Editor’s Note: The transcript of this live Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Mighty Texas Dog Walk & Expo is set to take place on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Camp Mabry, located at 2200 W 35th Street.
Mighty Texas Dog Walk & Expo organizers said it has 12 world records that include largest dog cake, largest dog bowl, most dogs walked and more. This year it will try to beat the world record for biggest pajama party with dogs.
The event’s website said all proceeds benefit Service Dogs Inc. which helps transform dogs in shelters to service dogs for wounded veterans and other disabled veterans, free of charge.
KXAN’s Avery Travis and Will DuPree spoke to event organizers about what attendees can expect at the event.
Will DuPree: It has been called the doggiest day in Austin for nearly 25 years. Pups and their owners have gathered for the Mighty Texas Dog Walk, breaking world records and raising money for a good cause. The event is back this weekend at Camp Mabry.
Avery Travis : We’ve got an amazing crew here, some of the hosts of the event to break it all down for us. Ray Anderson, you may recognize from Esther’s Follies, of course, Carter the canine cannon ball, star the show a shining moment here. And Sheri Soltes who started the Mighty Texas Dog Walk and founded Service Dogs Inc, that’s the nonprofit that all of this will benefit.
Tell us about the walk. How did it come about? What started the idea for you?
Sheri Soltes: They were doing this in a guide dog school in New Jersey, and I thought this is a great idea to try to win a world record, because that levels it up from just another charity event. So we wanted to give Austin, Texas global bragging rights, as well as raising money for a good cause.
Avery Travis: At times, you guys had the help of our very own Jim Spencer and our beloved pup, Kaxan, who we have lost, but we will never forget. If you didn’t have the chance to meet Kaxan out there, he was actually rescued from the parking lot out behind our building, and went on to do some amazing things in the community, many times, helping break those world records. Just like so many rescue dogs that you all train with, Service Dogs. Inc, so talk to us about the nonprofit. What do you do? And who do you guys help?
Sheri Soltes: Well, service dogs. Inc, trains like the cousins to guide dogs. We train dogs that alert deaf people to sounds. Those are the hearing dogs and service dogs that help folks with in wheelchairs and other sorts of disabilities affecting their mobility. We also train dogs to help children in court when they have to testify about trauma, and also dogs that support first responder resiliency.
The dogs are all from animal shelters, so the dogs help the people, and the people help the dogs, and the community helps all of us. Yeah, and we do it free of charge, and globally, we are one of the very few that uses rescue dogs. Some are pure breed, some are mixed breed, but it’s just like your coworkers, if you can do the job, we don’t care who your parents are.
Will DuPree: Anybody who has not ever gone to the walk. Tell us about what we can expect there.
Sheri Soltes: This year while we are all singing the Star Spangled Banner. We have the Patriot Parachute Team, which is retired Navy SEALs, parachuting into the venue, and they’re going to have a Texas flag, and they’ll be at our booth later to give kids high fives and sign autographs. And we’re real excited to have them. It’s a first for the dog walk.
Avery Travis: Thank you guys so much for being here, and we are excited to see all the people that enjoy your event this weekend, keep in mind that Saturday kicks off at nine in the morning. As they mentioned at Camp Mabry and our very own Jim Spencer will be out there, of course.