MARYSVILLE — For the eighth year, Strawberry Fields was swamped with dogs being bathed, towel-dried and trimmed. But in addition to pet grooming and vendors, this year’s Scrub-A-Mutt officially dedicated itself to being “Save-A-Mutt.”
Elizabeth Woche, who co-founded the event with Jennifer Ward, conducted a “Hero Dog Reunion” of all the pooches whose adoption fees had helped fund their rescues of mom dogs and their puppies from high-kill California shelters, as well as senior dogs from the Everett Animal Shelter.
“The money that was donated to pay for their adoption has saved other dogs’ lives in turn,” Woche said. “Jennifer and I, our hearts were always in dog rescuing. Scrub-A-Mutt was started to help support other dog rescue groups, but after a while, we thought, why not do this ourselves?”
The first “Hero Dog Reunion” consisted entirely of the first group from California. With vendors and dog rescue groups coming to Scrub-A-Mutt from as far away as Portland, Woche would like to see the newly christened Save-A-Mutt return the favor, by conducting outreach throughout the Northwest.
“We’ll still hold the Scrub-A-Mutt dog washes, but Save-A-Mutt is a year-round effort to give dogs a new leash on life,” Woche said.
Hank is a Catahoula pit bull mix who was one of those rescues. Michelle Vanderwalker of Lake Stevens adopted Hank, who will be a year old in September.
“Hank was one of a litter of puppies born to a homeless owner, who then went to jail,” Vanderwalker said. “It just breaks your heart to hear their stories.”
Vanderwalker can’t help but laugh at Hank’s puppy-dog excitement, whether he’s playfully tussling with her or meeting other dogs. Woche hopes that other pooches and their prospective owners can bring each other the same joy.
For details on Scrub-A-Mutt and Save-A-Mutt visit www.save-a-mutt.org.
