GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Dogs and people alike gathered Saturday at Grand Rapids’ Riverside Park to enjoy food, games and more, and it was all in support of Paws With A Cause.
It was the fourth year of Retriever Fever, which featured a “friendly competition” between golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers to see which group could raise more money for Paws With A Cause.
The nonprofit trains assistance dogs for people with physical disabilities, seizures, hearing loss and autism. It costs about $35,000 to train each assistance dog, and organizers say the demand is high.
“We do receive over 400 applicants a year for an assistance dog, but we’re only serving about 50 of them, so we want to double that placement,” communications manager Sidney Baxter previously told News 8.
Paws With A Cause begins $9.5M renovation, expansion
To help meet the need, Paws With A Cause is renovating and expanding its facility near Wayland with a $9.5 million project. Construction is expected to wrap up next year.