Teens host pet walk to benefit adoption center
In a quest to help stem the city’s problem with stray animals while giving voice to their love of animals, four high school girls, with help from their moms, are hosting a pet walk to raise funds for an expansion of the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care Animal Shelter & Adoptions’ new adoption center.
Animal lovers Schuyler Adrogué Gustafson and Grace Hurley, together with Kathryn Leebron and Shelby Jordan, are urging animal lovers across Houston to support their cause, whether or not they have a pet to walk.
“Supporting BARC enables them to provide free spay-neuter services to control Houston’s stray population and to find forever homes for animals in need,” said Hurley, a Memorial resident and freshman at The Kinkaid School in west Houston, in an email.
The inaugural Bark for BARC Pet Walk starts with registration at 8:30 a.m. on April 30, at Rice University, at the parking lot off Greenbriar between University Boulevard and Rice Boulevard. The walk starts at 9:30 a.m. Online single walker registration is $30 and on the day of the event it will be $40.
The walk is to raise aware-
ness and money for Houston BARC Foundation, created to raise the $12 million needed in private donations to build the second phase of BARC’s new adoption center. The second phase will house five additional dog and puppy kennels, a spay-neuter clinic, a cat adoption facility and an education center.
The city provided $6.1 million for the first phase of the facility, which opened last August. It houses administrative offices, a courtyard, two dog adoption kennels and three outdoor dog runs.
BARC spokeswoman Lara Cottingham said the adoption center is vital to helping them find homes for the thousands of homeless animals in their care and promoting their profile in the community.
She said the city has the highest stray population in the country, due in part to the climate with its mild winters and extensive bayou system.
“It’s very easy to reproduce and make more stray animals,” Cottingham said.
Every year, between 25,000 and 30,000 of those stray animals, mostly cats and dogs, are brought to the shelter at 3200 Carr St., the only one in the city required to accept every dog or cat, regardless of capacity or the behavior, breed or medical condition of the animal. The moms and daughters hosting the pet walk are doing their part to curb the problem, both on a personal level, between them they have six rescue dogs and seven rescue cats, and for the good of the Houston community.
“We want to spread the word that the City of Houston has this facility and wants to do its best by the animals,” said Sofia Adrogué, mom to Schuyler Adrogué Gustafson. “All of us are committed together for this worthwhile cause.”
As well as raising funds for the expansion, the foundation, through such efforts as the upcoming pet walk and a gala later in the year, is focused on raising awareness about the shelter and its services and initiatives, of which there are dozens.
BARC collaborates with more then 150 animal rescue groups and provides fostering programs, volunteer training classes and workshops. A new adoption trailer enables BARC to take the animals into areas with high foot traffic to find potential adopters.
BARC also offers low cost spay and neuter surgeries and coordinates visits to elementary schools to educate children on the basics of responsible pet ownership.
Some numbers: In 2015, more than 2,800 pets underwent spay and neuter surgeries; 7,082 animals were adopted, the highest number in the shelter’s history; 8,727 animals were transferred to rescue groups; 983 lost animals were returned to their owners; and 2,408 animals were fostered.
The foundation also is seeking sponsorship, starting at $100, for the pet walk. Go to www.HoustonBARCFoundation.org.