Party for a cure with your pet

This month, the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is raising funds again. The Foundation’s CEO, Carole Renouf, says her dog Nala is playing a central role in the fundraising efforts.

While I have also loved cats, at present I cherish a dog. And not just any dog. A giant goddess of a rescue dog, named Nala because she looks like the Lion Queen. She has a very beautiful presence; she’s tan and white, with golden eyes rimmed with black, the softest mouth and longest legs in the world, and extremely gentle and placid.

We all know the importance of exercise in maintaining our health, and Nala certainly ensures I take regular daily walks within in a busy lifestyle. When she frolics and runs, she resembles an octopus on the seabed…. should be unco, but somehow graceful. She’s a bull arab cross, which is quite exotic and unusual, part greyhound, part pointer and part bull terrier. She loves everybody, be they person or dog (but she’s not good with cats). She would make a great pet therapy dog, when I can afford to retire.

My Party for a Cure plan for October/November has Nala playing a central role. On a given day, I’ll be assembling all her friends in the park and holding a Dog Olympics. All participants (human and canine) will each make a tax deductible donation of their choice (starting with a pink note, $5.00) to be eligible for entry. Prizes will be donated by Petbarn in each category.

A group of expert adjudicators will rule on such important matters as (and more):

• the best bark on cue
• the most impressive catcher of flying toys (ball, frisbee, etc)
• the fittest dog
• the most affectionate dog
• the best and fairest dog
• the dog with the waggiest tail

Just like Nala, your pet can play an important role in achieving zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030. Have a chat to your pet about this. I’m sure they will agree it’s going to add a further dimension of meaning to their life and yours! You might like to copy my Pet Olympics idea in your local dog par. Alternatively, your pet and those of your friends and colleagues could be sponsored to:

• wear pink for a period
• walk a certain number of kilometres
• make a child or elderly person happy

Any idea involving you, your pet and your friends and colleagues will work to Party for a Cure. Pets play such a meaningful role in our lives – why not encourage them to also play a meaningful role in reducing the impact of breast cancer?

You can register your pet-friendly Party for a Cure right here, right now: http://www.partyforacure.org.au/

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below on how you’ll be Partying for a Cure with your pet this October.

This article first appeared on the NBCF’s blog and is republished with the permission of the author.