Colorado State Veterinary Students Organize Second Annual Â??dog Health Day’ Fundraiser in Remembrance of 9/11
Dog owners throughout northern Colorado can pamper their best friends while making a donation to a worthy cause during the second annual "Dog Health Day" from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sept. 14 at Colorado State University’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, 300 W. Drake Road in Fort Collins.
A host of veterinary services will be offered for a suggested donation between $5 and $10 per service. Participation is on a first-come, first-served basis, so no appointments are necessary. The event is for dogs only, but families are not limited to the size or number of dogs they can bring.
Organized by the veterinary medicine student body at Colorado State’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, "Dog Health Day" is a special event benefiting the American Veterinary Medical Foundation’s VMAT teams, the emergency veterinary teams who fly into disaster areas to provide medical support for injured animals and for the search and rescue dogs often used in such situations. The event also benefits the local CSU/Fort Collins Community Pet Hospice Program, which provides end-of-life homecare for pets and emotional support and education for their families.
Dr. Cynthia Johnson, a member of VMAT 3, will be on hand to demonstrate how a veterinary MASH unit operates in a natural or man-made disaster, discuss the type of physical and mental preparation necessary to qualify for such a team and explain the special medical and survival gear each team member must be prepared to carry in and out of disaster areas.
Veterinary services offered during "Dog Health Day" include:
- physical exam for a donation of $10,
- dental exam for a donation of $5,
- nail trimming for a donation of $5,
- dog wash for a donation of $5, and
- behavior problem information and recommendations for a donation of $5.
Physical and dental exams will include recommendations for potential follow up, but no procedures will be done during the event.
Participants also will have the chance to take home a variety of products in exchange for a contribution. These items include dog bowls; mugs; dog beds; t-shirts; cookbooks; luminaries and many other dog- or veterinary medicine-related items.
Services and gift certificates donated by local businesses will be offered as raffle prizes during the day. Some items include a $25 gift certificate from Foot of the Rockies, movie passes from Carmike Cinemas, certificates for a free car wash from Richie’s Express Carwash, gift certificates from the Texas Roadhouse restaurant and music CDs donated by the Wherehouse.
Other local groups that are showing support for the event by donating special services or offering demonstrations throughout the day include Mike Manzo of the Longmont Fire Department and his fire forensic specialist dog "Shadow" who, by sniffing the site of a fire can help determine its origin; the Fort Collins Police Department’s K-9 Unit, and the Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Team.
"Dog Health Day" was organized last year after the events of Sept. 11 to raise money for the Heroes Fund. Thanks to donations from participants and matching funds from the faculty of Colorado State’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the event raised more than $7,000.
Refreshments will be available at the event.