Pints for P.A.W.S. kicks off annual benefit at Rollie's this Wednesday evening

Helping local dogs and cats, one beer at a time

Mon, 02/18/2013 - 12:45pm

BELFAST — We're combining this month's "Look at that face!" column on adoptable dogs and cats with a super good cause. All it requires is that you pop into Rollie's Bar and Grill in Belfast this Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 5 p.m. and quaff a brew, or in the parlance, down a pint for P.A.W.S. Animal Adoption Center in Camden.

This will be the seventh "Pints" benefit Heidi Vanorse, co-owner of Loyal Biscuit Co., has organized for animal shelters in the Midcoast.

"The community has been awesome in donating prizes for the raffle," she said. "We currently have 45 prizes and one live auction item, making this the most amount of prizes we have had so far for a Pints event."

Rollie's will donate a dollar for every pint sold and proceeds from raffle and auction item sales will go towards the P.A.W.S animals. Laura Stupca, shelter manager at P.A.W.S., said, "All the money that's raised can help us by going toward animals that need to be vaccinated, spayed and neutered. It also goes toward dog food, cat food, litter and toys."

You've likely seen Maggi, an adult Border Collie mix, in our "Look at that face!" column before. That's because she got bypassed getting adopted this weekend and one of her biggest champions, P.A.W.S. volunteer, Diane Sturgeon, wanted to make sure she got a wee bit more attention. Sturgeon who faithfully walks Maggie and other dogs at P.A.W.S. every weekend has come to know this shy girl well.

"Maggie originally came into the shelter as a stray, so we don't know much about her background, but she is head shy, so we're guessing someone was probably quite rough with her at some point in her life, which is why we need a family to come along that will be patient and give Maggie the time and love she needs to learn that people are actually okay," said Sturgeon.  "She's very food motivated and would love it if you brought her some delightful meat treats for that first introduction.  She's been in the kennels for months now and has reached the point where she's really sad about going back in after her walks, so she will sometimes just flop down to try to convince the human on the end of her leash to give her just a few more minutes outside in the fresh air. Let her get a couple sniffs in before you make any sudden movements, so she could get comfortable with you. You should probably know that once Maggie does get to know you, she'll want to hang with you forever and will probably ask for some serious belly rubs!"

The benefit goes from 5 to 8 p.m. Musician Paddy Mills will be providing the entertainment, along with a raffle and auction. For more information on what's available for auction visit their Facebook page.