ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 11, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Celebrating dogs and the people who love them, the 21st Annual Paws in the Park takes place Saturday, February 14th at iconic Lake Eola Park in Downtown Orlando beginning at 9 am. The pet walk and festival is the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando's largest community event of the year and this year Animal Planet's star of "It's Me or the Dog," Victoria Stilwell, will join Pack Leaders Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan at Lake Eola for a fun-filled day. Paws in the Park, made possible this year by the Reed Nissan Pet Rescue Project, begins at 9:00 am (register online for $25 at pawsinthepark.petallianceorlando.org) and the Doggie Fun Zone, Canine Sports Arena and the world famous Splash Dogs® dock diving competition continue through 1 pm. Registration includes a souvenir shirt for pet parents and logo bandanna for dogs. Humans can watch all activities for free and a $10 Canine Sports Pass – available on site - allows your dog to participate in all of the fun.
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There is something for every two-legged and four legged Valentine at this year's Paws in the Park as the Walt Disney World© Resort hosts the Disney Kids and Family Together Zone with free hands-on activities that are fun for the entire family. The world famous Splash Dogs® will also be participating in dog diving competitions at special dog diving facilities constructed just for Paws in the Park.
"We have pulled out all of the stops to recognize the powerful relationships between dogs and people for the 21st anniversary of Paws in the Park," says Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando Vice President of Philanthropy & Marketing, Sean Hawkins. "We are planning for 4,000 human party animals and are anticipating more than 600 dogs joining in the fun at this year's event which also includes a Food Truck Rally at Lake Eola." Walt Disney World© Resort, Reed Nissan, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Pet Supermarket, Banfield Pet Hospital, Appleton Creative, WMMO and The New Barker Magazine join with WFTV's 9 Family Connection and the Orlando Sentinel as Leader of the Pack sponsors for the 2015 Paws in the Park.
Happy Paws Pet Resort is hosting the Canine Sports Arena with both agility and fly-ball demonstrations and public pet participation opportunities. Petango is sponsoring a $10 microchip clinic for dogs on-site at the event. Paws in the Park is free to the public with specialty vendors and a food truck rally taking place around the lake.
"We set our sights really high with a $200,000 fundraising goal to help more homeless pets in our Central Florida animal shelters," said Hawkins. "We are so thrilled to have partnered with Walt Disney World© Resorts for our grand fundraising prize this year, a resort stay and theme park tickets, and we are able to offer very special tickets to the Sarah McLachlan concert at the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts for the top five finalists." Visit www.petallianceorlando.org for all of the details.
About Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando
As the go-to pet experts for Central Florida, the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando does good things for dogs and cats and the people who love them. Formerly the SPCA of Central Florida, the organization's goal is to provide compassionate and knowledgeable services for pets and to be leaders in innovative animal care and veterinary medicine. More than 7,000 homeless dogs and cats turned to the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando for caring, compassion, and hope through its two animal shelters last year. Highly skilled veterinarians will help and heal an additional 45,000 animals through two veterinary clinics. Providing shelter for animals in crisis, disaster response efforts, and pet food pantry programs for dogs and cats in need, thousands of additional animals are helped each year. Visit www.PetAllianceOrlando.org for more information.
