ABOUT: Bark in the Park/Perrito Grito
The Talk About It! program will conduct the Bark in the Park/Perrito Grito pet fiesta at Woodlawn Lake Park, a neighborhood where stray and free roaming dog and cat overpopulation is particularly acute. The event will include adoptable shelter and rescue dogs and cats, a low-cost vaccination clinic, a free spay/neuter clinic, and many family-friendly activities to help local residents learn about responsible pet care and making their dogs and cats members of their family.
Background:
Since 2007, the San Antonio Area Foundation has been committed to helping San Antonio achieve its No Kill goals by supporting programs that help achieve San Antonio’s Animal Care Strategic Plan. These programs include low cost or free spay/neuter surgeries, super adoption events, public awareness and education, and grass roots events to promote responsible pet care.
In 2007, the Area Foundation developed the Animal No Kill Fund to support programs and increase community awareness, education, and action, especially in the areas of adoptions and spaying and neutering of dogs and cats. As a result, more than 140,000 dogs and cats have been sterilized; over 50,000 dogs and cats were adopted into area homes; and euthanasia numbers have dropped from 50,000 to under 19,000 annually in San Antonio over the past four years.
Over the past year, our Talk About It! grass roots events produced 468 spay/neuter surgeries from 14 spay/neuter clinics, organized 10 “Pet Fiestas” that included dog training and information sessions with a total of 5,000 event attendees, and visited over 3,000 homes in the block walking program and contacted 35,177 households to inform them about upcoming spay/neuter events.
