Dog wash to fund animal rights

Dirty dogs and people who love them will take over Briscoe Quad’s circle drive Monday as Revitalizing Animal Well-Being hosts its second annual Dirty Dirty Dog Wash.

The event is free and open to the public, though there is a suggested donation of $5 to $15, said graduate student Deborah Strickland, RAW co-president and co-founder.
Strickland said the Dirty Dirty Dog wash will have specialty shampoos for the dogs, such as shampoo for sensitive skin.

“Whatever concerns people have, we’ll be able to meet their needs,” Strickland said.
Courtney Wennerstrom, the group’s co-president and co-founder, described the dog wash as part of RAW’s efforts to remind people of their positive connection with animals.

“It’s uniting dogs in the community and IU students,” Wennerstrom said. “Human and animal suffering are deeply intertwined.”

Half of the proceeds will go to the Bloomington Animal Shelter, while the other half will help support the group’s Eggs-straordinary IU campaign, Wennerstrom said.

“Basically, this is a campaign between us and the Indiana Humane Society,” Strickland said. The focus of the campaign is to get Residential Programs and
Services to switch to “cage-free eggs,” in which chickens are free-range, not kept in battery cages about half the size of an 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper.

“(Cage-free eggs) are more humane for the animals and healthier for us,” Strickland said. “It makes them really miserable. They can also be filthy, diseased animals, and these are the eggs we’re eating.”

Wennerstrom said RAW plans to increase its efforts in the campaign.

“We want to step it up a notch and start a letter-writing campaign,” she said, adding that students can sign the group’s “love letter” to RPS Dining Services at this and future RAW events.

The Briscoe Welcome Week Committee is also helping organize the event, Wennerstrom said.

Committee member sophomore Abby Cooper said while brainstorming volunteer opportunities for Welcome Week activities, she initially thought of RAW because she was one of Wennerstrom’s students last year. For Cooper, the event’s appeal is simple.

“You get to play with dogs, and that’s fun,” she said.