KIPP Intrepid Visited by Barrio Dogs

Barrio Dogs' core mission is to educate, empower and transform communities in the Greater East End. One of our most impactful programs is our Youth and Paws program (YAP), in which we feature educational presentations, bilingual literature, guest speaker discussions, and an occasional visit by a rescued and rehabilitated dog.  Below is a summary of our Education Team’s most recent visit to KIPP Intrepid.

 
Barrio Dogs had a wonderful opportunity to share a humane education presentation at KIPP Intrepid Tuesday, November 20--our first visit to the campus this semester. Team Jennifer Washam and Rescue Education Ambassador Dog (R*E*A*D*) Chloe presented the story "Buddy Unchained" to 2 groups of 50 fifth grade students. This story provided the youth a chance to learn about how Buddy felt "unsafe and unhappy" in his first environment where he was chained with little food and clean water, to being rescued, cared for and then adopted by his forever family that provided him with a safe and healthy environment.

 
They were then given a creative writing activity where participating students chose a picture card of a Barrio Dog rescue and asked to tell the story of the canine's background and the forever home they are looking for. The students were provided the Thanksgiving weekend to complete this activity, after which the assignment will be picked up and shared with our Barrio Dogs community. At the presentation's end, each student had the opportunity to meet Chloe and have their picture taken. And it was "pajama day" at the campus, so all the students were in a very "lighhearted" mood. It was a great experience for Jennifer, Chloe and the school, and we look forward to more opportunities in the future on their campus. 

 

Be sure to check back soon for some of the creative writing activities from the 5^th graders at KIPP Intrepid.

If you are interested in having our Education Team visit your school as part of the YAP program, please contact Jennifer@barriodogs.org. 

As Seen on Fox News

Kristal Kirksey and Kelly Simmons from Jubilee were on Fox News yesterday morning talking about this Saturday's Party for Pooches benefiting Barrio Dogs. Our rescued dog, Rusty, was also there looking fabulous in his red and white sweater. Thank you Kristal and Kelly for all your support!

To see the Fox news clip:  Click here to watch

Stop by this great event and say hi to Barrio Dogs and some of our rescues!

Party for Pooches

Saturday, November 17 at 2:00 pm

Jubilee

325 W 19th St

Houston, TX

 

Barrio Dogs celebrities that will be in attendance include...





 

Here's a sneak peek at some of the items that will be included in the silent auction....

 

Signed & framed Carlos Hernandez print

Pink bike complete with basket & bell

 



 

 



 

Hope to see you there!

Jubilee & Barrio Dogs in the Houston Chronicle

Great article from the Houston Chronicle about our work and the upcoming Jubilee event! One correction: we have not rescued 300 dogs. We've vetted and fixed at least 300 dogs, many of which had a home or were on their way to one.

Thank you to the Houston Chronicle for recognizing our work!

Click here to see the full article

Please feel free to join us at this event on Saturday, November 17 at 2pm.

Party for Pooches

Jubilee

325 W 19th St

Houston, TX

Making Progress on FixIt

We're having success with FixIt, both in raising money and getting animals in to the vet for the free spay and neuter. We still need everyone's support to make this work; the problem in our community and many others around us is immense!

We Need a Plan

City of Houston officials, what is the plan for addressing animal overpopulation in our communities? If there is a plan, it isn’t working. If there isn't a plan, we need one.  Over 6,900 animals were euthanized in Houston from January to June 2012 and another 1.2 million homeless animals live on Houston streets.   

Barrio Dogs is uniting with other groups to ask city officials what Houston plans to do to address animal overpopulation. Join us in asking them that question!  Use the links below to contact the mayor and our city council members. 

Contact Mayor Annise Parker:  http://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/index.html

Contact our City Council Members:  http://www.houstontx.gov/council/index.html

 

Houston Press Honors Barrio Dogs with Best Pet Adoption 2012 Award

Barrio Dogs is honored to be the reciepient of the Best Pet Adoption 2012 Award from Houston Press!  Many thanks to Houston Press for their recognition of our multiple efforts and to all of those who open their hearts and adopt. 

