Written by Karen Bauer —
OAKHURST — Pet adoptions, photos with your pet and discounted spay/neuter certificates courtesy of the Eastern Madera County SPCA and Friends of Madera Shelter (FMAS) will all be available along with a glass (or two!) of wine on Saturday, June 24, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Yosemite Wine Tails in Oakhurst.
Collette Goga, owner of Yosemite Wine Tails, is graciously donating her beautiful dog-friendly venue for the event.
This is a great opportunity to learn about the progress of the new EMC SPCA shelter being built right now in Ahwahnee, and perhaps find a new best friend for your family.
And if you’ve ever thought about being a volunteer or even a much-needed foster parent, there will be information and current volunteers and foster parents who will be happy to chat with you!
While you’re deciding which adorable kitten or lovable pup to take home, you can also purchase a few raffle tickets for great prizes, chat with Madera County Supervisor Tom Wheeler, meet board members of both FMAS and EMC SPCA and catch some great music by the Laurie B. Ballard Trio.
To help you with your choice of doggie, FMAS is sponsoring the Year of the Pitbull. All year, all pits and pit mixes over 6 months old are $25, which includes spay/neuter, shots and microchip. Did you know these wonderful dogs were originally bred as family pets to be very affectionate with children? We’ll have some there for you to meet and greet and see for yourself.
Pictures with your dog (yes, bring the furry ones along, Yosemite Wine Tails is always dog-friendly!) are courtesy of Carrie Jenkin’s A Moment in Time Photography, who is donating all proceeds to our fundraising efforts.
This joint fundraising event with FMAS and the EMC SPCA highlights the partnership it takes to spay/neuter, home and rescue so many animals in our mountain community. FMAS allows the EMC SPCA to participate in the hugely successful transport programs, which bring dogs and cats from our mountain area to loving homes in the San Francisco Bay Area and Oregon. With transport vehicles manned by volunteers leaving once and sometimes twice a week, thousands of dogs and cats have been saved.
There’s still an urgent need to continue spay/neuter programs here at home. Both FMAS and the EMC SPCA work hard to obtain grants and provide their own funds to offset the cost of spaying and neutering local pets. Both offer discounted microchipping programs so lost dogs can be reunited quickly with their families.
And while the EMC SPCA has, with the community’s enthusiastic support, raised enough money to build the new shelter, continued fundraising is needed to furnish the shelter with all the necessary supplies and equipment. Once open, the shelter will require ongoing funds for staff, pet food, dog park maintenance (yes, there will be a community dog park!), transport vehicles, education and outreach and of course low-cost spay and neuter.
FMAS’s ongoing needs include funds for the transport program (which requires specialized vans and vehicles), adoption programs, spay/neuter, fostering and microchipping.
Bring the family, and help make a difference in the lives of our animals. We’ll see you there!
Yosemite Wine Tails is located at 40409 Highway 41 in Oakhurst.
This article was edited on June 21 after organizers announced hot weather precludes micro-chipping, which will not be available at this event.
