Meals on Wheels Rowan celebrated Fuzzy Buddies Fun Day on May 4 at South Rowan Animal Hospital in China Grove.

Fun Day brings awareness to the AniMeals program, which delivers meals for pets of Meals on Wheels clients.

“We believe that pet companions are important in the lives of seniors, and we know that it is sometimes difficult to transport pet food from the grocery store into the home. We break pet food down into more manageable size containers, and our volunteers deliver the pet food in small amounts when they deliver meals to our homebound seniors,” said Sandy Combs, Meals on Wheels program director.

“We also want to make sure that our seniors get the full nutritional value from their meal and that they don’t share their meal with their pet,” she said. “Some of our seniors don’t have the financial resources to purchase pet food so we help out whenever we can.

“We have some wonderful donors who provide food for dogs and cats. This year, the Girl Scouts of Rowan and Cabarrus counties provided over $2,500 worth of pet food to Meals on Wheels Rowan as part of their Community Service Day.”

People who attended Fuzzy Buddies donated more than 200 pounds of food for cats and dogs.

Fuzzy Buddy sponsors included Pedigree, R&L Glover Construction, Dr. and Mrs. Brett Henson, Anne and Frank Saunders, Dr. and Mrs. Charles Steinman, Cheerwine and South Rowan Animal Hospital.

Vendors included the Rowan County Humane Society, Bella’s Barkery and Fur Real Flavors. Morgan and Joe Robinson donated pet bandanas for each pet that attended. MillerDavis provided the sound system. True Value Hardware contributed to the cat and dog basket raffle items. Purina provided Alpo Dog Treats for dogs.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was an agility demonstration by Mary Jo Bopp and Reece, her 10-year-old miniature Schnauzer. Reece has his C-ATE and 3-C-ATCH’s (agility trial extraordinaire and agility trial champion) certifications. Together, they participate in canine performance events in the South. Bopp set up a short agility course and demonstrated how her dog runs the course. Bopp invited other pets to try to run the agility course.

Award winners for the afternoon received a medal for the owner and a collar medal for the pet. Best in Show winners received a trophy for the owner and a collar medal for each pet.

In the large pet parade, first place went to Misha and Mike Miller; second place, Adele and Justin and Noah Scott; third place, Tesla and Mike Miller.

In the medium pet parade, first place went to Sugar Bear and Tracy and Kara Crotts; second place, Sadie and LuAnn Campbell.

In the small pet parade, first place went to Pickles and Chloe Redfern.

Costume contest winners included Abracadabra and Samantha and Destin Smith with first place for a construction worker’s theme; Sugar Bear and Tracy and Kara Crotts with second place for a tacky tourist theme; and Adele and Justin and Noah Scott with an American protector theme.

Trick contest winners included, first place, Sugar Bear and Tracy and Kara Crotts; second place, Pickles and Chloe Redfren; third place, Adele and Justin and Noah Scott.

Best in Show first place went o Sugar Bear and Tracy and Kara Crotts; second place, Adele and Justin and Noah Scott; and third place, Abracadabra and Samantha and Destin Smith.