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ADO Fun Run 2017

We walked and ran
for animals in 2018!

 

TEAM ADO took part in the
Australian Running Festival

on
Saturday 14 April 2018

 

We walked and ran
as proud animal defenders, and to support

the ongoing work of our volunteer-based community legal centre.

This year Team ADO entered The Australian Running Festival in Canberra for the first time

in the .

​

There are five events in The Australian Running Festival ("ARF"):
 

  • 5km and 10km (Saturday 14 April)

  • Half, full and ultra marathons (Sunday 15 April)

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We’d love you to join us in any of these distances!

​To register with Team ADO in any of these events, click on the 'Join here' button above to go to the ARF event entry page.

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Select your preferred distance, then 'Adult', 'Child' etc.

 

Select ‘Join a Team’ and type in ‘Team ADO’. Follow the instructions from there.

 

Some information about ARF events:

 

  • All ARF race events start and finish in the same place (Old Parliament House).

  • We can pick up your race bibs for you before the race.

  • You can walk or run the 5 km event.


For more race info, including start times and event maps, click here.

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We will post details about our annual race fundraiser later. The ADO is not one of the charities listed on the Australian Running Festival charity page as we can't afford their fees :/ We are completely independent from the Australian Running Festival charities.

Letter
Team ADO disappointed at use of petting zoo at 2017 Canberra Times Fun Run

We were very disappointed to see a petting zoo as part of the so-called ‘family entertainment’ at the 2017 Canberra Times Fun Run.

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There are significant animal welfare concerns associated with petting zoos, which confine very young and vulnerable animals in small areas for human‑animal interactions.

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The ADO sent a letter to the race organisers setting out our concerns. You can find our letter here.

Petting zoo at 2017 Canberra Times Fun Run

Three-week-old baby goat at the 2017 Canberra Times Fun Run

In their response, race organisers politely dismissed our concerns.

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In January 2018 we drew the organisers' attention to the decision by the University of Canberra not to use petting zoos at its student events due to animal welfare concerns. The University's decision was fully supported by RSPCA ACT.

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Read about the University of Canberra's decision as (ironically) reported in the Canberra Times here.

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In our latest communication we urged race organisers to consider forms of entertainment that do not cause distress to animals by being ‘touched, handled and loomed over by many people at once’ (quoting RSPCA ACT).

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As far as we are aware, the Australian Running Festival does not use petting zoos at its events.

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