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LARKSVILLE — A Memorial Day festival geared toward raising money for Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge drew dozens of people to Larksville’s American Legion on Saturday for food, music and even a K-9 demonstration.
Organizer Joseph Potelunas, who himself has adopted three German Shepherds from the rescue, said the pet friendly event entitled “A Dog Day Afternoon,” complete with “Yappy Hour,” enabled those attending to honor veterans and support a good cause.
Potelunas said when adopting his first German Shepherd from the organization, the dog tried to bite him and staff told him he wouldn’t be able to adopt him.
“I told them, ‘It’s my dog,’” he said. “That was 2011. Now the dog is friendly, no problem at all.”
Cordie Braun, fundraising director for Blue Chip, said in addition to finding good homes for animals, the organization also helps veterans keep their pets.
“If a veteran is going to the hospital, we’ll temporarily keep his pet,” she said. “We recently had a veteran who is in rehab for three months. So, we have his dog. He comes to visit about twice a week.”
One veteran, she said, wouldn’t leave his home in an ambulance until he knew that his dog would be cared for.
The animal rescue also takes in pets during a domestic abuse situations in which someone has to leave their home and go to a shelter.
“They’ve already been through a lot,” she said. “We don’t want to see them lose their pet too — especially the kids.”
Braun said she enjoys going out into the community and letting people know what the organization does.
George Petros, a member of the American Legion, took special pleasure attending the event with his daughter Kimberly Petros, who is a vet tech, having worked in the field for about ten years.
Kimberly Petros said it was an opportunity to make people aware of how important it is to take care of their pets.
“Pets can sometimes transmit disease to humans,” she said. “Sometimes people don’t know that.”
The Petros have a cat named Dina, officially owned by Kimberly, but much attached to her father.
“She comes when he whistles,” Kimberly said, smiling.
Wilkes-Barre police also were on hand, providing a demonstration with the department’s K-9 officer Skoty.
“We wanted to show what our dog can do and his different abilities” said police officer Dan Roper.
Roper said the K-9 can sniff out drugs, detect various scents and track people.
“We can track a suspect that flees, but we can also find an elderly person,” he said.
Roper said it’s important to let people know that when Skoty is “in uniform” he is doing a job.
“People need to understand that,” he said. “When Skoty is on the job, you can’t come up and pet him.”
When Skoty’s away from work, however, he lives with Roper.
“During that time, he’s my house pet,” Roper said.
The event seemed to have something for everyone.
Music lovers who wanted to spend some time outdoors during the holiday weekend listening to music, were not disappointed.
John Lukas, who “put the music together,” sad there was a mix of acoustic, jazz, blues and classic rock.
Hamburgers and hot dogs straight from the grill were available throughout the event.
