Charlotte Morris is as good as her word. She declared after the first Critter Crawl in February, "We're already planning for the next one!"
And here it is, time to "mush and go" Sunday, Sept. 17, at the island's second Critter Crawl.
The race — really a fast-paced dog walk, or lope, or run, or crawl — is Morris's idea to raise money for the financially strapped St. Thomas Humane Society. Though the first event did raise money, Morris has high hopes for breaking that amount.
"We have experience now," Morris said, "and more people know about it."
The Crawl is held at the field behind the Roy L. Schneider Hospital, with registration from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the race at 4 p.m. You can "rent" a dog from the Humane Society to walk with you, or bring your own, or walk alone.
It's $10 for adults and $5 for kids to enter, and the same amounts to take a dog with you. Or, if you want to bring your own dog, it's $5.
There are all sorts of categories for prizes: oldest, youngest and in-between. And this year's prizes are something special, Morris said. They include a feather follies bird presentation for your party valued at $250, gifts and dinners from all over the island and an appointment at Monica's Hair Studio at Crown Bay. But that's not all.
Morris has recently opened a pet-sitting business, and she is donating a weekend of free pet-sitting.
The Humane Society will bring puppies for adoption, as they did last year, but this year there's something extra — each of the island's veterinarians is donating a free heartworm test for the dogs or puppies adopted, as long as they are brought in within a week after the Crawl.
And, if all that isn't enough, everybody over 16 gets a free certificate for a week at Gold's Gym.
Dedicated to Dogs staff will conduct a dog obedience show. If memory serves from last time, some of the high-spirited dogs and a few owners could benefit from that. Morris said there are also special events organized for children.
"Almost all the puppies the shelter brought were adopted last time," she said, and she hopes to repeat that this time.
