Going to the dogs

• A dog's life

The Homeward Bound Motorcycle Run raised $400 in funds for the non-profit group that is dedicated to sheltering homeless and unwanted animals.

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It was a dog day afternoon on Saturday, July 11 at Leather & Lace Motorcycle Apparel in Afton for the first ever “Homeward Bound Motorcycle Run.”

Starting at 10 a.m., 30 riders, took off on a 100-mile motorcycle ride to benefit the Homeward Bound Dog Rescue.

In addition to the motorcycle run, Selma’s & Paninos donated coffee, breakfast and lunch to riders. Music was provided by Brian Mackey who donated his time for the event.

Leather and Lace raised $400, including a $100 gift certificate to Petco, and collected 3 full bags of pet supplies during the event.

Homeward Bound is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the sheltering and fostering of homeless and unwanted animals. Unlike other dog shelters, they do not euthanize animals after a certain period of time.

The motorcycle run’s guest of honor, Daisy, is a rescue from Homeward Bound who is owned by Leather & Lace owner and president Jim Kaempfer’s daughter.

Kaempfer and co-owner Donna Schindele said they wanted to host the event because there are 13,000 dogs that need foster care due to all of the home foreclosures in the bad economy.

“We wanted to do what we could to help,” Kaempfer said.

Kaempfer hopes to make this an annual event and he already starting to plan for next year’s event; complete with t-shirts, pins and hypnotist and of course helping Homeward Bound in anyway possible.

Tags: local news, motorcycle run, homeward bound, leather and lace, news, afton, dogs, fundraiser