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. 

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

 

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.

"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

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

Tales to Tails at Cage

Chloe our Rescue Education Ambassador Dog (READ) was at Cage Elementary recently along with Jennifer Washam. We got this great picture of Chloe working with some of the children. Go Chloe!

Barrio Dogs at the East End Street Fest

The Cinco de Mayo Street Fest sponsored by the East End Chamber of Commerce was a huge success. The weather was hot but that did not stop the crowds from the East End and throughout Houston from attending the Street Fest, the first in what will undoubtedly be an annual event. Barrio Dogs was pleased to be there too along with our literature, t-shirts and volunteers as we continue to spread the word that spay and neuter is the only solution to animal overpopulation.

Second Anniversary Celebration

Barrio Dogs celebrated its second anniversary with a fun and lively party at Bohemeo's in the East End. A large crowd turned out for the event on Sunday, April 22, 2012, and by all appearances, everyone had a great time!

 

Billboard Ideas

We are working with local billboard companies to try to post these great Barrio Dogs' billboards. However we can, we are trying to spread the word.

Before You Take Me Home

Available in English and Spanish

KIPP Students Rehearse for Barrio Dogs Celebration

We had an exciting rehearsal day at KIPP last week with Norma, Ernie and Javier Zenteno for the Barrio Dogs 2nd anniversary celebration that will feature music by the Norma Zenteno Band and local superstar musicians. The event will include a special performance by students from the KIPP Explore Academy.Thank you to Karen Shuster at KIPP for helping us organize the performance!

 

Easter Pictures at Browning

Our Rescue Education Ambassador Dog, Chloe, took some time off from her Tails to Tails sessions and Youth & Paws presentations to have some fun with the students at Browning Elementary by doing Easter photos. Big thanks to everyone that made this a fun day for the students.