The fabulous folks who came to Lake Hollingsworth to strut their mutts and parade their purebreds for the 16th annual SPCA walkathon on April 19th demonstrated that fund raising can be paws-itively doggone great fun! Thanks to their donations, $90,000 was raised to provide food, vaccinations, spaying or neutering and medical care for more than 10,000 homeless pets that will enter the SPCA’s Lakeland adoption center this year.

Congratulations to the Grand Prize winner Melody Muir who raised $7,015 and received a 4-night stay at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort and to all of our Top Dog winners: Linda Kerr, Cameron Row, the 4 Paws 4 Love team and Cindee Kasey and “Dusty” the Red Hat Society Lab who won the Best Dressed Pet contest.

A barking ovation to Rob Smith, Jr. for drawing caricatures of people and pets, DogSense Obedience for their rally demonstration, the Central Florida Dog & Disc Club for their Frisbee dog show, LMT Rae Straszewski for doing canine massages and Lakeland Dog Sports for their Run Fur Fun Lure Chase.

A special tail-wag to the all the volunteers who arrived at 6:30 a.m. to set up the tents and tables and who handed out gallons of water and hundreds of muffins, hot dogs, hamburgers and dog smoothies. We salute all the walkers, exhibitors and sponsors who took a huge step toward helping our community’s homeless animals. Please visit our adoption center and clinic to see your donations at work – visitors and volunteers are always welcome!

Click here to view photos from 2008 Pets on Parade!