Lace Students Help Ease Rough Conditions for Military Dogs

Update, May 18: Sally Sinow says Lace students raised $2,195 during the two-week long fundraiser. Great job, kids!

This Friday the 13th is going to be a lucky one for some military dogs working in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Friday is the final day of PAWS Club spring fundraiser, Coins for Canines.

The animal-focused club is collecting spare change to outfit military dogs serving in hot climates with cooling vests to keep them safe and comfortable.

After PAWS coordinator and fifth-grade science teacher Sally Sinow read a magazine article about the Ohio-based Military Working Dogs Cooling Vest Project, she said she thought the group was a perfect candidate for the club’s spring fund-raiser.

“Kids like the idea of helping something that can’t help itself,” said Sinow of the club’s appeal.

The money PAWS raises will go toward the purchase of gear that helps protect and provide comfort to dogs that sniff out bombs, aid with search and rescue, and detect trip wires in war zones.

The Cooling Vest Project aims to suit up each of the roughly 300 dogs serving with the U.S. military in Iraq with a cooling vest outfitted with two cooling packs, “doggles” to protect their eyes, booties called MuttLuks to protect their feet, a water bowl and a toy.

To do so, however, costs about $300 per dog.

“Most [PAWS members] have a cat or a dog, or want one, so this is a way of helping something they like,” Sinow said.

Although the group of 50 students hasn’t tallied its coin collection yet, Sinow said its last fund-raiser netted $1,400 for the Hinsdale Humane Society. The Lace class that raises the most money this time around wins a pizza party.

Yet even without the temptation of a pizza party, helping the dogs wouldn’t be too hard a sell.

“There’s always that appeal of helping something furry and cuddly,” Sinow said.

To donate to the Military Working Dogs Cooling Vest Project, visit http://www.supportmilitaryworkingdogs.org.