'Backpack' Jack, a friendly American Staffordshire Terrier from Aldergrove, was one of the best-dressed dogs at the Canadian Animal Rescue and Extended Shelter (CARES) walk at Derby Reach Park on Sunday, Sept. 15.
Jack was proudly wearing his backpack when he arrived for the fundraiser with his human, Jeremy Mills.
"Jack being energetic and as strong as he is, I thought we could put a backpack on him," Mills explained.
"He could carry some of his own dog treats, and even some of his own water, and it's worked out very well," Mills told the Langley Advance Times.
"He's now seven-and-a-half, and we're hiking and walking, he carries his pack, he carries his water, and I don't have to carry it all."
Jack has his own Instagram page devoted to his camping and hiking with his human, https://www.instagram.com/backpackjack_adventures/ "Back Pack Jack adventures."
Organizers of this year's CARES (Canadian Animal Rescue and Extended Shelter) fundraising walk with dogs in Derby Reach Park on Sunday were hoping to raise $10,000 for the Langley cat shelter, currently at capacity. pic.twitter.com/Gac6nE3YSL
— Langley Advance Times (@LangleyTimes) September 15, 2024
About 40 people took part in the walk, which raised just over $10,000 for the no-kill cat shelter in Langley.
CARES president Carol Briner said the shelter was overcapacity, with 120 cats when their maximum is 100, and there are also about 60 cats, kittens, and mothers in various foster homes in Langley.
"I've got seven [foster cats]," Briner said.
"We've had to take in extra this year because [of] people not being able to afford vet bills and having to turn the cats in, people with rental situations who have to turn their animals in, people who go to seniors homes and have to turn their animals in, and then, of course, there's the strays who have no home at all. "
Money from the walk will help with food and bills and vet bills, "which are always high and run $120,000 a year," Briner estimated.
"When we take in kitties, everybody has to go to the vet and be checked out and we do lots of spay and neuters," Briner explained.
"Sometimes we get cats with broken legs, so the vet bill really goes to the moon, and cats that are not in very good shape when we receive them."