By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

It’s been a big year for the Friends of the Hays Dog Park as they work toward completing the first complete year of the dog park being open and continuing fundraisers and upgrades at the facility.

“We recently had our big annual fundraiser, the garage sale, and we raised $3,700, so it was a big success,” said Kim Perez, president of the Friends of the Hays Dog Park.

Other fundraisers in conjunction with a Fort Hays State University class are planned, the first being this weekend.

The FHSU Tourism and Hospitality Events class will host a fundraiser for the Hays Dog Park Oct. 31 at the Tailgate before the FHSU football game called Pumpkin, Paws and Football and will be 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. outside the main entrance of Lewis Field.

A 3-on-3 basketball tournament to benefit Friends of the Hays Dog Park’s effort to raise awareness and funds will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, in FHSU’s Cunningham Hall.

Funds from both events will go to improvements at the park.

“The big thing we have going on this fall is we purchase two shelters,” Perez said. “At some point in early November, the company is going to come in and begin installing the shelters.”

Following the shelters being installed, the city will follow up later with the floor and the sidewalks.

“For inside the shelters, we plan to have benches, just like the benches we have outside the shelter,” Perez said.

“We are again selling them to interested individuals that want to memorialize a family member or a pet,” she said.

Those are being sold for $525 through their facebook page, blog or at [email protected].

For the year and a half, the park has been open — and has been popular with local pet owners.

“I think the feedback has been really good. A lot of people are still taking their dogs out their. It’s still crowded on evenings and weekends. People have been keeping it clean,” Perez said. “We are really moving forward, and I would say it has been a positive addition to the city.”