5th Annual PAWS for the Cause Dog Show
On Friday 5th March, by kind permission of Her Majesty’s Ambassador Mr Frank Baker, the British Embassy hosted our 5th Annual PAWS for the Cause Dog Show. As a non-profit, non-funded charity we rely heavily on fundraising events throughout the year and donations from the public to keep the shelter running. Abused and injured dogs and cats throughout Kuwait find a secure haven at the PAWS Animal Shelter, often they are lucky enough to be rehomed or simply nursed back to health.
The purpose of this years Dog Show was to raise much needed funds for the shelter, both to help cover the ever increasing running costs and to aid the relocation of the shelter. Food bills and vets bills alone amount to 1000KD a month and it’s a constant battle to raise sufficient funds to keep the shelter going.
Thanks to a very dedicated band of volunteers this years Dog Show was bigger and better than ever.
The show itself consisted of 9 categories including Best Tail Wagger and Best Rescue Dog, the winners of these categories then competed for the Best in Show prize.
Best in Show was won by Dolce, a beautiful Shih Tzu owned by Bader Al Sabah, the prize being presented by Suhad Al Qenaei, the Show’s Patron.
The judges for the Show were: Brigadier Iain Cholerton, Commander of the BMM; Mr Gary Moran, General Manager of the Mövenpick Hotel Al Bida’a; Frau Elza Words, wife of the German Ambassador; Mrs Natalia Kinshchak , wife of the Russian Ambassador; and Major Rodney Gonzalez, Commanding Officer of the Military Dog Unit at Camp Arifjan. They had a tough job on their hands with over 150 dogs entered into the various categories.
As well as the competition there were demonstrations by a military working dog unit kindly provided by US Forces from Camp Arifjan, face painters, bouncy castles, refreshment stalls, a magician and a number of retail stalls and food outlets.
The event was very generously sponsored by, amongst others, the Mövenpick Hotel Al Bida’a, Al Ghanim Industries, Pedigree Foods and Mars.
The highest praise must go to the unstinting efforts of the PAWS volunteers and staff from the British Embassy without whom the event simply could not have taken place. These people week in and week out give their time, effort and love to the welfare of sick and injured animals, it was great to see so many helpers this year, from friends, family, embassy staff and 16 kids from KES all mucking in to help the show be a success.
And success it was, the weather which started dull and dusty turned out fine and a grand time was had by all, dogs and humans joining together for a fun-filled day. Attendance at the event was around 200 dogs and 700 people, of whom half were expats and half Kuwaiti citizens, all of whom contributed most generously to raise much needed money all of which will go to improving the quality of life for animals in Kuwait.
Here are some videos of the event
Dear Friends.
the warmer/summer weather. She likes to sleep and play outside, but is happy to come inside of an evening, curled up on the sofa!
