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Cottonwood Heights Journal

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Sep 04, 2015 03:38PM ● By Rhett Wilkinson

Dogs benefitted from many services offered Aug. 22 at Holladay Dog Days. Photo courtesy Michele Bohling

By Rhett Wilkinson

It was about the canines (and cats, unexpectedly) at the first Dog Days of Holladay Celebration Aug. 22 at Holladay City Plaza, where an animal shelter benefited greatly.

Salt Lake County Animal Services offered a number of services at no cost, including free microchips, free basic vaccine packages, free rabies vaccines, licenses, activities for kids and adoptable dogs. And Utah Friends for Animal Care and Effective Solutions (FACES) was given a $1,200 check.

The many felines were a surprise but welcomed. They received services as their counterparts did. Overall, the event was quite well-attended, said Joni Dahle, Dog Days of Holladay coordinator.

“It was a great event, one I’m sure will become a Holladay tradition,” said Michele Bohling, events coordinator at City of Holladay.

Vendors who participated included Calling All Dogs, all the Raige Dog Salon, LeFur Grooming Studio, The Dog Stop and Intermountain Therapy Animals, Dahle said.

Dog brag flags were sold, as photos of dogs were offered.

Attendees didn’t mind waiting in a long line because they got in for free. And Tony Caputo’s was right there to offer those folks food and drink. Slices Pizza Joint handed out $5 gift cards, Dahle said.

Mayor Rob Dahle and Twinkle Chisholm presented Utah FACES Chair John Gallegos with a $1,200 check, Dahle said. Utah FACES did not know that they would be beneficiaries even a week earlier.

Utah FACES is an all-volunteer run non-profit organization. Developed in 2008, it continues to provide much-needed funding for the care and support of the thousands of animals that come to the Salt Lake County Animal Services shelter each year. All of the money raised by FACES goes directly back to the shelter to support spay and neuter programs, microchips and vaccines and large equipment purchases, such as a digital x-ray machine, according to utahfaces.org.

“We were very grateful and pleasantly surprised to receive that very generous donation from Holladay City,” said Joan Gallegos, Board President of Utah FACES. “Utah FACES will put good use of that money for our low-income spay and neuter program and our injured animal fund.”

Also, because of Salt Lake County Animal Services, Utah FACES is now a no-kill shelter, Joan said.

Salt Lake County Animal Services had a commitment to operating a “no-kill” facility for six years, and its live release rate surpassed 91 percent in 2013 and 92 percent in 2014. It is the largest shelter in Utah to achieve this status, according to its website.