OLATHE, Kan. — Around 150 people took part in the Run For Paws 5K at Frontier Park in Olathe on Saturday.
It benefits the Lantz Tucker Memorial Fund, which pays for emergency and urgent vet bills for dogs whose owners can't cover those bills.
The fund is named after Lantz Tucker, who died from a fentanyl poisoning in 2020.
His mother, Crystal Tucker, said he took a pill he thought was oxycodone. It turned out to be fake and contained fentanyl.
Tucker explained where the idea for the fund came from.
"He really felt passionately that if somebody had an emergency they couldn't pay for, that they shouldn't lose their dog. They shouldn't have to have their dog euthanized. They shouldn't have to surrender that dog to a shelter. When we got so much money donated in his name after we lost him, I knew that we needed to make an impact in the community," Tucker said.
Since June 2020, the fund has helped more than 300 owners and paid over $255,000 in vet bills, according to Tucker.
KSHB 41 Investigator Cameron Taylor emceed the event.
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