Judith Burgess believes the companionship of a pet can be more than comforting — it can be lifesaving.
Burgess, who works with the Mental Health Foundation, said these tough economic times can create particulary difficult situations for people with mental illnesses and other mental health problems. Often, it’s their pets that prevent them from doing something drastic.
You will always see these stories — the pet just kind of saved them, Burgess said. `They know that the pet depends on them. It provides them with a purpose for living.`
Through her work with the Mental Health Foundation, Burgess oversees the Paws for a Cause at the Plaza event, which highlights the bond between people and their pets. Now in its third year, Paws for a Cause will be held Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, on the South Concourse of Empire State Plaza.
While the event’s message is a serious one, there will be plenty of family fun, including shows by the Purina Incredible Dog Team. Paws for a Cause will also feature vendors, presentations, information on adopting animals and a wall where people can write a paragraph or two about what their pets mean to them. This is the inaugural year for the wall.
`We’re always looking for stories,` Burgess said. `I think we’ll get a lot of interesting feedback.`
While the wall may be new, the Incredible Dog Team is making a return trip to the area, having proved a hit at previous Paws for a Cause events. The dogs on the team can do flips, catch Frisbees and do an assortment of other tricks.
`People love them,` Burgess said. `They are really incredible.`
The dog team will put on three shows, and it attracts so many people that by the third show, `you can’t walk,` Burgess said.
There are nine trainers who take the dogs around the country to perform, and they are big believers in the Paws for a Cause message that pets play an important role in people’s lives.
`The trainers own the dogs,` said Aaron Methvin, a production manager with Kicking Cow, the company that manages the Incredible Dog Team. `The trainers don’t go anywhere without these dogs.`
That kinship lets the dogs `do things you never thought a dog could do,` Methvin said. One, for instance, can do a handstand, he said.
Methvin, who’s watched the Incredible Dog Team perform numerous times, called it `crazy` and said it’s sure to keep people of all ages entertained.
`You see kids with big smiles and adults with their jaws dropped,` he said. `It’s just fun.`
Burgess hopes people will share some of those good feelings with animals around the area who are in need. In addition to looking to hook people up with rescue groups at the show, organizers are holding a pet food drive at Paws for a Cause. Visitors are encouraged to bring a container of new, unopened, canned or dry pet food on both days. The food will be distributed to the rescue groups that are participating in the event.
The Mental Health Foundation, meanwhile, doesn’t stand to collect much from the event. It’s not really a fundraiser — admission is free. Burgess said Paws for a Cause is really intended just to celebrate the role animals play in people’s lives.
Paws for a Cause at the Plaza will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The Incredible Dog Team will perform Saturday at 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m. “