Kanab, UT (12/07/2005) – All those months of waiting are
over! John Garcia, one of the Dogtown staff at Best Friends Animal
Sanctuary, is now the proud owner of a Guinness World Record for
successfully walking 25 dogs one kilometer, and then pushing on
to the mile mark with 22 of the dogs.
The best part of the whole thing, as far as John is concerned,
is that 19 of those dogs have been adopted, leaving only six star
canine athletes waiting for their dream to come true: a home of
their own. “I wanted to draw attention to these great rescued
dogs we have at the sanctuary. Yeah, the record is cool, but I really
did this for the dogs,” John said.
 It
was a perfect morning on Aug. 11 when John and the Best Friends
dogs set their sights on the world record. The sanctuary is located
in the heart of picturesque red-rock canyons in southern Utah and
the route for the record-breaking attempt was mapped out on a winding,
uphill dirt road.
John actually started out with a canine crew of 26 but one dog
lost her footing and was unleashed from the rest of the team. But
John and the pack of 25 made it one kilometer. With that goal accomplished,
they kept trotting up the dirt road with trainers running alongside,
shouting encouragement. Three more dogs came loose but that still
left a pack of 22 charging up the hill with John in tow.
What is John up to these days? He splits his time between his normal
duties as a caregiver at the sanctuary’s Dogtown area, where
there are up to 650 dogs getting special care on any given day,
and being a key staff member at Best Friends’ hurricane relief
center in Tylertown, Mississippi, where rescue operations for the
animals rendered homeless by Hurricane Katrina continue.
But John already has his sights set on breaking his own record
next year with a whole new crew of marvelous mutts from Best Friends
Animal Sanctuary.
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