DOGS AND THEIR OWNERS INVITED TO OPUNAKE FOR A GOOD CAUSE
Source: Stuff (Extract)
Posted: March 22, 2023
Lions club members in Opunake are calling dog owners from around Taranaki to visit their pooch-friendly town for a charity walk on April 1.
The Opunake Lakeside Lions Club is holding the walk along its clifftop walkway as part of a nationwide Lions Club project to help Hearing Dogs New Zealand.
Money raised will go towards building a new cottage for the New Plymouth training centre, where recipients of hearing dogs can stay while they and their dogs learn to work together.
A disappointing turnout on a walk held on March 5 prompted organiser Jenny Scott to have another go.
“We’re hoping New Plymouth people will come down,” she said.
“There are two cafes with garden areas, so people can sit out back with their dogs and have lunch beforehand.
“And Middleton’s Bay is our dog-friendly beach, people could take their dog there at the end of the walk.”
Dog owners pay $8 for one dog or $12 for two, to take part.
From 2pm, they will gather on the lawn at the Sandford Events Centre in Opunake, with spot prizes for some lucky dogs, before the walk begins at 2.30pm, Scott said.
“We go along the clifftops and through the Secret Garden, and there’s a water stop at the Opunake monument, then we go on around the clifftop to the lake, and there’s another rest stop with bowls of water outside the rest home.”
Those who wish to can carry on around the lake, or even explore the rest of the Opunake Loop path, and back to the event centre.
Hearing Dogs general manager Clare McLaughlin said building a two-bedroom cottage had been a long time dream for the charity, and the country’s Lions Clubs were helping make it a reality.
Fundraising for the $265,000 goal began on April 1, 2022. So far, they have about $21,000.
The current small, one-room building is inadequate for many recipients, whose average age was 67.
“Recipients need to bring a support person with them, so when they get home, they have someone to help practice their sound work with their dog, it’s really important, she said.
“A lot of our recipients live alone, so a hearing dog is really, really valuable to them.”
But this meant their support person could be a friend, adult child or a neighbour, and they needed somewhere to stay for the week or so while the recipient and the dog learned to work together, she said.
