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30 communities across Tennessee win grants to build or improve dog parks

The Tennessee Dog Park Dash is a multi-year initiative aimed at making Tennessee the most pet-friendly state in the country.
Credit: CRISPCOMM
30 Communities Across the State Win Boyd Foundation Grants to Build or Improve Dog Parks - Including Two $100K Grand Prize Winners

TENNESSEE, USA — More than two dozen communities across Tennessee were awarded Wednesday grants totaling $900,000 to help make the state the most pet-friendly in the nation.

The Tennessee Dog Park Dash is a multi-year initiative aimed at making Tennessee the most pet-friendly state in the country by awarding deserving communities $3 million in total grants over three years to build and enhance dog parks.

The communities worked all year long to organize residents, coordinate with local officials, mobilize on social media, and host pet-friendly events to win a $25,000 grant to build or improve an existing dog park in their community, a release. 

Randy and Jenny Boyd, with the Boyd Foundation, made the announcement this week. 

“Jenny and I are amazed at the hard work and dedication of the people in our state to make life better for their pets and their neighbors. We are proud to support them in their work,” said Randy Boyd, founder of PetSafe and co-founder of The Boyd Foundation. “We are passionate about bringing people and pets together to create stronger communities, and we’ve found one of the best ways to do that is at a local dog park. We cannot wait to see how these communities use their grants to create local parks for Tennesseans and their pets to enjoy for decades to come.”

Two communities - Columbia and Cookeville- who went above and beyond the requirements - will each receive the $100,000 grand prize grant as two of the “Most Dog-Friendly” cities in Tennessee.

Tennessee Dog Park Dash received nearly 50 applications, from a variety of Tennessee towns, with only a few thousand residents to some of our state’s larger cities. The full list of winning communities for the 2019 Tennessee Dog Park Dash grants includes:

EAST TENNESSEE: Baneberry, Clinton, Collegedale, Crossville (Fairfield Glade), Elizabethton, Etowah, Louisville, Madisonville, New Tazewell, Rhea County, Signal Mountain/ Walden

MIDDLE TENNESSEE: Cookeville, Columbia, Dickson, Fayetteville, La Vergne, Pulaski, Smithville, Springfield, Wartrace

WEST TENNESSEE: Bartlett, Gleason, Lake County, Memphis, Munford, Newbern, Paris, Selmer, Trenton, Ripley

Credit: Crispcomm

In its inaugural year in 2018, 37 communities were awarded a total of $1 million in grants - including grand prize winner Jackson, Tennessee. The 2020 Tennessee Dog Park Dash application period is expected to begin in early-spring next year when the Boyd Foundation will award another $1 million in grants. 

Interested communities are encouraged to visit dogparkdash.com to learn more.

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