Fighting cancer in pets, and us
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on April 18, 2018 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Monet, a French great dane, attends the third annual Bark for Life with her owner Erin Cooke.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Cameron Walker, 5, sits his Dalmatian stuffed animal beside Goldsboro Fire Department's Sparky Saturday during the third annual Bark for Life at Waynesborough Park. The event started with a walk, including two furry survivors, and continued through the day with vendors, music and children's activities.
Around 150 people visited Waynesborough Park Saturday for the annual Bark for Life event, where pet owners raised money to contribute toward finding a cure for cancer in humans and animals.
Nancy Aughtry, organizer of Bark for Life, said somewhere between 150 and 200 people attended the event, almost all of whom brought dogs with them. The day began with a non-competitive walk, where teams who had raised money beforehand strolled with their dogs around the area.
Aughtry said that the event's turnout was hampered by several other events also taking place on the same day. She was still happy with how things had gone, however.
"It wasn't as many people as usual, but it still went really well," she said. "We had lot of vendors, and almost everybody brought a dog with them."
Bark for Life continued throughout the day following the walk, including the vendors and visits from the McGruff the Crime Dog, the Goldsboro Police Department and Goldsboro Fire Department, who brought along their stuffed fire dog Sparky.
Among the canine companions who visited the event were Bear and Ramona, two dogs who knew a thing or two about battling cancer. Bear is dealing with lymphoma now, while Ramona was declared cancer free in March.
At press time, Aughtry said that Bark for Life had raised at least $500, though there was still more money to be collected and counted. Bark for life is a branch of the Relay for Life organization, so the money raised through Bark for Life goes there. From that point, the money is donated to the American Cancer Society, which uses it to fund progress toward a cancer cure.