Memorial event remembers son, supports cause
With a peanut butter eating contest, costumed pups, and giveaways for adults and kids alike, the Garrett Fifield Memorial Mutt Strut continued to grow in its fourth year.
Amy Fifield, officer manager at the Butler County Humane Society who organizes the annual event, said the Mutt Strut has grown exponentially, quintupling its number of sponsors and seeing nearly 200 people register for the Saturday event at Butler Memorial Park.
It's a long way since it began as a way to remember Garrett Fifield, Amy's late son whom she described as an animal lover.
“We put on the event to get through his 16th birthday, and we've kept it going,” Fifield said.
Over the years it's expanded, adding peanut butter eating and costume contests, bringing in kid-specific giveaways and attracting more and more guests.Jennifer Snyder, of Butler, who attended Saturday's pup plod for the second year, said the Mutt Strut is turning into a family favorite.“It's becoming an annual event for us,” she said.
Cindy Snyder said seeing the costumed canines was one of her favorite parts of the event. Dogs wore a range of attire from cow outfits to tutus.In fact, the costumes varied widely and weren't confined to any size of dog. Some of the larger ones wore the cow costumes, while smaller dogs were dressed as smaller animals like butterflies and bees.
Fifield also agreed that the costumes were a phenomenal part of the celebration, and added another positive is watching the dogs, look at and play with each other.“In the shelter environment, we don't see the dogs interact like this,” she added.Another fan favorite was the peanut butter eating contest, where pups had the chance to lick clean a plate of goodness, or at least as clean as they could get it in 45 seconds. The contest started with small dogs of 25 pounds or under, and gradually moved up to include bigger dogs — and their bigger appetites — until all pups could be included.But Fifield's favorite part goes back to the Mutt Strut's roots. Some of the event's decorations, too, are pointed to that end, with yellow flowers serving as a memorial to Garrett and other similarly animal-loving friends near the festivities.“I love to see all of Garrett's friends and all the people and the smiles on their faces,” Fifield said.
