seven dogs that were brought by animal shelters and rescues were adopted by visitors to the event.
Hall is president of the Anderson County Animal Rescue Foundation, which co-sponsored the event along with the Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley and the city of Clinton. The city owns and maintains the park, which opened in November.
“It went really well, and we were pleased,” Hall said. “We’re estimating that about 1,500 people came out. Besides the vendors, we had eight different demonstrations, including K-9 units from the Clinton Police Department and Anderson County Sheriff’s Office; CPR and first aid for pets; falcon exhibitions; and pigeon racing.
“We really appreciate that everyone came and supported what we do,” she said. “Our goal is to get people together for a common cause to help the animals in our community.”
Hall said the groups wanted to thank Clinton parks and recreation staffers Jason Brown and Zeke Rich for their help and support, as well as Clinton Mayor Scott Burton and City Manager Roger Houck.
And, Hall said, last weekend’s event was “just a start.”
“Our plan is to make this be an annual event,” she said.
Carden Farm Dog Park is at 410 Riverview Drive in South Clinton. It includes fenced areas of about three acres for large dogs and two acres for small dogs.
The park sits on a 17-acre tract the city got in a trade from TVA, and it was developed with a $25,000 grant from the Randy Boyd Foundation in Knoxville.