MANCHESTER, N.H. – The established wisdom is that cats and dogs don’t get along, but that doesn’t seem to apply to Fisher Cats and dogs.
On Wednesday, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats held their second Bark in the Park of three “Bark in the Park” events this season, welcoming dogs and their owners to come and watch the game at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats President Mike Ramshaw said that the Fisher Cats are one of the last minor league teams to hold an event where dogs are welcome at the ballfield.
Ramshaw said that Wednesday’s edition of the promotion had 30 percent more pre-sale tickets than their initial event in May, and the team expects to expand and evolve the event at the final edition of the Bark in the Park on Aug. 31 against the Portland Sea Dogs.
One of the fans in attendance with a pup was Becca Berger. On Wednesday, Berger brought Keyla, a 3-year-old husky-shepherd-pitbull mix, to the game. Berger goes to a few Fisher Cats games each year, but Wednesday’s game stood out when she learned about the event from her sister, as she is trying to find new ways to help Keyla gain socialization skills she didn’t fully develop during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s exciting, I love having her around and I love having her around friends and other dogs and the ability to socialize her with people,” said Berger “I think any new experience is good for them and it’s good when it’s more dogs too, and not just people.”
The event was the first-ever Fisher Cats game for Josh DeLong, who was in attendance with his dog, Shimmer.
For DeLong, the game provided an opportunity to bring his dog out in what he says is a difficult area for dog-related events.
“Out on the West Coast, dog bars are a big thing, there’s no dog bars around here which is kind of sad. It was tough moving back east with a dog,” he said. “At least here I can enjoy a baseball game and have a beer with my dog.”
Wednesday’s game, the first game of a double header, drew 3,810 fans. The highest attendance so far this season at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium came during the June 4 game against Portland, which saw 7,283 fans.
