July 30, 2009

On Sunday, June 28th, SCCA hosted the 3rd Annual Pets in the Pines, Northern Arizona’s largest animal welfare celebration for homeless pets. It was our most successful event to date! The event, which took place in downtown Flagstaff Wheeler Park, was a record breaking day for SCCA. SCCA staff and volunteers sent home 28 pets in a single day! In total, 58 animals went home with their forever families at Pets in the Pines.

The celebration included much more than adorable adoptables; it encompassed educating people about pet overpopulation and motivating the community to Adopt, Donate, & Volunteer. Based on SCCA survey results of event attendees 93.6% of survey respondents say that they spay/neuter their pets, 17% of respondents are MORE LIKELY to adopt from a shelter as a result of Pets in the Pines and 76% ALREADY HAVE adopted from shelters/rescues! Plateauland Mobile Vet Clinic was on site providing low-cost routine animal health care and administered over 200 life saving vaccines in one day; let’s hear it for responsible pet parents!

Over 20 animal welfare organizations attended the festivities and the estimated attendance for the event totaled over 2,500. We reached the next generation of welfare enthusiasts with over 200 children participating in animal welfare games, contests and activities. With a focus on volunteerism, SCCA collected over 60 volunteer applications and recruited 3 new foster families for homeless pets.

The scores of animal shelters, welfare organizations, and rescue groups from all over Arizona and the Four Corners region that attended Pets in the Pines drove home the importance of humane treatment of animals and the urgency to take action and responsibility for the animal overpopulation problem. Working together is imperative to ending this problem. Thank you to all that attended and made this celebration possible!

SCCA would like to thank the following sponsors for making Pets in the Pines 2009 possible: Arizona Community Foundation, local artist Connie Townsend, Pepsi, AEC Reprographics, Nestle Purina, National Bank of Arizona, Wal-Mart, Performance Staffing, Big Tree Furniture, Beaver Street Brewery, Karma Sushi, Westside Veterinary Clinic, Ponderosa Pet Crematory, Grizzard, Flagstaff Insurance, The Loc Doc & Flagstaff Parks and Recreation.