Run, Spot, run

Every time I see a dog in the mall — you know, the ones that sniff our bags when we enter the mall or a hotel, I call them Spot. Black, white, brown, brindle, no matter the color, they are Spot to me.

And so it was last Sunday at the “Great Dog Dash: Year 4” of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). It was a day of seeing Spots as they ruled the Dog Dash.

“The Great Dog Dash” is one of my most anticipated events of PAWS. You see, Gorby, my Toy Poodle, is part of the hall of fame in that race. Yes, the little guy is the champion in his category. For the last three years PAWS has held the Dog Dash at Eastwood City where the small doggies run their hearts out (and their humans hoarse) on a 10-meter racetrack.

This year the Dog Dash was moved to the bigger Mall of Asia and the track was a 100-foot track.

“We wanted to get the big dogs in one race,” said Rich Ilustre, PAWS volunteer and Dog Dash director. “The humans of the big dogs have been asking us to organize an event like this for their doggie companions.”

Ilustre said that PAWS volunteers and the folks at Alpo pulled together to raise funds for this project. It was quite amazing to see just how well the track was put together, and how big the crowd that gathered to watch the race was. But, not just the crowd, the big- and medium-sized dogs, no matter how scary some of them looked, were fun to watch as they patiently waited their turn at the tracks.

PAWS, as regular readers of this column know, is an NGO that serves as a humane education center that teaches young people the importance of kindness to animals. PAWS does this as it is a venue for community service programs and gives lectures and sessions on responsible pet ownership. The organization does not receive funding from any international organization, government agency or private company for the operational costs of its animal shelter. It currently houses 37 dogs and 145 cats that have been rescued from cruelty or neglect.

“Our main task is to finish construction of our dog quarantine area at the shelter,” said PAWS president Nita Hontiveros-Lichauco, who made it to the Mall of Asia in time to catch the doggies run. “Organizing fun pet events for the whole family has been our most effective way of raising funds for most of our animal shelter’s needs. These events are also a great opportunity for us to reach out to pet owners to tell them how they can help us spread awareness about responsible pet ownership and become animal advocates themselves.”

I have been told that one of the biggest crowd drawers for PAWS is the “Great Dog Dash.” This event attracted over 50 small canine “racers” last year. Blame it on the fact that the owners of small doggies really like to get their dogs out and give them a fun day.

One of the most exciting things to watch during a pet event is just how the humans out-jostle each other to make sure that their canine buddies make it to the top. The Dog Dash is no different. In the race, the humans stand at the end of the racetrack and coax their canine companions to run toward them as fast as they can. The fastest dog to come to its owner is hailed as the winner — but the one that makes it last is normally the cutest.

Inspired by a Florida animal shelter’s fundraiser, “The Great Dog Dash” started out as a race for small dogs. This year, however, PAWS decided to heed the clamor of guardians of bigger dogs to make a race for medium- and large-sized dogs instead.  

This year, dog racers had to measure at least 16 inches in height from tip of paw to top of head. Most of the doggies in the race were Golden Retrievers and Labradors. Staying true to its advocacy of promoting better treatment for native dogs, PAWS also created a separate round for Aspins (Asong Pinoy).

“We want to change people’s attitudes. We believe that it is not only the purebred dogs that should be brought out for walks and participate in pet events. We encourage guardians of Aspins to proudly bring their pets to all PAWS events,” added Ilustre.

As a safety precaution, Ilustre said that PAWS made sure to specify that only dogs that were non-aggressive towards humans and other dogs, and those whose owners could show proof of updated vaccinations, could join the event.

“We want our events to be fun yet safe for all participants so we need pet owners to show their pets’ updated vaccination records,” said Ilustre. “PAWS volunteers at the registration table also turned away dogs who were assessed as aggressive to other dogs and humans.”

Some of the celebrities who came to the event were Vince and Shaan Hizon with their Golden Retriever Princess; actress and commercial model January Isaac with her Golden Retriever Sage; Ang TV alumna Guila Alvarez with Black Labrador, Anika; and TV host Arianna Barouk with Golden Retriever Cash.

The doggies of the celebrities participated in the Celebrity Heat of this year’s race. The top prize in the Celebrity Heat went to Anika, the black Labrador owned by Guila Alvarez, second placer was Sage owned by January Isaac and third was Cash owned by Arianna Barouk.

In the other categories here are the winners:

For the big dogs: First place went to Bamboo, a Yellow Labrador owned by Rainbow Hackett; second place was Cogan, a Golden Retriever owned by Dinky Ang; and the third place went to Edge, a Labrador owned by Patricia Carrascoso.

For Aspins: Poypoy, owned by Nice Rodriguez; Pepper owned by Heidi Guzon; and Putol owned by Reniel Gayares.

For medium-sized dogs: First place went to Ares, a Bull Terrier owned by Rose Pinero; Champ, a Dachshund owned by Mika See-Roxas; and Keroppi, a Lhasa Apso owned by Teresita Manapat.

The sponsors for this year’s Dog Dash were Alpo, SM Mall of Asia, McDonald’s, Frontline Plus and the STAR Pet Life Section.