Wesmen Women's Volleyball was pleased to join in Winnipeg Animal Services' Doggie Date program earlier this month to bring awareness to WAS's adoption program and animal welfare.

The program allowed the Wesmen student-athletes to connect with the adoptable pups that are housed at WAS's shelter, providing a fun outing for the animals but also a rewarding experience for the Wesmen. 

"Animal welfare is something that I am very passionate about," middle blocker Grace Vallis said. "Animals do not have their own voice to ask for help or freedom and it is important for humanity to step up and do that for them. There are many instances, even within Winnipeg where that does not happen. It breaks my heart knowing that there are animals out there who don't have loving families taking care of them or don't have a family at all. Being able to bring a handful of dogs, each with their own unique personalities, out of their normal living situations for an afternoon just made everyone's hearts full."

Anyone interested in helping can take a dog on a Doggie Date and WAS provides leashes, collars and food. Dogs can be taken out for a day or up to a week. 

The Wesmen split into four groups and each had a pooch to parade around for the day with car rides, walks and pup cups.

"WAS expressed immense gratitude for our visit and contributions," libero Taylor Cangemi said. "It made our hearts feel so full to take the dogs out of the shelter, and the staff taught us a lot about the services they provide and the hardships these animals have experienced. Personally, I have a family dog back home in Calgary, I walk several dogs a week while I am in school, and work in the field of wildlife conservation during the summers. As a lifelong animal-lover, this experience was very meaningful to me and certainly pulled at my heart strings. We hope this collaboration can help spread awareness about the issues surrounding domestic animal treatment, the need for adoption of animals in the shelter, and hopefully encourage locals to get involved at WAS as well. We hope to establish a long-term relationship with WAS to help promote their mission, efforts, and services while continuing to expand support for Wesmen Athletics in the local community."