Homeward Bound is hoping that events in Burnsville and Eagan Aug. 17 will help put the dog back into the saying "dog days of summer."

The third annual Dog Day Afternoon will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Burnsville Northwest Athletic Club, 14600 Burnhaven Drive, along with an adoption event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Eagan PetCo store, 1296 Town Centre Drive.

"We want to make a fun time of it and raise some money for Homeward Bound," said Cheri Friedman, an Edina resident and volunteer with the animal rescue organization. "We figured it would work out good since it's about 10 minutes between the two locations and people can go to both if they want."

The activities in Burnsville will kick off with a two-mile fun run/walk for pets and their owners and will also feature a 9:30 a.m. dog wash.

"We wanted to keep the walk/run relatively short because we didn't want to scare people off," Friedman said. "We thought it would be a fun way for people to show off their dogs and other animals."

Homeward Bound is suggesting a $5 donation for the dog wash, which will feature hypoallergenic shampoo from PetCo. Dogs who go through the dog wash will receive a treat bag filled with dog snacks and toys.

The event will also feature homemade cookies, an adoption drive and a fundraiser. Anyone who donates $10 or more to Homeward Bound during the event will receive a gift certificate from Baker's Ribs in Eden Prairie, Friedman said.

Cheryl Adams started the non-profit dog rescue foundation 10 years ago by sheltering 40 puppies on her Monticello hobby farm. She has since rescued more than 7,500 animals through the foundation.

Adams usually has 30 dogs at her "no-kill" shelter in Monticello, Friedman said. Other dogs Homeward Bound has rescued are fostered out to be taken care of by the volunteers until they are adopted.

Adams had been working at the Edina Pet Hospital for seven years and had helped found the Wright County Humane Society when she decided to start her own rescue service. Her first foray into the field came when she took a trip to a Detroit Lakes puppy mill and returned home with nearly 40 puppies from the mill.

The average stay of a dog with either Adams or one of her volunteers is six months. During that time Homeward Bound has the dogs vaccinated and spayed or neutered.

"We feel very strongly that these animals were abandoned not by their own choice and deserve a second chance at life," Adams said. "The foster home helps us to evaluate health and temperament of the dog, as well as provide proper socialization, training and love for the dog."

All dogs that are not adopted go back to live in their foster homes until they are adopted, Adams said. None of the animals rescued by Homeward Bound are euthanized.

Families who adopt the dogs, or the occasional kittens and cats Homeward Bound rescues, also receive a coupon book from PetCo when they adopt the animal and a special lifetime guarantee from Adams.

"She will always take them back at any time if their owners feel they can't care from them," Friedman said. "She gives a lifetime guarantee no matter what age they are because she doesn't want the dogs to end up back where they were when they were rescued."

Homeward Bound is funded through animal adoption fees and donations.

The Dog Days Afternoon event began three years ago when Homeward Bound approached Northwest Athletic Club about working together on a raffle for the organization, Friedman said.

"They were open to the idea, but they said 'Why limit it to a raffle?'" Friedman said. "They suggested doing the dog wash and it grew from there."

In previous years the event included activities at four different locations and would include more than 130 dogs. However, this year Homeward Bound decided to limit the activities to the Eagan and Burnsville locations and concentrate on making it into a bigger event than before.

Friedman said the event takes on even more importance with stories appearing In the News such as the seizure of 85 dogs from a hobby farm in Brown County where they had allegedly been neglected. The couple who own the farm in Sanborn, Minn., are facing animal cruelty charges.

"This is a celebration of saving animals," Friedman said. "When these kind of stories come out, people don't understand that these things happen more often than they think. We hope to turn some attention on what goes on every day in that segment of society and hopefully end it."

Homeward Bound's activities this year will also include a raffle to raise funds for the organization in early September. Homeward Bound is accepting donations of prizes of any size for the raffle. Donations are tax deductible and prizes will be divided into five gift baskets. Raffle tickets will cost $1.

The price value for each basket will vary anywhere from $100 to $150 and some of the prizes already donated include a color television and a 14-carat gold bracelet. Homeward Bound will be selling raffle tickets at every pet adoption and at all of its fundraisers.

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