Reporter's notebook: Bark tour

This morning, Clovis will run, walk and bark for life.

It will be the dogs doing the barking — most of it anyways.

This is the 6th or 7th year running of Bark for Life, a pet-friendly variation of the Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, said organizer Marcy Anaya.

Unlike the human-centric original this event lasts only a few hours, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hillcrest Park. Neither do you actually need a dog or your running shoes; there will also be games, a bake sale, a bounce house, a dunk tank, and demonstrations from the K9 units of Clovis and Cannon Air Force Base police.

If you’re bringing a dog, dress them up for the costume contest. If you choose not to, they’ll still get a bandanna to wear after registration, available online or on site — $15 for one dog, $20 for two, Anaya said.

All the funds raised will go to cancer research. The event is also a reminder that the malady is not restricted to humans.

“I actually lost my own dog to lung cancer, about two years ago,” Anaya said. “Last year, we lost (another dog) to osteosarcoma.”

The cause may be a sobering one, but that doesn’t mean a person or canine can’t have a good time supporting it.

“It’s all good fun,” Anaya added. “The dogs have fun, the people have fun, everybody has fun looking at all the different dogs.”

— Compiled by Staff Writer David Grieder