WELLINGTON COUNTY – The Suicide Awareness Council of Wellington-Dufferin is hosting its first ever Paws-a-thon for mental health week.
Paws-a-thon encourages pet owners to take pictures of their pets and post them on social media with the hashtags #pawsathon2021 #1000paws #sacwd #sacwdsuicideprevention.
Or pictures can be sent via email to suicidecouncilwd@cmhaww.ca to be added to their website paws4suicideprevention.com.
The number of paws sent in is kept track of on the website, with a goal of hitting a thousand paws by the end of the event on May 9.
As of May 6 at 9am the tally was 748 paws.
Community response to this event has been positive, “people like to share pictures of their pets,” said Suicide Awareness Council coordinator for the Heather Glenister.
She explained the idea behind Paws-a-thon is to engage people in a positive way, and appreciate pets as a grounding force in many lives.
“Hopefully it brings a smile to peoples faces… with COVID-19 we need happy,” said Glenister.
