Dylan, a 10-year-old Cardigan Welsh Corgi therapy dog with Pet Partners of Las Vegas is among a few dogs that came to visit with students at UNLV’s William S Boyd School of Law Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022.
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 | 2 a.m.
You may see more animals out on the street than usual on Saturday in Las Vegas, but they aren’t strays.
These pets — ranging from bunnies in strollers to horses on harnesses — will be taking a walk with their human companions to raise money for therapy animals.
Pet Partners, a nonprofit that registers therapy animals for use across the United States, has held this walk since 2018 raising more than $200,000, officials said.
Unlike your typical 5K run, the World’s Largest Pet Walk has no set place or path and no fee to register. Those interested in participating can simply sign up as a solo participant or team, lace up their sneakers, and grab their favorite furry friend to walk wherever and however long they want.
Sue Grundfest, founder and president of Pet Partners of Las Vegas, said that the World’s Largest Pet Walk gets its name from the results of the walk: a compilation of photographs and videos that show people, including the 75 different branches, out exercising with their pets.
There are 75 different Pet Partners teams across the world, including the branch in Las Vegas that was founded in 2014. The Las Vegas group is also attached to a nonprofit, Love Dog Adventures.
Each of these groups participate in the walk to raise funding for the main organization, but they don’t necessarily all walk on the same day. Some — like the branch in Greece — prefer to hold their pet walk event in May when the weather is more temperate.
Ashley Drew, Pet Partners national director of special events and field development, said the event is “just a lot of camaraderie” and “something that all of (their) supporters look forward to.” For many of these groups, the fundraising efforts made for this event help with many of the costs associated with training and certifying therapy animals, Drew said.
Although the World’s Largest Pet Walk has no registration fees, donations are highly encouraged. As of Monday, Pet Partners has raised 79,699 almost 80% of their $100,000 goal — and have over 1,000 walkers registered from the U.S. to Malaysia, Drew said.
Grundfest said Pet Partners of Las Vegas has raised roughly $3,500 as of last week.
The money will go toward the Pet Partners Therapy Animals Program, which creates therapy animal teams that go to hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and other places for public events to help people who can benefit from interacting with these animals. Kristy Albanese, a volunteer with the Pet Partners of Las Vegas team, said these animals can help “with anxiety, depression, and it just boosts overall morale.”
The Pet Partners of Las Vegas team have taken their various animals — dogs, cats, and even a miniature horse — to places like UNLV during finals week and the Southern Hills Hospital.
“We’ve seen children just lay down with the animals and cry just to relieve that stress, and get comfort from them,” Albanese said. “That’s kind of why we do what we do.”
While many people may hear “therapy animal” and immediately think of a dog in a brightly-colored vest, the Therapy Animals Program also enlists other species of animals, like Kristy Albanese’s rabbit Bunny.
Albanese joined the Pet Partners with her yellow Labrador retriever, Roxy, in 2014 after seeing Grundfest had visited Nevada State College, where Albanese was getting her degree. They hope is the walk will promote people to get outside with their pets, and of course, raise money for a good cause.
“It’s just very neat when people post their pictures and their videos,” Drew said. “We love just seeing all their photos.”
Donations can be made on the World's Largest Pet Walk website through Saturday.
