Second annual Woofstock a great success

People gathered Saturday in Pepin Park with their dogs to have some fun and raise money to help fund the Havre Animal Shelter at the same time.

Friends of the Havre Animal Shelter held the second annual Woofstock, a community event for people and dogs as a fundraiser for the non-profit.

"It's great to see dogs that are well socialized that can come to events like this," Friends of the Havre Animal Shelter President Kim Federspiel, who is also married to Havre Animal Control Officer Peter Federspiel, said. "It's great to see responsible pet owners."

Woofstock raises money for Friends of the Havre Animal Shelter, which helps pay for veterinarian expenses, medicines, formula and other expenses outside of the shelter's budget. It also helps fund programs such as the Trap/Neuter/Release Program and putting on free spay and neutering clinics for the community.

Kim Federspiel said her favorite part of the event is seeing the number of people who support the shelter in the community. Woofstock is a great way to get people who are interested in supporting the Havre Animal Shelter and donors together and see the work the shelter does.

"I'm incredibly proud of my husband and all the work that he does for the shelter," she said. "I'm proud of putting something on like this, being able to assist and support the shelter and help more animals."

It is important to get the community together and understand all the good the shelter is doing, she said. Woofstock is also good because it opens up the shelter to the community. People are able to see what the shelter is doing and what it's about. She added that people are also able to meet Peter Federspiel and put a face to the name.

Peter Federspiel said the event this year was going very well and he was happy with the large turnout for the event. He added that the Havre Animal Shelter has done great work for the community, and it is nice to see the community come out to support the shelter.

The shelter has a number of things it is working on to help improve its operation, but the main goal of the shelter is to be a place for animals.

"It's a place for animals that would otherwise go on the street," he said.

In the past, Havre used to have stray dogs running the streets, which were unowned, similar to cats in the area, he said. People don't see that anymore, he said.

"I've been overwhelmed at times, and there's a couple of times that I've gone home and go, 'I need to quit,' where it's been just that overwhelming," Federspiel said. "But events like this and being able to see what changes we've made, it shows some of the good things that have come from the shelter and some of our hard work."

He added that a number of the animals at the event were at one time in the shelter, some of them first going in when they were puppies. He said he enjoys seeing how the animals grew up and how they are in good homes.

Federspiel said the shelter helps promote the well-being and socialization of animals and find them homes, rather than just being a place to put strays. He said the shelter has 92 percent of the animals entering it being adopted or saved, which technically makes Havre Animal Shelter a no-kill shelter. He added that, hopefully, the number will be able to be higher in the future.

The funds raised at Woofstock will go toward a number of programs the shelter has, he said, adding that the shelter will also be working on getting more free spay and neuter clinics available in the area, helping low-income families take care of their animals and reduce the number of stray puppies or kittens which are turned in to the shelter. 

Federspiel said he wanted to thank the community and the businesses for their support.

Ruth Lass was, at the event with her golden Labrador retriever dog Prada, said it was her first time at the event and she was having a great time. She was unable to make it last year because she was waiting to have surgery, but was able to this year. She added her favorite part of the event was the puppy kissing booth, which had seven mixed-breed puppies that were available for adoption.

"If I didn't already have three dogs at home, I would have adopted more," she said.

She added that it is important for people who love dogs and their animals to support the shelter because it serves a valuable purpose for both people and animals.

Jeri Erickson, who was at Woofstock with her husband, Matt, their son Cole and their dog Griffey, said she attended last year and thought the Friends of the Havre Animal Shelter did a great job. She added that this year was much bigger and she hopes in the future the event gets bigger and bigger. 

Erickson said it is important people in Havre have things to do and places to go with their animals.

Matt Erickson added that Peter Federspiel does a great job and they were happy to be able to support him and the shelter at the event.

Havre Dog Park Club President Chad Stewart and club Treasurer Juanita Sanborn both said it was their first year at the event. Stewart said the club attended the event last year, but it was before Sanborn or he got involved in the club. 

Stewart said the event was going great and it was great to see so many people and animals out interacting with each other in a fun, safe environment. He said Woofstock is a great example of what they would like to see in the future dog park. He added that the club would be interested in coming back to the event in the years to come and want to continue supporting the shelter.

Kim Federspiel said they made a few changes from last year's event.

She said the first year was a success, but Friends of the Havre Animal Shelter saw areas were it could improve. Last year, they had about three weeks to plan and didn't have very much time to organize community outreach, she said. She added that she started making a list of things which could make it better, bigger and more successful this year.

Having more time to plan the event made a big difference, she said, and helped make it a success. Overall, the event was the same, but they were able to get more vendors this year as well as hold the event a month earlier, adding that the weather was a large factor in last year's turn out. She said they were also able to get the word out about the event earlier and were able to get more businesses involved for the silent auction.

She said that a friend's daughter went out with a donation letter and approached a number of businesses, asking them if they would like to be involved. Federspiel added that the support was overwhelming, and she was surprised by the amount of donations they received for the auction. She added that she appreciates all the support they received.

This year, she said, the events' sponsors also paid for all of the overhead cost of the event and every cent made will go directly to the animal shelter.

She added that something new this year were some shirts the club made for the event which read "Emotional support human" on the front. She said Peter Federspiel originally ordered a similar shirt as kind of a joke for the play yard of the shelter, but decided they would be good to sell at Woofstock.

She said the shirts are something unique and the slogan is true for all pet owners. 

"I just think it's so fun and that's what we are, emotional support humans," she said.