Do Good While You Walk Your Dog

There is a huge abandoned/feral pet population in Richmond, many of which have no shelter during the cold winter months, have little food to eat, and are at the mercy of illness and wild animal attacks. Saturday March 20th you have a chance to change all this at the 8th annual Dog Jog and 5K run, hosted by the Richmond SPCA. Last year's event raised $108,000 to help orphaned pets housed by this no-kill facility. You can run, jog or walk the 5K, walk with your dog in the 1-mile Dog Jog, buy a raffle ticket, or just show up to attend the vendor fair from 9am to 1pm. Participants may register individually or as part of a team, and have the option of raising donations to benefit the SPCA. As an added bonus, the SPCA will be offering a walk-up microchip clinic for $20 the day of the event, where you can have a small microchip placed under the skin between your pets shoulder blades. The insertion is nearly painless, and as most vets and animal shelters now carry microchip scanners, this can help identify and return your pet to you if they ever become lost.

In addition to keeping animals off the street, the SPCA offers free spaying/neutering for owned cats and dogs for students and low income families in the Richmond area. They also have Pet Pantry and a Wellness Clinic, to provide pet food and medical care to pets from low income families, and a Feral Clinic, where they fix feral cats for free, through the trap-neuter-release program. As socially conscious individuals we owe it to our animal friends to take responsibility for their welfare. Please consider participating in this event, or making a donation. And get your pet spayed or neutered, because the best solution to prevent animal homelessness is to prevent unwanted litters.