By Stephanie Belcher

The life of a chained dog is a life of waiting: waiting for foul weather to change, waiting and wondering if a stray animal or cruel person will attack you, waiting for someone to remember to feed you or give you water or even clean up the filth that is in your chained area. And waiting for someone to just keep you company for a little while.

In our community, an all-volunteer group called UNchain Winston provides compassionate and non- judgmental assistance to improve the welfare of dogs living with unending “chaining” and neglect in Forsyth County.

They serve as an advocate and voice for responsible dog ownership, plus community and owner accountability. Primary services including building free fences for qualified families, building and distributing free dog-houses, repairing existing fences, offering free or low-cost spay/neuter and vaccinations, veterinary care, and loaning portable dog pens for fostering and rescue. We also educate pet owners and the public about proper pet care, and provide other resources (e.g., free pet food, leashes, collars, pet carriers, water/food bowls) as we are able.

This work, in combination with other services and resources offered by the Forsyth Humane Society, can make a difference in our community one pet at a time.

In 2016 they:
• Built 15, 6’ high large yard fences, unchaining approximately 35 dogs for low-income families.
• Provided 8 free-standing dog kennels/lots to local families.
• As needed, arranged for the spay/neutering and vaccinations for all UNW client dogs.
• Provided a leadership role, successfully advocating for a new county-wide chaining ordinance.
• Distributed several tons of pet food and numerous pet carriers, water/food bowls, leashes and collars to low-income families and other area rescue groups. Provided on-site training and outreach as needed.
• Distributed over 150 bags of dog house bedding straw/wood-chips.
• Repaired existing fences and gates to prevent escapes by family dogs.
• Constructed or refurbished almost 100 dog houses for no-cost local distribution.

UNchain Winston is solely supported by the generosity of the community and their fundraisers. They are having a Market & Bake Sale on Saturday, June 3 at the Kernersville VFW Post 5352/Dance Hall Daze Parking Lot at 612 Edgewood Street. The event will start at 8:00am and end at 2:00pm. This is one of their main fundraisers of the year so please make sure to stop by.

Please come out to shop over 30 vendors featuring: gently used items, vintage items, collectibles, local handcrafted jewelry, local arts & crafts, garden art, Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, local

business information, dog training information, Scentsy, Paparrazzi, LuLaRoe, Mary Kay and Avon.

There is sure to be something for everyone. There will also be a bake sale with delicious homemade treats and a raffle featuring great prizes. Free admission and lots of free convenient parking.

Want to get involved? Volunteering with UNChain Winston is fun. Any dog lover knows that connecting with people through their animals is the best way to make new friends. It takes all kinds of help to make our program work. Certainly we need people to help build the fences each month (no experience required). But we also need fundraisers, sponsors, and more. If you have a skill, there is a good chance it can be put to work towards our mission.

Interested in sponsoring a fence? They have 3 sponsorship levels: • Hero: $400 sponsorship covers the cost to build a dog fence.

• Champion: $500 sponsorship covers the cost to build a dog fence & the cost of spay/neuter. • Top Dog: $600 sponsorship covers the cost to build a dog fence, the cost of spay/neuter & a doghouse.

To give you a gauge when you donate: $10 yields us a fence post; $25, a 5’ tall gate; $75, a roll of 5’ high fencing. Every dollar donated goes to help us in our mission.

To learn more about UNchain Winston, donate or volunteer, please go to www.ForsythHumane.org/uw. Click on the social media links near the bottom of that page to view photos and videos of recent UNchain Winston activities and dogs that they have helped recently. If you know a dog in need that may qualify for a fence, please email UNchainWinston@gmail.com for an application. Hope to see you on June 3!

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Fundraising Market & Bake Sale

Saturday, June 3
8:00am – 2:00pm
Kernersville VFW Post 5352 / Dance Hall Daze Parking Lot 612 Edgewood Street, Kernersville, NC 27284