Link to article

Best Pet Adoption - 2012

Barrio Dogs

 Barrio Dogs isn't exactly an adoption service — it's a nonprofit staffed entirely by volunteers dedicated to educating lower-income Houston neighborhoods about animal overpopulation, neglect, low-cost sterilization and state animal cruelty statutes. But through the Barrio Dogs Facebook page and Web site, the group often unites hardscrabble barrio strays with foster parents and, eventually, forever homes. If you follow Barrio Dogs on Facebook, beware: Some of the rescues' stories are hard to swallow, but they're made all the more worthwhile thanks to regular tail-wagging happy endings.

Come See Us!

The Barrio Dogs family had a wonderful time at the Dog Park showing at G Gallery last Saturday!Barrio Dog Daisy even snagged the heart of Pam Holstien, who will be fostering to adopt.

Pam and Daisy

If you missed our last event at G Gallery (or you miss us already), check out our events for this weekend!

BARRIO DOGS PET ADOPTION AND COMMUNITY AWARENESS 
Martini Hardware
Saturday, September 8th 
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. 

Martini Hardware is located at 7145 Lawndale in the heart of the East End in an area where we see many homeless and unwanted dogs. Stop by and learn more about the FixIt! East End Spay Neuter Project and what we are all about.

Please stop by and say hello. The Barrio Dogs team and some of our dogs will be there from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m this upcoming Saturday.

BARRIO DOGS PET ADOPTION 
Rover Oaks - Katy
Sunday, September 9th 
Noon – 4:00 p.m. 

These gorgeous Barrio Dogs and others will be at Rover Oaks - Katy this Sunday, September 9, from noon - 4:00 p.m. Rover Oaks is located at 24250 Kingsland Boulevard, Katy, Texas. If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello.

Dog Park- An Art Event Benefiting Barrio Dogs

Make a date this Saturday with Damian, Izzy, Quinn and Happy! 

This Saturday, September 1st from 6pm-9pm the Barrio Dogs team will be celebrating the opening of G Gallery’s Dog Park Exhibit.  View works of art focused on dogs (a portion of the artwork proceeds will benefit Barrio Dogs) , get some great food from Good Dog Food Truck and show your support of Barrio Dogs.  Dogs are welcome to come celebrate as well. 

Damian, Izzy, Quinn and Happy are still looking for their forever homes.  If you think you have the perfect forever home for one of them and want more information, check out their individual albums on our facebook pages (links below pictures) and come see them Saturday!

Dog Park Opening Reception @ G Gallery

 Saturday, September 1, 2012

6pm – 9pm

301 East 11^th Street

Houston, TX 77008

 

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"Dog Days of Summer" Dogwash

Our Barrio Dogs team was out beating the heat Sunday, August 26 at the “Dog Days of Summer” Dogwash hosted by Firkin & Phoenix (1915 Westheimer Rd.) to raise money for Barrio Dogs and two local rescues.  There was fun all around with hot dogs & homemade dog treats, a raffle, dunking booth, bounce house, music and of course lots of happy dogs! 

Many thanks go out to Firkin & Phoenix, all of the dog washing volunteers and the many others who made this event possible and successful!  Also, thank you to the Houston Chronicle for mentioning this event and some of our very own Barrio Dogs Adoptables (to see the pictures featured in the Chronicle follow the link: http://www.chron.com/news/gallery/Wash-Dogs-48027/photo-3371966.php)

The good news doesn’t stop there though…

Darla not only came out to soak up some rays and play in the water, but she found her forever family too!  Congratulations Darla!

To see more pictures of the event and Darla’s new family, visit us on facebook at Barrio Dogs, Inc.

Barrio Tails, Summer 2012

Check out the premiere issue of Barrio Dogs' newsletter Barrio Tails!

