Wags and whiskers
Families, pups to gather at ‘Paws for a Cause’ on April 26
Paws for a Cause, a day of activities for families and their canine friends, will be held Saturday, April 26, at the Carden Farm Dog Park in Clinton.
This annual event, at 410 Riverview Drive in South Clinton, will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and will include vendors, activities including an agility course for dogs to try, K-9 demonstrations throughout the day, kids’ games and crafts, food trucks, a beer garden and more.
Led by the city of Clinton, sponsors include the Anderson County Animal Rescue Foundation and the Humane Society, Tennessee Valley. Organizers are expecting thousands of people to attend the event.
There will be more than 60 vendors, nonprofits and food trucks at the event. There will be a silent auction and a pet costume contest, with some prizes.
Also participating will be animal shelters and rescue groups with adoptable pets looking for their new homes, along with low-cost vaccinations and microchips available for doggie visitors.
On hand will be the Norris Animal Shelter, Labrador Retriever Rescue of East Tennessee, McMinn Regional Humane Society and Knox Vintage Pet Project.
Proceeds from the events will be used to help “animals in need from our community,” the sponsors said. That includes veterinary care, pet food and other forms of pet help.
Among scheduled events will be a Clinton Police Department K-9 exhibition and pet first aid and CPR demonstrations.
The dog park in South Clinton officially opened in November 2023 off Carden Farm Road, on land along the Clinch River.
It includes fenced areas of about three acres for large dogs and two acres for small dogs.
A road was built leading into the paved parking lot at the park’s entrance.
The park sits on a 17-acre tract the city got in a trade from TVA, and was mostly paid for by a $25,000 grant from the Randy Boyd Foundation in Knoxville.
There is a Kentucky split-rail fence around the dog park, which includes a common area at the entrance that gives access to the separate areas for large and small dogs.
There are water fountains for people and dogs just outside the entrance, along with a water faucet people can use to wash their dogs if they get too dirty in the park.
Each of the doggie areas has a small shelter with benches and sheet-metal roofs for shade, and some trees were planted for natural shade.
G. Chambers Williams III | The Courier News
John Bailey of Karns, with his Aussie doodle Rosie, and Christy Abner of Karns, with her Aussie doodle Lucy — Rosie’s twin — visited last year’s Paws for a Cause Pet Expo at the Carden Farm Dog Park in Clinton.
