Mutt Strut: The Greatest Spectacle in Dog Walking!

Indiana Tourism welcomes today’s guest blogger, Tristan Schmid:

Tristan Schmid is Director of Communications and Marketing for IndyHumane and oversees their website, Facebook, Twitter, and public-relations initiatives. In his free time, Tristan produces music, walks his dogs, and runs Lead the Pack, an Indianapolis-based marketing company.

Whether you like dogs, car racing, or both (I do! I do!), you won’t want to miss Mutt Strut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event, a dog walk around the world-famous Track, is the most important fundraiser for the Indy-based and independent Humane Society of Indianapolis (IndyHumane), and takes place on Sunday, May 1, 2011. My dogs and I have been each year for the past five, and if they could speak (in human language), they’d tell you it’s a must-do event.

A rare opportunity for race fans to walk with or without their dogs around the 2.5-mile oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 8,000 humans and 5,000 dogs attended Mutt Strut in each of the past two years.

Local celebrities including Brad Stevens, head coach of the Butler Bulldogs men’s basketball team; Butler Blue II, the Butler mascot; and Kalen Irsay, Vice President of the Indianapolis Colts; will be part of the festivities. Participate in this year’s event, and your dog might just be a celebrity, too: the dog of the top individual fundraiser this year will be next year’s Top Dog, featured on the Mutt Strut website, posters, and more.

Mutt Strut is the biggest benefit for the non-profit IndyHumane, which receives no funding from tax dollars or national animal-welfare organizations. Your participation in Mutt Strut directly saves lives like that of my cat, Gaston (photo on the right), who is FIV+ and was saved by IndyHumane thanks to donors’ generosity. IndyHumane doesn’t put animals like Gaston down because of space or time: Gaston was in the shelter for nearly a year before I adopted him. (Now it’s more like he adopted us: he treats my three big dogs like they’re his property!)

If you pre-register for Mutt Strut at IndyMuttStrut.org, you’ll get a commemorative Mutt Strut t-shirt for you, and a bandana for your dog.

Big thanks to our sponsors for making the event possible: Mutt Strut 2011 is presented by Harrison College School of Veterinary Technology, in partnership with St. Vincent Health.

I’ll see you and your strutting mutts at Mutt Strut!