MSPCA Walk for Animals 2014

September 7th was a walk for animals in Boston, Hyannis and Newbury.  Although I didn't offiicially register, I donated and then decided to tag along with Marsha & Michelle, who were walking in memory of their bff, Felicia, who passed away 10 years ago and was an animal lover.  I knew Felicia from riding the same school bus in high school, and while we weren't close friends, we'd chatted on the bus a few times and she was a nice girl.  Felicia's mom, Nancy, and friend Caroline, also walked.

The days leading up to the walk were brutally humid.  After a gorgeous summer, September arrived and with it about a week of uncomfortable weather.  Luckily it broke overnight and the day was just beautiful.

The starting point was Aselton Park in Hyannis, near the marina and ferry docks.

Saw so many adorable and excited goggies.

The other side of this is a community bulletin board & map, behind glass.

This pic makes me laugh at the way the handlers are struggling to hold their dogs back.

This is Michelle's dog, Kota.  I didn't bring Pepper or Sagan because it would have been impossible to control them.  As it is, we witnessed a rather disturbing dog fight between a pit bull and another dog, which resulted in a pretty bad ear injury to the other dog, swarms of vets & helpers, and a couple of cops.  I'm not giving the pit a bad rap, and it's unfortunate that was the breed involved in the skirmish because honestly, it could have happened between any breed.

This was the only GSD I saw.

Felicia Ferrieira's Major Memorial Team:  Caroline, Felicia's mother Nancy, Marsha, Michelle & Kota.

Reminded me of Peanuts.

And we're off!!  It was an easy mile, from the park up a block to Main Street, down Main Street and around the block to South Street and back to the park.  Took less than an hour and we were walking fairly slow, since there were quite a few people, dogs that kept stopping and because we were dodging dog poop on the sidewalk (I'm not sure why some of the walkers weren't cleaning up after their pets).

This was at the end of Main Street as we turned the corner.

Parking was at a premium in that part of town so I had to park a few blocks away, and these next 2 pics were taken when I was on my way back to the car.

About $85,000 was raised for the MSPCA!