Those looking to pull a harmless and humorous prank on someone before the winter blues hit can do so in the month of August, while supporting a good cause.
The Battlefords Humane Society is putting on their “Who let the dogs out?” fundraiser to help raise funds for a new building.
“If someone gives a $50 donation, then the group of dogs, which we’re calling the ‘mob dogs,’ would be put on someone’s lawn of their choosing,” said board of directors member Heather Hall.
The dogs are not real dogs, of course, but rather wooden cutouts that were all handmade by Hall herself.
The “dogs” will be placed on someone’s lawn and will either be removed when the person who is mobbed calls the shelter, or 24 hours after being placed.
Hall says the idea for the prank comes from a similar one using other animals.
“It’s sort of like when people do it with pink flamingos, and I thought ‘well we can’t use flamingos, they have to be dogs,’ so I cut out all these shadow dogs,” which took her a month to make.
The money, Hall says, is going towards a new building for the society.
“It’s all for the building fund, because we’ll need a new building in the next three years,” she said. Their fund currently sits around $350,000.
The mob dogs prank begins in August and runs for the entire month, and Hall says they were first able to get the word out at the Battleford Parade.
“I put up the first set of dogs at the parade. I finished doing the dogs and put them on display in my yard and said ‘okay they’re ready, should we enter the parade?’ And that was at three on Friday,” she recalled. “So we put a float in the parade with the dogs and they’ve been sitting on my front lawn ever since.”
There are four sets of 25 dogs that can be purchased over the month of August, but insurance against not getting “mobbed” is also available at the same cost of a $50 donation to the shelter.
The dogs range in size from eight inches to three feet and are decorated with collars, Frisbees and bandanas.
The dogs are propped up using stakes driven into the yard, so the shelter asks those wanting to prank their friends to take that into consideration before mobbing.
There are also prizes to be won, if anyone sees a mob of dogs on someone’s lawn, they can text their name and address to 490-WOOF (490-9663) to have their name entered into a draw. The draw will be Aug. 31.
Those looking to prank their friends and family can call the Battlefords Humane Society at 306-446-2700.
