All Sun Valley Magazine Sun Valley Home and Design

  21.0F  |  Forecast »

Blogs / Fetch / Winter 2009 / The Land of the Labs

Fetch

For the Love of Pets

The Land of the Labs

I can’t imagine living in the Wood River Valley without a dog. I personally have a couple, and I often run into people on the trails with two, three, or even four dogs.

 

We in the Valley are fortunate to have an amazing no-kill shelter that consistently supplies the community with top-notch canines. Many of these magnificent mutts are labs–or labs mixed with any number of other breeds. And labs aren’t just popular here–they are a way of life. In 2001, Sun Valley celebrated this fine breed with a large-scale public art event in which local artists decorated fifty larger-than-life, fiberglass Labrador Retrievers. Stop in at Zaney’s River Street Coffee House, where you can still view a chocolate colored pooch, adorned with thousands of tiny coffee beans.

The popularity of labs in Sun Valley should come to no one’s surprise. For the eighteenth consecutive year, the Labrador Retriever was the most popular purebred dog in America, according to 2008 registration statistics released by the American Kennel Club (AKC). According to the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley, nearly 30 percent of all registered dogs in the county are labs. Maybe that is why in 2009, the Labrador was voted, “The Best Dog in the Valley” by the readers of a local magazine. If there is any truth in the adage that pets resemble their people—there must be a lot of stunning, gregarious, lighthearted, and intrepid individuals living in this valley.

For those that want a lucky Labrador of their own (or any other furry friend for that matter) contact the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley at 788-4352 or www.animalshelterwrv.org.