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Adopt a Golden Birmingham hosted its first Great Golden Gathering at Veterans Park, allowing more than 300 golden retrievers to come together for an afternoon of fun and many pets. (Reporter photos/Tyler Raley)

By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

HOOVER – Wagging their tails and drooling over pup cups, hundreds of happy golden retrievers came together with their owners for the first-ever Great Golden Gathering.

The gathering was put on by Adopt a Golden Birmingham at Hoover’s Veterans Park on Sunday, March 16, allowing golden retrievers from all over the area to meet with each other to play and earn a treat while spreading awareness for a much bigger cause.

Jack Bains organized the entire event, and alongside his dog Oscar, discussed how this event came to be and why the organization thought it would be a good idea.

“We came up with the idea following other golden gatherings that had happened in Scotland and in Golden, Colorado,” Bains said. “In the past we’ve had AGB alumni events, but we thought, ‘Let’s open it up to just everybody that loves golden retrievers,’ and they came out in droves.”

During the gathering, golden retrievers of all ages were able to play and enjoy the sunshine with other dogs while also getting the occasional pup cup as a nice treat. Owners could also grab a new toy and dog treats for their furry friend, enjoying the time at the park.

At the end of it all, the goldens in attendance came together for one giant photo to commemorate the occasion in front of a “Great Golden Gathering” sign.

More than 300 dogs attended the Great Golden Gathering, many of which came for the love of the breed. For Bains and the rest of the AGB volunteers, that exceeded any expectations they could have had.

“That means the world,” Bains said. “Jennifer McEuen has put her heart and her soul into this. I may be the president, but I can take credit for absolutely none of this. This was all her, through her marketing, through her media, through her just getting the word out. We expected maybe 100 dogs. The events we’ve had in the past, we’ve had between 50 and 75 alumni, but to have this vast number of people, it’s been just earth-shattering to us.” 

For every dog the organization brings in, roughly $800 is spent to get them healthy through various means, whether that is treatments, surgery, cleanings or a combination of the three.

AGB’s mission is to find extraordinary homes for golden retrievers, regardless of needs or age. Bains touched on how important the event was towards that effort, raising awareness towards the cause.

“We’ve adopted, in our history, just over 1,500 dogs,” Bains said. “Our adoption fee is much less than what we spend for each dog. We have to rely on donations from organizations, individuals and events like this just to help us make ends meet. Having this many people come out has just been an absolute blessing.”

With the first year being such a success, Bains hopes that this event continues to grow in the coming years, but more importantly, raises awareness for the many dogs that still need to find forever homes.

“For every dog that we get in, there’s two or three more out there that we for whatever reason may not be able to afford or be able to just figure out a way to get them in,” Bains said. “Having people come here and see what we can offer, we’d love to have more people volunteer, we’d love to have more people foster for us. The volunteer program is the backbone of this, so if we can get more people involved in our organization, that’s more dogs that we can get adopted, that we can find forever homes for.”

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