Old Chatham Golf Club Members Raise More Than $8,000 to Support Triangle Rescue Organizations

Member-Driven 'Dog Day' Event Benefits Three Area Rescues 

(DURHAM, N.C.) – Members at Old Chatham Golf Club raised more than $8,000 as part of a “Dog Day” charity event to be divided equally among three local animal rescue organizations, including Chatham Animal Rescue and Education (C.A.R.E.), Independent Animal Rescue of Durham (IAR) and The Coalition to Unchain Dogs in Durham.

The three benefitting animal rescue organizations – Chatham Animal Rescue and Education, Independent Animal Rescue of Durham and The Coalition to Unchain Dogs in Durham – all focus on promoting the health and welfare of animals in the community. C.A.R.E. provides health and safety for local cats and dogs and also provides foster care for animals until they are adopted. IAR focuses on rescuing and providing safe and responsible care for homeless, abandoned and abused animals. And The Coalition to Unchain Dogs works to cease the chaining of dogs by building fences, informing the community and lobbying for legislation.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that about 3.9 million dogs enter animal shelters nationwide every year. About 1.4 million are adopted annually, but about 1.2 million are euthanized each year. In the Raleigh-Durham area, about 20 different rescue organizations can only save about 4,500 of the 9,500 shelter dogs each year. This means that around 5,000 shelter dogs are euthanized each year in the Raleigh-Durham area alone.

“Dogs are very near and dear to Old Chatham, so this was an easy event to put together and turned out to be a wonderful time for everyone,” said John Schade, member of Old Chatham Golf Club. “We were able to raise a modest amount of money to help support three very worthy Triangle rescue groups. I would like to thank our sponsors, our members and our staff for helping us make a difference for our canine companions. By doing this, we come to appreciate more the work that rescue volunteers do, and many of us see clearly that a real solution to avoiding unnecessary dog death and suffering will come when our legislators in Raleigh make the effort to seriously consider the problem.”

The idea for Dog Day originated in an Old Chatham Saturday morning foursome who agreed that other dog owning members would see this as a worthwhile event. About 30 Old Chatham members joined the golf event, and more than a dozen additional members donated to the cause. Playing members paired up in two-person “better ball” play. Mark Jacobson Toyota sponsored a Closest to the Pin contest on holes No. 2, 7 and 12, and offered a new $58,000 Toyota Tundra as part of the Hole-In-One contest on No. 17, which Southern States graciously filled the bed of the truck with fifteen thousand pounds of donated dog food – the car is back on the lot. Members also enjoyed a photo matchup contest, challenging contestants to identify pooch-human pairs.

Also attending the day’s events: Blue, Old Chatham’s newest black Labrador mascot.