Local couples participate in Calgary Humane Society Dog Jog
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
We never want to hear about cruelty to animals, it’s a topic that gets many people’s blood boiling, but it is also something that happens more than we would like to believe.
Organizations like the Calgary Humane Society (CHS) are instrumental in protecting the animals, and though they may not get there in time every time, it is a place where the animals can heal and learn to trust again.
Like many organizations the society thrives off of donations and volunteers in order to help the thousands of animals through its doors each year.
Kristel Lang and her boyfriend Will Bennett, along with two other local couples, will be walking in this year’s Calgary Humane Society’s Dog Jog on June 2.
The Dog Jog is an annual fundraising walk and festival that’s held at Glenmore Park in Calgary. Participants in the Dog Jog have the option of either doing 2.5 km, or completing a 5 km jog.
Lang and her team will be doing the 5km jog, and they are hoping to raise $1,000 for the CHS. They will be collecting donations until race day, and on June 1 there will be a garage sale fundraiser as part of the Strathmore Parade of Garage Sales.
Lang and Bennett have been fostering dogs for over a year now with Prairie Pit Bull.
“We decided to foster while our dog Tia was still alive but decided to wait because she was so old and we didn’t want that much disruption in the house. After she passed last March (2012) we contacted Prairie Pit Bull, went to talk with them and took our first foster home,” said Lang.
“We loved it, though (it was) difficult at times, and really enjoyed that we were helping dogs. We decided to foster because of our love for dogs and the ability to help the dogs so they weren’t put down or have to live in a shelter while waiting to be adopted.”
Though it can be tough to see the dog you’ve raised as your own walk out of your door one day, it is also a rewarding feeling knowing that you helped them in some way.
“The reward is internal gratification that we are helping a dog who cannot help itself. The dogs come from many different situations and some would not have survived if a foster home wasn’t available to take them in and work with them,” said Lang.
Lang and Bennett fostered nine dogs before having a foster failure. Lacey was the ninth foster pit bull for the two through Prairie Pit Bull. They fell in love and knew there was no way they could give Lacey up, and so in September 2012 they officially adopted her.
When the couple began to foster Lacey when Lana was three months pregnant, and Lacey could sense right away that something was going on. The further along in her pregnancy she become the more attentive and gentle Lacey was with Lang.
“After returning home from the hospital with Kaylee she was instantly attached. She is so incredibly gentle with her and often sniffs her while she sleeps in her swing,” said Lang.
“Kaylee has smacked Lacey in the face numerous times, poked her, grabbed her ears and she just sits, tail wagging. She used to be super excited when we came home but now the first thing she wants to do is sniff the car seat.”
“Will and I knew that we wanted to rescue a new dog before Kaylee was born so that we could bond with the dog and so that Kaylee could grow up with a dog.”
The two chose pit bulls because that’s what Lang’s dad had until she was three, and she has often heard how amazing the dog did with her. Bennett and his dog were the best of friends growing up, and it’s a bond they want their child to grow up with.
“I think that as long as an animal knows its boundaries with the child it can work.”
Anyone who would like to donate can go to the Calgary Humane Society website and search Lang’s name under Dog Jog.