VICENZA, Italy - Military Community Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation will host its first-ever Pet Awareness Day Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hoekstra Field on Caserma Ederle.
While the day is designed to be fun filled for everyone attending, the event will highlight on- and off-post agencies providing detailed information on the many intricacies of owning and caring for pets while living in the Vicenza Military Community.
"The rules here are so much different than from the United States, than the rules from Germany, and what we're trying to do is educate people," said Honoria Baker, Vicenza NAF support service manager. "If you own a pet, if you're thinking about getting a pet, you need to come out because we're going to slam you with information. You're going to have fun, but it is more about information."
One of the requirements for pet ownership specific to Europe is the need to carry a pet passport for your animal every time you travel. In Vicenza, the agency responsible for issuing them is Servicio Sanita Animale ULSS 6.
"In addition to handling the pet passports, ULSS are the health and sanitation folks," said Robert Wojciechowicz, FMWR budget analyst. "They run the humane society/dog pound. Also if there is an issue where there is mistreatment of an animal, you can call them up and tell them what's happening."
In addition to the post veterinarian, two local Italian vets will also be attending the event, he said.
"Our on-post vet has very limited hours, but we have two great Italian vets that are emergency vets also," said Baker. "They're going to come and people get to meet them, talk to them, so if there is an emergency you feel more comfortable now because you will have already met this person."
Another resource to investigate Saturday will be Home Boarding -- a pet shipping company based in Aviano. The company has a long history of shipping pets to new duty stations for the military and can answer any questions and provide advice any pet parent may have about their particular situation.
The day's activities will begin with a 3-kilometer course around the field for pets and their owners at 9:30 a.m. and will go on to include an agility course for the four-legged participants.
The Vicenza USO will host a pet costume contest and announce the winners of the funniest pet video, drawing and pet photo contests.
Additionally a local pet therapy group, Angel Dog, will bring trained-therapy dogs to interact with the two-legged attendees. They will put on 45-minute presentations for children in the post library children at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., where children will be able to pet the dogs, learn how to properly approach strange animals and ask questions of the handlers.
For more information, go to www.vicenza.armyMWR.com.
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