By Michael Farnworth

For the Journal

POCATELLO— If you were at OK Ward Park on Saturday morning, all you would have heard was barking, whining, yelping, and every once in a while the slightest growl.

Bark for Life is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, and is part of the local Relay for Life program.

"We had 84 dogs registered today," Susan Bithell said, "I think it's amazingly great. we had 73 dogs registered before today, and we've had quite a few walk-ins."

The morning began at 9 a.m. with Pre-Registration, followed by a canine blessing at 10:45 a.m.. To finish off the day the group of canines led their owners on a dog walk for cancer.

Melissa Joy, and Philip Roice brought their dog Bailey out for a little bit of exercise and socializing. Bailey seemed to be enjoying herself as she continually tried to climb into the drinking pool that had been set out for the dogs.

Adam Aulner took an opportunity before the walk began to take a little nap using his dog Hana Lei as a pillow. "She's kind of a lazy dog," Aulner said, "she sleeps on her back, and just loves to be my pillow." Aulner had the day off, so decided to come down from Blackfoot to participate in the days festivities. "Our grandfather died of Cancer," he said, "so we like to come out and support a good cause. Plus Hana Lei, likes to socialize."

This seemed to be the theme of the day, as everywhere one looked dogs were introducing themselves to other dogs, and surprisingly all seemed to get along quite well.

"It's been fun, but a little stressful putting this together," Bithell said, "but we've had such a great turnout today, that I don't thing there is any doubt that we will be doing this again next year.

Many of the dogs that came out, showed up in costume. One of the most colorful was Jessie, the Collie. Cathy Swallia brought her out to play, while she helped run one of the vendor booths. "I'm training to be a dog groomer," Swallia said, "So I figured I'd bring Jessie, and her brother Aiden out. Jessie was decked out in a cowboy outfit, complete with red cowboy hat.

Registrations ran from $15 to $30 per dog, with a $5 fee for additional dogs, and all of the fees went to The American Cancer Society, and their mission to raise money for cancer research.

This was the first event on the Relay for Life calendar that was discussed at the Relay for Life team leader meeting that was held this past week at the Home Specialists office in Old Town Pocatello.

Upcoming events can be found at www.relayforlife.org/pocatelloid. You can also find information about past and future events, including registration information for the Relay for Life event that will be held on July 15, and 16 at Century High School in Pocatello.