During Block 6, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., winners of Dance Marathon’s color wars escaped the tent. In some distant block before, they had won the most points in Limbo, Evolution, and Ships and Sailors, and so their prize awaited on the second floor of Norris: eight extremely adorable puppies, sponsored by Community Animal Rescue Effort (C.A.R.E.).
After instructions to stay calm and quiet, groups of students gleefully cuddled and petted cute canines like Easel, who has three legs, and Cream Puff, who was decked out in a vest with a pink bow.
“The dogs had a blast playing and interacting with the students, and the students really seemed to enjoy it,” said Kari Kennedy, C.A.R.E.’s fundraising coordinator.
In branches throughout the North Shore, C.A.R.E. matches dogs and cats with foster owners and acts as a counseling resource for these owners. Rather than being a shelter-based group, all of their animals are in these temporary homes.
NUDM asked the organization to come with some puppies to allow students to decompress - and so they did. Many of the thrilled dancers mentioned how much they missed their pets at home, Kennedy said.
As a cat owner, Communication sophomore Sam van Loon was definitely not immune to the furry charms of C.A.R.E.’s puppies. Van Loon, as a Productions committee member, had spent most of his day in the DM tent dancing, running lights and sleeping. As the C.A.R.E. team started to pack up their animals, he was glad he made it up in time.
“I love dogs. Dogs are great, and I got really happy really fast when I saw that there were puppies,” he said, grinning. “It actually helps compensate for missing my pets at home. Just having something furry and lovable is wonderful.”
Amid the many students who came through this event, Kennedy’s favorite interaction was when a child from GiGi’s Playhouse came to play with the dogs and left with a huge smile.
“I was really happy that we got to meet one of the families from GiGi’s and be able to work together on something to help create awareness about their organization and about ours,” she said.