Open publication - Free publishing - More dogs

Outreach in Settegast Park

Barrio Dogs has been getting emails about increasing numbers of homeless and unwanted dogs in Settegast Park in the East End (2nd Ward). There are concerned neighbors in the area who do not want the conditions in other parts of the East End to spread to their neighborhood. To help them, we had an awareness event in Settegast Park on Saturday, July 21, 2012 to help bring attention to this growing concern. 

Community Awareness Event - Mason Park

Barrio Dogs volunteers were up bright and early Saturday, July 14, 2012 to walk the neighborhood adjacent to Mason Park. We are desperately working to spread the word that spay and neuter is the only solution to the animal overpopulation we see daily in this area. The goal was to distribute literature about proper pet care and spay neuter resources to 1,000 homes in the area.   

We have been getting requests for assistance from others in the East End who are concerned that their neighborhoods will become overrun with homeless and unwanted dogs like the Hidalgo Park and Mason Park areas. We will continue to do these awareness events as long as we have volunteers willing to distribute literature and buy in and participation from residents.

"Freedom for All" Community March on July 4th

Barrio Dogs held its “Freedom for All” community march on July 4th in Hidalgo Park, an area that is especially hard hit with unwanted and neglected dogs. Father Salvatore DeGeorge from St. Patrick's Catholic Church said a blessing for all the suffering animals in the area and in particular for Grace, a homeless and sick German shepherd that died last month soon after she was rescued from the 8300 block of Navigation near the Ship Channel. News about Grace spread quickly via the internet and Barrio Dogs received many inquiries and offers to donate to her care from throughout the country as well as from Canada, England and Australia.

About 100 participants marched through the neighborhood, many of whom had never been in that part of Houston before. Barrio Dogs plans to return to this community to offer information and resources to the residents to help them take better care of their dogs.

Father Salvatore DeGeorge said a blessing for Grace and  the other suffering animals in the community

Grace, who was rescued from this area last month and died a few hours after her rescue. Her story captured the attention of people around the country who could not believe dogs live like this in a city as wealthy as Houston

A local resident (red shirt) joined us in the march after we passed by his house

Many dogs in this community live in awful conditions; the temperature during the march was in the mid 90's

Another chained dog; at least this one has shade

Barrio Dogs Paws for Poetry

The students at Browning Elementary give us reason to hope for a better future. We are so proud of them and the Paws for Poetry book they created and sold to raise nearly $400 for our FixIt! East End Spay Neuter project. We plan to produce more copies of the book to sell; all proceeds will benefit FixIt!. A big thank you to Browning’s teachers, students and a special thanks to Barrio Dogs’ team members Jennifer Washam and Grace Ruiz for putting together this beautiful book. Here are some excerpts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit to Gano Mission

Barrio Dogs volunteers and therapy dogs recently spent an afternoon at Gano Mission, part of Mission Centers of Houston which serves impoverished communities in Houston's inner city. Barrio Dogs visit was with children in the youth program and featured stories and games. The important message behind the fun was about taking proper care of pets, especially spaying and neutering them. Thank you to Gano Mission and to our volunteers for making this event possible!

Anna Bermudez, Susan Giles and Dulce Garcia with therapy dogs Henry and Hap

An educational game

Most of the audience seems to be enjoying the program

Children with therapy dog Chloe

Therapy dog Serenity made some new friends

Educating about Pit Bulls

Barrio Dogs is working to educate people about pit bulls and contradict the misinformation about the breed that is exaggerated by the media. We are joined in our campaign by our friend and volunteer Rachel Gonzalez. She and Clara, her Canine Good Citizen certified pit bull, have been visiting local schools to teach children that pit bulls are not bad dogs: it's the people around them.

Here are some recent pictures of Rachel and Clara at Browning Elementary. We are so grateful for their efforts to spread the word about this misunderstood breed!

Rachel and Clara

Clara and a teacher