Wags & Walks: Pup-Up Event Returns to the Hamptons

Dogs from the South are heading to the Hamptons this summer — and not just for the sunshine. Wags & Walks’ beloved Pup-Up returns July 8 through August 24, bringing adoptable dogs from overcrowded shelters to the East End for a season of second chances. We caught up with Kathryn Hurley, founder of the rescue’s Nashville chapter, to talk about the impact of the program.

What is Wags & Walks?

Wags & Walks is a 501(c)3 dog rescue. We were founded in Los Angeles in 2011 by Leslie Brog, and the main goal originally was to just bring attention to shelter dogs and rescue dogs, the wonderful companions. She grew up in an area and a family where having a rescue dog was not necessarily the norm. And as she got more immersed into what was going on in Los Angeles and how many wonderful dogs are being euthanized just due to space, she wanted to do something about it. And that is how wax and ops was born, you know, kind of step by step, day by day, the team grew. And that is when I met her in 2015 and so the focus for the next couple of years was, again, just kind of growing the brand and the organization and kind of separating ourselves in a way of talking about dogs just as they are, versus damaged goods. One thing I often say is, we paint the picture of the Sarah McLachlan commercial a lot in animal welfare, and while that certainly has a time and a place, because there are compelling stories. There are hard conversations and topics and abuse that happens. Day in and day out, at the end of the day, the average shelter dog is in the shelter due to no fault of their own. The average age of a shelter dog is also under 10 months. So there’s often this kind of narrative that it’s mean, sick, old dogs in shelters, and that’s just not what’s happening. So we wanted to really bring a fresh, upbeat, positive energy to rescue and make it a place where everyone felt like they had the ability to adopt a rescue dog, and that there was a rescue dog out there for them. And so that kind of kept growing and growing, and then I moved to Nashville in 2019 and that’s when Wags and Walks Nashville was formed.

Why the Hamptons for a pop up event?

Leslie goes back to New York every single summer and has spent time in the Hamptons with her family, and I think it was more just, walking around and being able to kind of reference what Wags does in LA and in Nashville, and the way of being out in the community and talking with the people around us and our neighbors and the local restaurants and companies about what we do. She was not seeing that in the Hamptons, and the more and more that she was having conversations with the locals, I think that that just became more and more real as each summer went by. So three years ago, we kind of pulled the plug. We got we were there for a much smaller period of time. I think it was three and a half weeks the first year, and we sent, I believe Cassie can confirm this. I believe it was 18 dogs from Nashville, and we’re like, let’s just do some events, see how it goes and see how we’re received. And each year it’s continued to grow.

What sets Wags & Walks apart from other rescues?

We do not discriminate against age, breed or size. We really hold dogs based on their temperament, and if a dog is nice, there’s no reason that they should be dying in a shelter. So that also obviously comes into play with with breed in particular. So pit bulls and other stereotype breeds, including black dogs, are the most euthanized dog in America. So we really like to focus on making sure that they get a fair shot at it. So pitties are like a huge part of our mission statement, also major medical, everything from a broken leg to Parvo to mange, is a reason that dogs are euthanized in shelters because the government shelters do not have the budget or capacity to be able to care for those dogs. So we take a ton of medical dogs. It’s a major part of our budget.

What is it that you guys hope to see at this year’s pop up in the Hamptons?

I’d love to do like a little shout out, just in a way that you know, for anyone in the Hamptons wanting to get involved, we are trying to grow these programs. So the more support wax has gotten year after year, the more we’re able to accomplish, and that is through getting involved. So whether that is making a donation, which you can do on our website, signing up to foster, adopting. All of the above is incredibly helpful. I think it’s really important for people to hear, especially with an organization the size of Wags, is we’re not this massive, massive ASPCA, but we’re not tiny. Every single person helping out makes a difference. I think that sometimes people think, well, you know, what can I really do? And the answer is a lot. So we are always in need of more people who are interested in getting involved, to come be on Team Wags. And yeah, I think that this summer, we’re just really hoping to see a lot of growth, and that then they can prompt us a year, four, five and beyond, being able to just ultimately put more amazing dogs in amazing homes, and show that rescue dogs are really the best loving companions anyone can get.

For more information and to see a list of their events in the Hamptons, visit wagsandwalks.org.