The seventh annual Walk for Dog Guides fundraiser occurs this weekend in Wakamow Valley and gives residents the opportunity to support friends and family who require assistance from such service animals.
The event happens at Wellesley Park on Sunday, June 2, with registration at 10:30 a.m. and the walk at 11 a.m. The walk is free — register either in person or at walkfordogguides.com — while all money raised goes to train and match — for free — life-changing dog guides with Canadians with disabilities.
Such animals typically help people who have autism, diabetes, seizures, vision and hearing issues or require assistance in court.
For more information, call 306-630-6529 or email [email protected].
While this is the seventh annual event in Moose Jaw, the walk has been happening across Canada for 25 years.
Laurie Ewen is the event organizer and helped launch the walk in 2017 after seeing the effect a guide dog had on her son, Stephen Walcer. The now-17-year-old — who has autism — received Bingo in elementary school, with the dog eliminating the boy’s penchant for running away and giving him the strength to ask teachers for help.
“It’s touched our lives so much (and) made such a huge difference and I want everyone to have a chance to succeed,” Ewen said. “I want everyone to have a service dog who needs one.
“For us, we’ve gone from being stuck in the house all the time to being able to do all sorts of things. We just want to bring that to other people.”
On walk day, Donna MacQuarrie-Bye, general manager of Wakamow Valley Authority, will give a brief talk before the event begins. Walcer will then lead a short walk before the group returns to the park for a pizza lunch.
Pet Valu is the main sponsor and handles all the paperwork, while the outlet does amazing work and is a good partner, said Ewen. Meanwhile, residents can support the walk even if they don’t have a service dog, while the event will be wheelchair accessible.
“If you just want to come out and visit, that’s great too. We just want to really spread the work on these amazing dogs,” she continued.
All the money raised goes to the Lions Foundation of Canada, which trains the dogs for Canadians; it costs roughly $35,000 to breed, raise, train and place one animal. While the Moose Jaw walk didn’t raise much last year because of rain, since inception, it has generated several thousand dollars.
“I think it’s really important that we help people with disabilities to get that chance to be out in the community and enrich their lives (because) they have so much to offer,” said Ewen.
“If we give a little, we will get so much back in return.”
