Santa Paws In Brewster Brought Hundreds Of Visitors

Don't believe in Santa? Well, now there is evidence. Last Sunday at the third annual event Santa Paws in Brewster Dog Park, hundreds of two and four legged friends waited for a photo op with the bearded midwinter visitor.

8 December 2024 – BREWSTER, MA – Guru, AKA The Mayor, the three year old Keeshond has been coming to Brewster Dog Park every day since it opened in 2022, when Guru was only five months old. “A lot of people call him the mayor just because he just walks around and has a presence about him,” says owner Matt Rust. “He just loves to see all his friends.”

What is Santa Paws

And 8 December, Guru was seeing more friends than usual with several hundreds of visitors eagerly filling the dog park. Santa had arrived. And for those who don't believe in Santa, there is photo evidence. Seventy five dog families were waiting in line for a photo op with the bearded midwinter visitor. One of the four legged portrait-savvy participants was 10 year old Otto, the Great Dane. Otto who is, let us say, vertically gifted, had borrowed his owner’s Christmas sweater for the occasion. 

What is the Friends Of Brewster Dog Park?

Among the hustle and bustle, barking and wail tagging, Jessica Thomas, Vice President of the nonprofit The Friends of Brewster Dog Park, was coordinating the event. “We have an amazing silent auction here today, in addition to the pet photos with Santa (…) with probably a thousand dollars or more worth of beautiful goods,” said Jessica. “All of the proceeds generated today all go straight to the Friends of Brewster Dog Park.” Jessica said she is hoping the funds will make a long-wanted expansion of the park happen. “We're really hoping one day to be able to utilize some of the land that we have here to add a training area,” she said.

New visitors find their way to the dog park every year thanks to Santa Paws. "What I think is really awesome is when we get the word out there... And I have someone that just signed up and she said 'I've never been here before. This place is absolutely amazing. I'm gonna start coming all the time.' That is a huge win," said Jessica. "And those people end up turning into great supporters for the park."

The third annual event Santa Paws is all about community. “What stands out to me at events like this is just the community. People were looking forward to this. People love their dogs. We love our dogs. Any way that we can celebrate them, take them to the park here, make their friends, a lot of the dog owners become friends with each other,” said Jessica. “You know, you bring your kids to get your pictures with Santa taken, so people want their pictures with their dogs taken. it’s just a fun thing.”