Students play with pups, raise awareness at Puppy Picnic

Kathryn Clark photo Students play with puppies at the Puppy Picnic held at the amphitheater.

It’s raining puppies and dogs! The puppy picnic was a watery one but received ample adoration from students.

The rainy afternoon last Friday did not stop The Student Government Association (SGA) and the students enrolled in Leadership and Change (MGT 4471)  from holding their event.

SGA partnered with both the class and with Blenz Bowls to raise funds and awareness for the pups of the Pike Animal Shelter. Ten percent of all proceeds from Blenz went to the shelter. At the end of the event, $50 was raised in support of the local pups.

“The event is just kind of to bring light to the animal shelter,” said Kayla Roberts, a junior majoring in global business marketing from Eufaula, Alabama. “For our class, we had to pick a project on how to make a change, and we searched different organizations around Troy, and we ended up picking the Pike Animal Shelter.

“We decided to do a puppy picnic with SGA because they've done a couple puppy picnics over the past two years and it's always been a big hit.”

“There is a huge need, especially within Pike County, for the animals to be adopted,” said Haley Alcathie, SGA West District Housing Senator and junior majoring in secondary education English language arts from Daphne, Alabama. “The shelter just doesn't have the space for every single animal in the county.

Kathryn Clark photo Students play with puppies at the Puppy Picnic held at the amphitheater.

“There's a lot of students who are looking to adopt a pet, especially, you know, as they come into adulthood, so this is kind of a way for us on campus to provide a way for students to have a fun time to spend playing with dogs and just a little break between classes, but also let them know that there are animals they can adopt.”

The class brought out two adult dogs and two puppies. Students were encouraged to interact with the dogs.

“It helps the puppies socialize with other people and other dogs, and the people socialize with the dogs and just understand their personalities and get used to them,” said Elizabeth Kobs, a junior biomedical sciences major from Leesburg, Georgia. Kobs owns two dogs.

Kobs said she loves dogs because of their easygoing and love-seeking personalities, and she gave advice about adopting dogs.

“Just make sure you know what type of personality the dog has, and if you have any other dogs, just to introduce them and make sure that they get along,” Kobs said.

Pike Animal Shelter is always looking for volunteers, donations and adoptions. For more information, visit www.troyal.gov/PikeAnimalShelter.