Calling all dog lovers: there's finally a club for you

Sick of Penn refusing to accept K-9 students? Wish you could spend more time discussing your furry friends with other dog lovers? Drop your bowl of kibble and sign up for Penn for Paws, Penn’s brand-new dog advocacy club.

Penn for Paws was founded last week by College sophomore Ashley Sayles to fill what she saw as an empty void — Penn’s lack of a dog-focused club. Sayles hopes the club will help raise awareness for the welfare of dogs through “passion, advocacy and service.”

“Dogs are my passion, and there wasn’t really anything on campus for dog lovers,” Sayles said. “So I decided to start my own club to educate the general public, volunteer at shelters and raise money for dog charities.”

Sayles first announced her intention to start the club by posting in the Class of 2019 Facebook page. Since then, she has tried to keep the club small, limiting it only to sophomores so she has a chance to figure out the club’s direction. However, now that the club has a mission statement and an inner circle of members, she is hoping to open it to all undergraduate and graduate students.

Anyone can join Penn for Paws — it doesn’t require a transcript or any other qualification.

“Anyone can join. This is based on people’s passion for dogs, so the more people the better,” Sayles said. “You can’t have too many people loving dogs, you just can’t.”

Sayles hopes the club will address some serious K-9 welfare issues like dogfighting and educate students on the benefits of adopting rather than shopping for dogs.

The club also plans to bring dogs to campus during finals season because, as Sayles said. “We’re a dog club, so why wouldn’t we? We’ll make that happen.”

Penn for Paws will begin meeting on Sundays at 4 p.m. on either Oct. 30 or Nov. 6. Students interested in joining should email Sayles at asayles@sas.upenn.edu.