Puppies romped amid the usual bustle of students talking, eating and hurrying around the Pit on Wednesday.
The dogs — Princess, Samantha and Sammy — roamed the center of campus, greeting students with wagging tails and slobbery tongues throughout the afternoon.
Meanwhile, members of Helping Paws, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. spread information, solicited volunteers and fetched donations for the Orange County Animal Shelter.
Helping Paws, a Campus Y committee dedicated to improving the lives of local animals, and its co-sponsors brought the three dogs to campus for the first “Puppies in the Pit” event this year to promote awareness of animal rights and adoption.
The three dogs are available for adoption at the Orange County shelter.
“We’re really happy with the turnout,” said Helping Paws co-chairwoman Audrey Low. “A lot of people have shown interest in us and what we do.”
Four pages of a volunteer sign-up sheet were filled in by the time the dogs left campus.
For their part, students were mostly happy to have the canine visitors.
“I love this because we don’t really get to play with dogs a lot here, since we can’t have them in our dorms,” said Victoria Miller, a sophomore who befriended Princess.
Helping Paws has been holding the Puppies in the Pit event for two years. It has been successful in drawing interest in the past, said Helping Paws co-chairwoman Alex Lane.
“It’s very stress-relieving for students,” Lane said. “People always come out to pet the dogs.”
While most students passing by were happily surprised by the puppies, a few were less excited at the prospect of the slobbery creatures.
Last year Helping Paws held the event twice, but Lane said the group hopes to bring puppies to campus at least twice a month, especially around exam times.
This year, Sigma Gamma Rho, whose mascot is a toy poodle, and Omega Psi Phi, whose mascot is a bulldog, are lending Helping Paws a hand.
They decided to take “puppy love,” the theme for their charity work, a little more literally and advocate for animals in Orange County shelters.
“Our goal is definitely just raising awareness,” said Omega Psi Phi member David Griffin. “There are some troubling statistics about how often dogs are abused. I’m a dog lover myself.”
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
