By Scott Cendrowski
Special for The State News
Max, a blue-eyed, 74-pound bulldog, panted on Saturday morning as Mariah Dersham came in for a kiss.
The dog-kissing booth was one of the events at the Capital Area Humane Society's 11th Annual Walk for the Animals fund-raiser, attracting those willing to plunk down a dollar to be plastered with drool.
"It's my new shirt, and it got slobbered on," said Dersham, a St. Johns resident. "It was fun and (Max) was pretty."
The event, held at Fitzgerald Park in Grand Ledge, is the Humane Society's largest fund-raiser of the year, raising $80,000.
Gretchen Couraud, vice president of development and communications at the Capital Area Humane Society, said that 72 percent of the organization's budget is from individual contributions and the rest is based on adoption.
"We are extremely dependent on this," she said.
With more than 300 pre-registered contributors, and about 500 participants, events including an obstacle course and police dog demonstration were swarmed with supporters.
"Usually people come out in droves. Five-hundred people showed last year," Couraud said.
Working under the vendor tent for A New Start on Life rescue program, which cares for dogs that have been subjected to harsh conditions in the puppy-mill industry, Lisa Francovic talked about the conditions of four dogs on display.
"All are from Missouri," she said. "They spent life having babies, and after they couldn't anymore, they were sent to the humane society."
Annie, a small dog rescued by the program, had no fur or teeth because of her malnutrition in the puppy mills.
"Female dogs are bred so often in these mills their internal organs grow together," Francovic said.
Bebe Bryans, a staunch supporter of the humane society, was on all fours calling for her Australian cattle dog Courtney to make its way through the tunnel in the obstacle course.
"I've been volunteering for the Humane Society, and I was a foster parent for humane society dogs," Bryans said in the company of her other two dogs, also Australian cattle dogs.
Gunshot blanks rang throughout the park during the police dog demonstration.
"We take 12 weeks to train them, then four weeks for explosives or narcotics," Officer Matt Ramsey, part of the K-9 unit in Lansing, said about his German shepherd.
Local businesses such as Stober's Bar in Lansing and Soldans Feeds & Pet Supplies contributed to the success of the fund-raising walk. T-Mobile also was at the walk, offering a $25 donation to the humane society for each new phone activation.
Bath resident Terri Metros tried to coax her golden retriever up a 10-foot ladder obstacle in the police dog course.
"We pledged online and got pledges from the workplace," she said. "It's great, didn't know it would be this much fun."
