Smells like wet dog
BUTLER TWP — Sean and Cassie Stafiej, of Penn Township, have four dogs, three of them Great Danes, so cleaning their house is a difficult task.
After the day the four dogs had at the Alameda Waterpark on Sunday, Sept. 10, that job would be a little bigger, but the pets would all be tired out.
“The Danes enjoy dog parks,” Cassie Stafiej said. “It’s a good chance to get them out.”
Alameda Waterpark hosted the annual dog swim Sunday in partnership with the Butler County Humane Society. Dozens of dogs swam in the pool as their owners watched from the sides — some jumping in with their pets. The dog pool party is the last time Alameda Waterpark would be open for the summer.
Alicia Terek, director of development for the Butler County Humane Society, said the dog swim followed a low-cost vaccine clinic at Alameda Park, which served more than 75 pets Sunday. She said half of the money from dog admission fees to the swim would be donated to the humane society.
“A lot of people brought their pets,” Terek said. “The vets come and donate their time to do the clinic.”
Butler County Parks and Recreation has hosted a dog pool party for several years to close out Alameda Waterpark’s season. Throughout the afternoon, dogs jumped in and out of all ends of the pool, fetching sticks and doing the doggy paddle until they tired out.
Frank Kowalkowski, of Butler Township, said he and his wife, Donna, brought their young chocolate lab, Hershey, to the pool party last year, and brought him back this year because of how much the pooch enjoyed it.
“We brought him here last year when he was 6 months old,” Kowalkowski said. “We had to drag him out of the pool.”
