Article posted by collingwoodtoday.ca
Johnny Perry will do anything for animals.
This is one of the reasons why the nine-year-old Collingwood boy is committed to finishing the three kilometre Friends for Life Walkathon on Sept. 23.
Which, for the youngster who suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy, is not an easy task. Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition which causes extreme muscle tightness in his legs affecting his balance, endurance and muscle function in his legs.
“It’ll be like us running 20 km,” said his mom Amber. “He’s committed to do it.”
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The event takes place at Blue Mountain Village and is a fundraisers for the Georgian Triangle Humane Society (GTHS).
“I believe in the GTHS because they help a lot of animals, not only in the Georgian Triangle but all over the world,” Johnny said. “Without the GTHS a lot of these cats would’ve probably died out there.”
Johnny is known for baking cookies and selling them to friends and family and donating the funds to the humane society. He is also a food fairy and once a week during the summer, he goes to the shelter on the Tenth Line at 5 a.m., and feeds and plays with the cats.
Johnny said his two cats Abbott and Mallory were both adopted from the GTHS.
“This is one story that is a bit painful but I always like to point it out to people,” Johnny said. “Mallory, my tabby cat was found in a dumpster. The garbage man called the GTHS and said one of my garbage bags is purring. It just goes to show you what some of these cats go through.”
Johnny and his family are signed up as a team for the walkathon and he has already collected more than $2,000 in donations.
The money raised from the event will help the humane society operate its shelter and provide care for abandoned animals while they are waiting for adoption.
The organization assists hundreds of animals a year, serving all of South Georgian Bay.
Registration for the walk takes place at 10 a.m., with the event starting at 11 a.m.
Those interested in participating and needing more information can visit www.gths.ca.
