Getting down and dirty for the furred and feathered

Chesapeake has arrived. The city is now officially big time. And not because of its new Towne Place at Greenbrier, abundance of sushi, Thai and Indian restaurants, or ubiquitous Starbucks shops.

Move over, Vegas and L.A., mud wrestling is coming to Chesapeake!

And as befitting the "city that cares," it will be done for a good cause. Women 18 and older are invited to grapple in goo to help save abused, abandoned or doomed pets from all over Hampton Roads.

Organizers are hoping a huge crowd will come out to watch, and they're looking for women to get down and dirty for the sake of unfortunate animals.

"Mud Mania" is scheduled to take place Friday at the Web of Life Animal Outreach, a 7-acre no-kill companion animal sanctuary that services all five cities in the Hampton Roads area.

Proceeds from watching game girls grip, grunt and groan in gunk will benefit the nonprofit all-volunteer group dedicated to helping save creatures that were once embraced in the bosom of a family and have now been cast aside.

The program began two years ago and operates a facility on West Road in Chesapeake, said its director, Kempsville resident Jackie Van Horn. The organization's operating expenses come entirely from adoption fees, once-a-month fundraisers, contributions, grants and donations.

"We care for those animals that were once pets and those that have been domesticated," she explained.

Those animals include horses, emus, rabbits, lizards, snakes, cockatiels, ferrets, gerbils and hamsters.

Animals are cared for by 170 volunteers, including some children, ages 6 and older, who help during the summer.

The group currently is caring for more than 200, including 70 cats/kittens, 30 dogs and six horses, along with a number of birds, reptiles and rodents.

"We care for a little of everything," Van Horn added. "Many have been labeled by area animal control agencies to be put down, many come from folks who have passed away but leave a pet behind, and then others have been abused or neglected."

No animal cared for by the Web of Life folks is ever euthanized, Van Horn said. The public may visit the facility for possible adoption from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. The facility also holds off-site adoptions at local PetSmart and Pet Supplies Plus stores.

The cats live indoors in a non-caged environment with scratching posts, cat trees, snuggle beds, toys and even "video catnip," which runs continuous images of birds, mice and other creatures.

Dogs are kept in huge communal playpens with water stations, chew toys and a swimming pool. At night, they come indoors.

"We try to make this as close to a home environment as possible," she said. "So when the animal gets adopted, they're already used to the environment and there's no traumatic period of adjustment. And it works, we have only about a one percent return rate."

Van Horn said the facility also provides an inexpensive boarding for the pets of service men and women deployed overseas.

"We offer nominally priced long-term pet care for the military," she said. "That way the service man or woman, when they're sent overAseas, won't have to give their pet up or have it put down and they're guaranteed it will be there, happy and healthy, when they return home. For example, we're caring for one woman's beagle while she's in Iraq for a 444-day deployment, and this works out very nicely, she gets to keep her baby."

And now they want the area's "babes" to get down and dirty for their whiskered, wobbling and wagging wards.

"It started out as kind of a joke, we were sitting around trying to think up ideas for fundraisers and how to get people out here; and some of the guys suggested it since we noticed when it rains out here we get a lot of mud," Van Horn explained.

Fliers have been posted at area Hooters, local Harley-Davidson dealerships and military areas. Van Horn said she hopes women body builders, swimmers, dancers, athletes and animal lovers will sign up to fandango, spin, grasp, push and mush in the mud.

All women 18 and older are eligible to compete in one of three weight categories for a $500 cash prize. Spectators will stand or sit in a circle around an outdoor mud pit.

Van Horn guarantees no vicious WCW type no-holds barred grappling. There will be no hair-pulling, biting, punching and knock-down-drag-out rough stuff. Several off-duty police officers will be there to help with security and safety.

"We did some research and we already have a referee and three judges," she said. "And we're even gong to use a special synthetic, purified hygienic type of mud, and abide by special rules. Even the Chesapeake Health Department has given us their approval. It will be a safe and fun event, something different to help raise money for our facility and our work."

If next week's slippery, slimy session works, more could be in store. Who knows, maybe Jell-O, pudding, or - since this is the South - grits-wrestling?

"If this is successful, the sky's the limit," Van Horn said. "Somebody suggested we use pot-bellied pigs, but no, this is limited to people. And it's open to anybody. Any female can come out, don a swimsuit and get dirty."

Eric Feber, 222-5203, eric.feber@pilotonline.com