LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Every Wednesday home game at Cool Ray Field, the stadium is packed with pups for Wet Nose Wednesday. Dogs receive free admission with a paid owner and are able to watch the game from The Bank, a seating area located on the grassy lawn area in the outfield.
On the other side of the park, you’ll notice a group of dogs in pens. Those adoptable dogs are brought out to the park each Wednesday by the Homeless Pets Foundation. The rescue group brings anywhere from 3 to 8 dogs to give them exposure in hopes of finding their fur-ever home.
Gwinnett Stripers Merchandise manager Taryn Taylor said she had been seeing the rescue pups each week while working. One day, she says she heard a white dog crying from her crate, “as soon as I walked over she stopped crying."
Taylor’s boyfriend, Jim Pembroke, who also works for the Gwinnett Stripers in ticket operations, says they fell in love with the pup immediately, “she was sweet, friendly, and just wanted to get out of her crate and get attention.”
Taylor says it was like the white bulldog mix was meant for her, “I felt like she was always supposed to be mine...she comes to games and loves being at the park...she really has become a member of the Stripers family.”
Taylor says Penbroke came up with her name on they day they adopted her, “he was watching the game with her from the outfield and that’s when Austin Riley got two home runs within a few innings while playing for the Stripers. He texted me I think she's Austin Riley's good luck charm...and we just decided that it only seemed fitting to name her Riley."
Taylor says Riley has settled in nicely since they adopted her three months ago, "she loves to cuddle and life is just so much better with her around."
Taylor encourages more people to come out to the event to see the dogs up for adoption at Wet Nose Wednesday, “you can tell they’re so excited to be at the field and around other dogs...we saw another dog a couple of Wednesdays ago that I thought we might have to add to our family.”
The onsite rescue group, Homeless Pets Foundation, works to save cats and dogs that have run out of time at public shelters. They are headquartered in Marietta but can be found at the rear gate next to The Bank. The next Wet Nose Wednesday at Cool Ray Field is August 14.
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