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Eyeing her freshly defeated competitors after a race along a 20-foot track, Dolly, a Chihuahua puppy from Mexico, barked.
The gloating 8-month-old puppy was the victor among a 12-dog field in a Chihuahua race during Viva Fort Wayne Fiesta on Saturday.
The festival, in its second year, celebrates the diversity and spirit of Fort Wayne’s Hispanic community.
All proceeds both years have been earmarked to benefit Jorge Gonzales, 16, who suffers from kidney failure and who must undergo dialysis treatment several times a week.
Fernando Zapari, 49, who serves on the Jorge Gonzales Trust Committee, said Gonzales’ parents are each willing to donate a kidney to save their son, but they can’t afford the $100,000 cost of the surgery.
Within a year of being formed, the committee has raised about $65,000 for Gonzales, and Zapari said he expected to get at least $8,000 more from Saturday’s festival.
"And that’s a huge gain," Zapari said.
Gonazales, who is the son of immigrants, underscores the plight of U.S. citizens without health care, Zapari said.
"It’s a problem that I think that we face," Zapari said. "I want to say there are thousands of Jorges out there," Zapari said.
Although not all of those who struggle with health issues are Hispanic, Zapari said the current health care debate has often focused on immigrants.
Pointing toward the crowd at the Headwaters Park pavilion, Zapari said many among Fort Wayne’s Hispanic community have lived here for years.
"Our people work very hard," Zapari said. "Seems like we’re always the scapegoats."
Zapari said the festival will return in 2010, but he hopes that by that time, Gonzales will have had his life-saving surgery. If so, the proceeds from the festival will be slated to benefit the community in another way.
"We are a community," Zapari said, referring to the city’s diverse population. "Fort Wayne is a very special place."
A short time later, the lively music from the stage ended as a light-hearted crowd formed a circle around the track fashioned from green carpet and plastic fencing. Included among the canine competitors was Tito Placencia, who shivered at the end of his leash before the race.
"Michael Jordan said all athletes have nerves," said his handler, Susan McDonald, 33, of Garrett.
Unfortunately, the 8-year-old Tito’s nerves did not serve him well when confronted with the formidable Dolly during the first leg of the race.
Dolly, whose regular playmate is her family’s other dog – a pit bull – soundly trounced the competition in repeated elimination rounds. Each time, she marked her victory with triumphant barks. Her handler, Diana Morales, 30, of Fort Wayne said Dolly needed no special pre-race training.
"She runs in my house. She runs everywhere."
