Wags n’ Whiskers Festival at Girsh Park
The fun-filled event—Santa Barbara County’s largest adoption festival—features adoptable dogs, cats and bunnies from 20-plus animal shelters, rescues and animal welfare groups.
The festival also showcases a range of local pet service providers, including Lemos, Dioji K9 Resort, OffLeash, Your Pals Pet Hospital and HydroPaws. Among the proud sponsors, count CARE Hospital, Montecito Bank & Trust, Chrissie’s Fund, Valley Pets, Who’s Walking Who Pet Sitting & Dog Waking Services and Monarch Pet Spas. Festival-goers enjoy a mix of activities, such as agility shows by Goleta Valley Dog Club, Flyball with the Supersonic, police and search-dog performances and great pet contests. They also learn about the latest in animal wellness from local veterinarians. C.A.R.E.4Paws’s fun and educational Pawsitive Thinking Kids Corner invites children and parents to discover how to care for all living beings. Dogs can get styled by experts from Paul Mitchell and Petco’s Grooming Salon. Plus, visitors can raffle for many great prizes. Last year’s event featured as many as 30 vendors and pet service providers and drew more than a thousand visitors. It inspired forever homes for as many as 35 cats and dogs.
The organizer, C.A.R.E.4Paws (Community Awareness, Responsibility, Education), is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that promotes responsible pet ownership and animal welfare through early education and bilingual/bicultural community outreach, affordable spays and neuters, dog training intervention workshops, pit bull education and countywide adoption events—like Wags n’ Whiskers. What makes Wags n’ Whiskers unique is that it sheds light on the impressive work of the county’s animal shelters and rescues and lets the public meet a large number of adoptable pets outside the typical shelter environment. This year, C.A.R.E.4Paws aims to significantly increase the number of adoptions, visitors and vendors and make it an even more successful gathering for our community’s animal lovers.
Visit care4paws.org/events.html for more info about Wags n’ Whiskers (you’ll find a complete list of participants below). And please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions at 805-637-1892 or info@care4paws.org.
