Thousands of people and their canines flooded Julia Davis Park for the annual See Spot Walk event on Saturday. The Idaho Humane Society (IHS) invited Boise residents to participate in a one-mile walk around the Greenbelt, followed by a dog contest.
“See Spot Walk is our largest fundraiser of the year,” Mareesa Rule, director of development and Stewardship at IHS said of the event. “It’s a really great way for our community and Treasure Valley to come together with the dogs they love so much.”
While it was Rule’s first year running the event, she mentioned several volunteers have been around since it began 33 years ago.
IHC’s Community Outreach Coordinator Anna Berry described the lengthy planning process, which began with requesting approval from the city of Boise. Additionally, she was responsible for obtaining vendor and power permissions, as well as security and portable toilet arrangements.
“From there, we just get the word out to vendors and to sponsors and see who’s interested in being a part of the event,” Berry said.
Sponsored canopies and food trucks formed a circle around the whole event, leaving space for the Treefort main stage in the middle. Rule and former Boise State football player David McKenzie took the stage around 10:15 a.m., inviting participants to register their dogs for contests later in the day.
The Greenbelt walk kicked off around 10:30 a.m., where a crowd of people and dogs flocked through a giant inflatable ICCU arch down the Greenbelt. The route circled through Friendship Bridge and ended back at Julia Davis.
The walk was followed by the “golden oldie”, a competition where senior dogs eight years and older were highlighted. There was also a talent show, a peanut butter spoon race and a coveted costume contest.
“This event really started out as a casual group of people coming together and having a community dog walk,” Rule said. “Over the past several decades, it’s grown into a real beacon and highlight of the Treasure Valley calendar, and it makes the work that we do here at the Idaho Humane Society possible.”
The money raised from the event for IHS goes towards shelter operations, medical care, humane education, filling the pet food pantry and finding adoptive homes for animals. The IHS received over 10,000 lost animals, which required adoption in 2024. Out of those 10,000 animals, they were able to adopt out almost 7,500 animals with their owners, as well as reunite 1,500 lost pets with their owners.
Hannah Decker, the foster department manager at IHS, noted that most of the adoption process is centered around kittens – being that they make up a majority of their foster animals.
“We have a foster Facebook page and a newsletter that we send out,” Foster said. “Our foster parents will email us and say which animals they want to foster.”
Downey stated he adopted his English bulldog from the IHS specifically “because [the organization takes] care of our community… there’s a huge need for the services they provide.”
Having just started their position at IHS in June, Berry has also found their work to be admirable, highlighting experiences helping animals in need.
“After the California wildfires last year, we had [ten] dogs that were sent to us from California that we rescued and did surgery on and then put them out on the adoption floor,” Berry said.
“If everyone does something,” Berry added, “It really lays that foundation for us to be successful and for us to give these animals loving homes.”
