‘Dog Will Have His Day’
MONMOUTH, Ill. – Marlo Belschner joined Monmouth College’s English faculty 20 years ago, has been a full professor since 2014, and currently chairs the department.
But there’s another off-campus side to the professor, who lives in Davenport, Iowa – she’s an outspoken dog lover, so much so that in 2018, she created the Facebook group “Dog Friendly Quad Cities.”
In 2018, the city of Davenport created a law forbidding dogs on outside patios. Belschner said she created the Facebook group to bring awareness to places in the Quad Cities that allowed dogs. A little over a year later, the law was reversed, but Belschner’s dog advocacy group has continued to grow.
“It has evolved into a group where I keep the Quad Cities’ dog community up-to-date on the most recent dog-related events, such as free vaccination and spaying clinics, and fundraisers for local animal shelters,” she said.
Belschner added that if she were ever to lose her dogs, “Dog Friendly Quad Cities” would be the first place she would post.
“Just events in the Quad Cities, things that are going on. Things that I’d like to know,” she replied, when asked about the requirements for a post to be allowed in the group.
People often reach out to Belschner about boarding and selling their dogs, to which she swiftly replies, “If someone else wants to start that site, that’s great. But everything else is getting lost. Rehoming is great – it just isn’t the focus of this group.”
“It has evolved into a group where I keep the Quad Cities’ dog community up-to-date on the most recent dog-related events, such as free vaccination and spaying clinics, and fundraisers for local animal shelters.” – Marlo Belschner
Recent posts have included questions about dog-related services such as grooming and photography, as well as seeking information on dog-friendly pumpkin patches.
“It’s just to get people out in the community and bring their dogs places,” she said. “I think it would be good, especially for local businesses – promote their business, encourage people to let dogs in, and it’s just a good excuse to get out with your dogs.”
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