Filled with laughter, barks and bubbles, the early morning featured a dog costume contest and live music, with hundreds of people and their dogs connecting through health and wellness as they explored the park.
Wags & Wellness, hosted by Swift Fit Social, a fitness and health event organizer, invited over 50 brands and organizations, many of them local, to Girard Kinney Park at Mueller on Saturday, allowing attendees to learn about their personal health, as well as their dogs’. The free event supported Austin Pets Alive! through donations from vendors and a portion of the event’s profits.
Attendee Elizabeth Morales brought Elsie, her 5-year-old Labrador retriever mix foster, to the event to help socialize her and meet potential new owners. Morales took in Elsie, originally named Precious at the Bexar County Animal Care facility, to prevent her from being euthanized.
“I (felt) like this would be a good opportunity for her because she gets more comfortable when dogs are around, and she’s really great with strangers,” Morales said. “It’s been a good opportunity for her to collect some toys, get some exposure, socialization and just for people to see her and for me to learn how she is with other people.”
Candace Kief, founder and CEO of Swift Fit Social, said the organization received over 1,900 RSVPs to the event, more than three times the amount they got last year. Kief said co-founder Lee Ackerley sent her a text Saturday night saying she’s “making the whole city smile.”
“Putting events on can be really stressful and it’s a lot of work, and you’re depending on a lot of components working out for you,” Kief said. “But then when you get out here, and you see all of these people smiling … bringing them all together in one space so they can all enjoy the same thing in their own way is so special.”
Austin Animal Services offered free microchip scanning, adoption waivers and engraved pet identification tags. Isabel Araiza, the event coordinator for Austin Animal Services, said the event brought Austin’s pet lovers and fitness enthusiasts together.
“No matter what animal shelter, animal welfare organization you’re speaking to, there will always be that main message to adopt, foster (and) volunteer,” Araiza said. “That is what we need the very most. We are all struggling with space.”
This year, the event featured live music by local country band, Louisiana Surf Department. Kief said she plans to host the event again next fall and hopes the next iteration is even bigger and better.
“There’s no niche here,” Kief said. “This is not for dog people. It’s not for families. It’s not for singles. It’s for everyone.”
