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Easter Egg Hunt Goes to the Dogs in Indiana Pennsylvania

By John McCormick  

While 30,000 kids look for Easter eggs on the White House lawn today, here in Small Town America many families did the same on Sunday.

But we also have some events unique to Middle America.

This past Saturday in Indiana, Pennsylvania, a local veterinarian (Douglas Blais) put on an Easter hunt that was really for the dogs.

Just some of the participants in the hunt Photo by John A. McCormick, Highland Ranch Sanctuary, www.15767.com

Indiana, for those who don't know, is famous mostly for native son James Stewart and as home of the fictional Harvey, a pooka friend of Elwood P. Dowd. Those who knew Indiana even a couple of decades ago can almost recognize the fictional town Dowd and Harvey inhabit as being very similar to Indiana at the same period.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_(film)

Many participants dressed in their Easter finest. Photo by John A. McCormick, Highland Ranch Sanctuary, www.15767.com

Pookas, being a part of Celtic mythology, are one species Dr. Blais doesn't treat, limiting himself to animals smaller than 6 feet tall invisible bunnies.

But Doug does have some rather large patients, including Great Danes and his own Irish wolfhound.

9 month old Irish wolfhound and friend Photo by John A. McCormick, Highland Ranch Sanctuary, www.15767.com

This year the Veterinary Clinic sponsored an Easter Kong hunt - strictly for the dogs.

The Good Doctor himself. Photo by John A. McCormick, Highland Ranch Sanctuary, www.15767.com

The Kong is a hollow hard rubber toy and Saturday morning around 10:30 dozens of dogs, with their owners trailing along, spread out across a couple of acres of the Clinic grounds searching, not for brightly painted eggs but for doggie Kongs filled with treats.

Great Dane therapy dog and mistress Photo by John A. McCormick, Highland Ranch Sanctuary, www.15767.com

It is easy for the sophisticates on either coast to laugh at such events but the Blais Easter Kong hunt is the sort of thing that binds together small towns, bringing neighbors together for a bit of fun and fellowship - something I feel certain Mr. Stewart would have heartily enjoyed.

The high weeds presented more problems for some than others. Photo by John A. McCormick, Highland Ranch Sanctuary, www.15767.com

As the morning drew to a close, no Kongs were harmed in the event and every dog got his prize.
Blais Veterinary Hospital, 107 Blais Road,
Indiana, PA 15701.

http://blaisvethospital.aahavet.org/web1/index.aspx

John McCormick is a reporter, /science/medical columnist and finance and social commentator, with 17,000+ bylined stories. Contact John through NewsBlaze.