Bark in the Park returning for fifth year
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Strathmore’s Bark in the Park event is returning to Kinsmen Park for its fifth year running and is expecting to be the largest ever hosted in town.
Hosted and sponsored by Debbie Mitzner, she continues to be excited to bring the event back on an annual basis because of the consistent positive feedback and support from the local community.
“This is our fifth year, so we have opened the park to people to bring their pets down on leashes. It is a social event; there is a DJ there for music, and there are different vendors who support us,” she said. “The Rescue Dog Association, they are there, there are pet stores … (and) it keeps getting bigger and better every year. It is very well attended.”
Prospective new pet owners will have an opportunity to potentially bring home a rescue dog, as an adoption site will be present at the event.
New pet owners will also be able to find a host of resources on site to learn about training and socializing for their new family members and best friends.
“It is free to the public to come, so it is affordable for everyone to be able to attend. I sponsor it to give back to the community; we have a hydration station for the dogs, and more just gets added to it every year,” said Mitzner. “There are more people, more vendors, and more services. It is just good to be able to give back to the community.”
According to Mitzner, there will be no designated off leash zone for the dogs to run around in this year, so the event will be strictly on leash.
She added it is a fantastic way for pet owners, especially new owners or for those with shy animals, to be able to come out and get their pet socialized.
Mitzner explained the inspiration for the event to get started in Strathmore in the first place came from a similar event hosted in Calgary.
“I went to an event in the city – a Bark in the Park event, and Strathmore had never had anything like that, so we brought it to Strathmore. Now, there is actually one running in Airdrie, and there is also a Bark in the Park event in Okotoks,” she said. “We started getting calls something like two months ago asking when the event is. People are booking it on their calendars, there are food trucks, and people come out and make it a family event.”
A highlight of the event will be the “Cutest Puppy Contest,” which will be held at 1 p.m. on the day of. Onsite registration for the contest will begin at 10 a.m.
Bark in the Park will take place on June 24 in Kinsmen Park and will run from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.