Fundraiser for Carolinas PAWS helps owners give back

Correspondent

Tania Bowers and Tim Miner are so happy with the dogs they own with the help of Carolina PAWS, they want to give back.

Now everyone can help the Waxhaw-based Pet Adoption & Welfare Society shelter and enjoy some pizza at the same time.

On Feb. 6, all five Charlotte Brixx Wood Fired Pizza locations will donate $3 for every 10-inch pizza and $1 for every kids’ pizza to Carolina PAWS when customers bring in a Brixx Buxx flier.

Bowers was touched by a South Charlotte News story in October about Vivienne, a collie mix puppy with a broken right leg that faced possible amputation. Bowers adopted the dog from Carolina PAWS within days. Best of all, the pup – now 6 months old and renamed Lucy – has responded well to physical therapy and probably will avoid surgery for the extended future.

“If you didn’t know her story, you probably wouldn’t even notice the slight abnormality in her gait,” Bowers said. “She won’t have a surgery – not unless arthritis is too unbearable when she is old.”

The 41-year-old Steele Creek resident recently was talking with good friend Srivatsa Krishnamurthy, an assistant manager of Brixx’s uptown location. Because Brixx has done fundraisers in the past, “He suggested I contact their director of training and operations, Sandy Lash, to ask if we could do a fundraiser for Carolina PAWS.

“Being an animal lover herself, Sandy was thrilled with the idea. She put me in touch with their marketing director, Tim Miner.”

That connection resulted in a happy coincidence. It turns out that Thanksgiving week, Miner saw a dog named Duchess on the Carolina PAWS website, and his family fell in love with her. After the dog visited the family’s home, they adopted the Labrador terrier mix – now 1 1/2 years old and renamed Furgie – shortly afterward.

“She’s a tremendous dog,” said Miner, who lives in the SouthPark area. “We’re very happy. We had owned a Labrador retriever for 14 1/2 years and she passed away at the end of the summer, and we were very heartbroken about that. We thought it would take a while to find another dog to fall in love with … it was love at first sight.”

According to Miner, Furgie had been dropped off at a shelter soon after she had given birth to four puppies.

“So Carolina PAWS took Furgie and her four puppies, found a foster home for her so she could have a place to nurse them, and then when they were able to be adopted, all four of her puppies were found homes.”

Bowers is impressed by Brixx’s enthusiasm for the event.

“Typically when Brixx does a fundraiser, it only does it at one store,” Bowers said. “So it’s great that they’re doing this at all five.”

Carolina PAWS President Robin Essenmacher said, “We are very excited to partner with Brixx Wood Fired Pizza and are looking forward to the Brixx Buxx event on Feb. 6. We appreciate the community coming out to support Carolina PAWS.”

“Carolina PAWS is a tremendous organization,” Miner said. “A number of our friends have adopted dogs from them. They just care for them so well.

“It’s not an easy process to adopt a dog. They really want to find a home where it’s a good mix so that the dog is never in a shelter again.”

Bowers recalled that level of care when she was in the process of adopting Lucy: “I wanted my orthopedic specialist vet to look at Lucy, and April (Gardner, a Carolina PAWS board member who often fosters dogs before they’re adopted) came all the way out to Gastonia. She lives on the other side of Charlotte.

“They really went above and beyond with her. It sounds like they do this with a lot of pets. Without Carolina PAWS, Lucy wouldn’t be with us today.”