36th Annual Dog Walk & K-9 Festival is Canceled; See you on May 8, 2021!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020

MEDIA CONTACT:

Julie Barber, Director of Community Connections

Kalamazoo Humane Society

269-743-0393 | jbarber@kazoohumane.org

KALAMAZOO HUMANE SOCIETY CANCELS 36TH ANNUAL DOG WALK & K-9 FESTIVAL EVENT; PLANS VIRTUAL FUNDRAISING EVENT TO TAKE ITS PLACE

THE DOG WALK & K-9 FESTIVAL IS THE PREMIER ANNUAL FUNDRAISER FOR THE KALAMAZOO HUMANE SOCIETY, SUPPORTING ALL OF ITS PRIMARY PROGRAMS AND SERVICES.

KALAMAZOO, Michigan - Friday, March 13, 2020 – The Kalamazoo Humane Society announced today that it is canceling the 2020 Dog Walk & K-9 Festival event that was planned for Saturday, May 9th, 2020 at Prairie View County Park in Vicksburg, MI. Amid a growing list of precautionary closures, the Kalamazoo Humane Society Board of Directors held an emergency vote to determine the best course of action.

“Given all of the circumstances, and the unknowns, canceling the 2020 Dog Walk & K-9 Festival is the right thing to do.. Our staff is working to redirect our energy to a virtual/online campaign to help support our programs and services in the absence of our largest annual fundraiser.” says Aaron Winters, Executive Director of the Kalamazoo Humane Society. “The safety of our supporters and event participants is our primary concern, and we cannot proceed with an event on the scale of the Dog Walk & K-9 Festival without putting our staff, volunteers, supporters and everyone else involved at risk.”

The Kalamazoo Humane Society is looking forward to revealing the details of the new fundraising campaign to take the place of the Dog Walk & K-9 Festival. This type of large-scale virtual fundraiser will be a first for the organization.

Julie Barber, the Dog Walk & K-9 Festival chairperson explains, “We’re all sad that the 35 year streak of the Dog Walk is being broken, but we are really excited to try something new. We just hope that people still recognize that there is a need to support pet owners struggling to make ends meet, especially those using our pet food bank, and will still contribute to our fundraising campaign. We do anticipate that the need for our pet food bank will increase as people may be out of work or have extra expenses during this pandemic. The full impact is yet to be determined, but we know that the demand for our pet food bank will not lessen during this time.”

For updates and details about the Dog Walk & K-9 Festival as they are known, please visit the event website at www.khsDogWalk.org, or follow the Kalamazoo Humane Society on social media. You can also learn more about how to help struggling pet owners in your area by visiting the Kalamazoo Humane Society website at www.kazoohumane.org.