Turns Out Breaking a Record is a Walk in the Park — If You Take 38 Dogs

Thought Question: If you could help animals in need, what unique way would you choose to make a difference, and why?

Mitchell Rudy of Canada may have been 63 dalmatians short of landing on Cruella de Vil’s radar, but the Guinness World Record (GWR) he just set for dog walking is gaining him plenty of pawsitive attention. 

Rudy wrangled a wriggly mass of 38 pooches a full kilometer to break the record. During the walk, he had to keep the whole pack on leashes. All the leashes had to stay in his hands. It would’ve been quite the feat had the dogs all been small. But Rudy’s eager pack was made up of mutts of all sizes and stripes. In fact, other than their muddled breeds, the only thing the dogs had in common was their need for a home.

“We wanted to do something that made these dogs be the champions that they are,” Rudy told GWR of the pups. All of them came on loan from the Korean K9 Rescue program in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea. “These are good dogs, they deserve homes.”

Rudy broke the record on a beautiful day in early September. GWR certified the result last week. Though the dogs came from different shelters, they got along well enough to complete the track, which took them through a grassy park and down a street flanked by onlookers. Some of those people, Rudy hoped, would be inspired to adopt a particularly good boy or girl.

“All of these dogs, some of them are from the puppy mill industry, some of them are from former meat harvesting areas,” Rudy told GWR. “There’s a lot of stigma around rescues. They’re great animals, they deserve a good home, they just need a little bit of love.”

Photo Mitchell Rudy walking dogs from Instagram courtesy of @guinnessworldrecords.