Paws in Motion: Furry friends meet for Winnipeg Humane Society's largest fundraising event

Tails wagging and tags jingling, hundreds of pets and people met in Assiniboine Park on Sunday to raise money for the Winnipeg Humane Society.

The annual Paws in Motion walk kicked off at 10:30 a.m. with a 2½ kilometre walk in the park. Slower-moving participants, furry or otherwise, also had the option of a 1.75 kilometre shortcut.

After the walk, participants met in front of the The Lyric theatre for activities and entertainment.

The event is the largest fundraiser of the year for the Winnipeg Humane Society and organizers hope to bring in around $150,000 this year, said CEO Javier Schwersensky.

"It's a day which we celebrate the fact that we love pets, and that's just wonderful, and people rescuing animals and adopting animals from rescues, that's such a great thing to do," Schwersensky said.

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Registration for the walk cost $10 per person or $30 per family, and participants weren't required to have pets.

The event had already raised around $60,000 before the walk began, Schwersensky said. He said funds will be used to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome the roughly 8,000 animals the society helps every year.

"We do whatever it takes to save an animal, and that takes time, and that takes money. So we take care of the time and our wonderful supporters take care of the money," he said.

All leashed pets were welcome at the event, and some goats even made an appearance, but Schwersensky said his own cat, Spencer, wasn't interested in the walk.

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"We tried to walk my cat, Spencer. There are actually now really nice harnesses for cats. But my cat just pancaked on the floor and refused to move," he said. "So we decided to keep him at home."