This is a report on the ARK Support Fair held at
FIELD NOTE on May 23rd (Sun) in Nara City.
Despite the horrible weather, with heavy rain and strong wind, the place was overflowing with visitors.
Usually we use the wonderful yard and the wooden deck area for these support fairs, but unfortunately, this time we were indoors. However, plenty of space was provided for us and the dogs were able to spend the day in comfort.
Pauline's friend had already been already rehomed, but so many people came to visit her on the day.
She's a popular dog. Who knew?
We thought she would be a bit anxious in this new environment, but she was quite relaxed and seemed to be enjoying herself.
She didn't cry or act up or get sick in the cage while going to and from the fair in the car. Maybe
crate training works!
Spot is from the same family as Biwako and Free, who participated in the
adoption event in Nishinomiya last week.
Spot is designated as a sponsor dog, but we thought "Let's give Spot a chance...” and decided to have Spot participate in the fair this time.
We had hoped that maybe someone would say, "We can't adopt him, but maybe we can be his
sponsor..."
Spot had a rigid expression, was afraid during the first half of the fair and even tried to run away and hide, but gradually his expression softened and he started eating meals and snacks―even from the hands of our visitors.
If you were really afraid, Spot, you wouldn't be able to eat, would you?
Our selected team of puppies,
Aquarius and
Cressida also came along.
They're so full of energy.
Cressida was adopted the next day when her new family came to ARK.
Yay!
Prospective families have shown an interest in
Sasuke, but somehow it hasn't worked out. Maybe participating in an adoption fair will bring him luck!!
Sasuke wasn't shy in showing off his friendly side. Let me introduce Sasuke's special skill. When he's repeatedly told to "wait," he sticks out the end of his tongue.
It's so cute that we ask him to "wait" just to see him do it.
(I guess this isn't really called a "special skill"...)
It's a fact that puppies are cute and tend to be the focus of everyone's attention, but this time, people expressed interest in the older dogs too, which made us happy.
Toys are everything to puppies.
The puppies were playfully pulling Sasuke and Pauline's leashes.
Sasuke and Pauline looked lovingly at the puppies when they did this, which made a good impression on our visitors.
When the puppies got a bit carried away and tugged on Pauline's tail, she would wrinkle up her muzzle to tell them it was against the rules.
The puppies understood this message.
ARK doggies are socialized so well.
Representing the smaller dogs was
Milfy.
Although Milfy may not look it, he's a boy.
He's number one in his mind and when he's not being held or coddled, he cries out for attention. As a result, someone was always holding him. He was probably deeply loved and cared for by his previous owner. Being abandoned at the age of nine and suddenly having to live in a group situation is probably a difficult adjustment. We'd like him to find his very own family soon.
We held a quiz tournament, called the "Cat & Dog Test" but the questions were a little complicated and the accuracy rate was low, so we're sorry about that.
We should have done a yes or no quiz format so the children could enjoy it more.
That will be our task next time.
Those visitors who the prizes provided by FIELD NOTE were lucky!
Treasure is the mother of seven puppies.
Her puppies have all been adopted, but Treasure has missed her chance and four years have already passed.
The staff in charge of taking care of Treasure rave about her charms. She loves to be spoiled and to play and she has a very silly, yet active side to her. However, she's very shy and when someone she doesn't know peeks into the dog house, she hides, so it's difficult to show off her good side to potential new families.
On the day of the support fair, she was afraid at the beginning and stood transfixed, looking for a place to hide, but perhaps got tired of being scared, so gave up and ate food given to her by the visitors. She was able to relax even though she was surrounded by people.
There's no doubt that once Treasure has a place to call her own, she'll be a pleasure to everyone through her cute gestures and expressions.
No animals were rehomed today, but there were families that came to ARK from Nara and others who plan to come to ARK in the near future.
FIELD NOTE hosts these support fairs for ARK's animals every year in the spring and fall, and for that we are very grateful.
For the support day, stores such as
Pain de' Cuisson,
dyed goods TECK-TECK,
leather goods crafter Ms. Noriko Sakata,
woodworker Ms. Tomoko Miyauchi, and ceramic artist Ms. Rumiko Nakao of Atelier Sazani all donated a portion of their proceeds. We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for this.
For all those who came to the venue and for their generous donations as well as the items that people brought to us, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Thank you to those who brought their dogs that they had adopted from ARK. To be able to see them again and have such an enjoyable time makes us really look forward to these ARK support fairs.
We'd like to ask for your continued support and cooperation in ARK's activities as we try to save as many lives as possible.
★ Charity Party! ARK Pub Night in KobeDate: June 19 (Sat) 18:30-21:00
Place: Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club
http://www.krac.org/Home.html★ Please join in our raffle!This is a raffle to raise money for the ARK sanctuary building fund.
