Furry Friends

Get involved with these 5 'paw-some' animal charities in San Antonio

The Hill Country SPCA has been operating in Bexar County for 60 years.

Courtesy of Hill Country SPCA Charity

As part of our ongoing San Antonio Charity Guide series, this month we’re highlighting San Antonio’s best animal charities. Together, these nonprofits provide aid, care, and rescue for vulnerable animals across the San Antonio community. Here’s everything you need to know about how to support these organizations.

Hill Country SPCA
Mission: The Hill Country SPCA is dedicated to preventing cruelty and neglect of domesticated animals in the Texas Hill Country. The organization aims to reduce the number of homeless companion animals, eliminate euthanasia of unwanted animals, foster responsible pet ownership, and provide shelter and placement services for unwanted animals.
Get Involved: Learn how to donate, volunteer, or adopt here.
Major Fundraiser: Paddy's Party

San Antonio Humane Society
Mission: The San Antonio Humane Society's mission is to improve and save the lives of animals by providing care, shelter, and community education and has done so for more than 60 years. A no-kill shelter, SAHS provides medical care and shelter for furry friends until they find their forever homes, and helps more than 4,000 animals in Bexar County every year.
Membership: The Giving Circle donors commit a significant financial donation to the San Antonio Humane Society and are invited to various functions throughout the year.
Get Involved: Learn how to donate, volunteer, or adopt here.

San Antonio Pets Alive!
Mission: In 2012, San Antonio Pets Alive! launched its model of pulling animals who were kenneled and awaiting euthanasia at the city shelter and brought them to SAPA!. In its six-year history, the organization has saved the lives of over 40,000 area dogs and cats, and helped San Antonio consistently realize a save-rate between 80-90 percent every month.
Membership: $35 per month
Get Involved: Learn how to donate, volunteer, or adopt here.

San Antonio Zoo
Mission: San Antonio Zoo, operated by the San Antonio Zoological Society, is a nonprofit organization committed to securing a future for wildlife. Through its passion and expertise in animal care, conservation, and education, the zoo’s mission is to inspire its community to love, engage with, act for, and protect animals and the places they live. The zoo welcomes more than a million visitors each year and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Zoological Association of America, and is American Humane Certified.
Membership: Zoo membership includes year-round admission to the zoo. Members of Zoomers, the young professional organization of the San Antonio Zoo, work to expand conservation and awareness of the zoo and have access to exclusive events and programs.
Get Involved: Donateor learn how to become a volunteer docent here.
Major Fundraiser: Zoo Ball

TracysDogs
Mission: The focus of TracysDogs is its National Rescue and Transport Initiative. Over the last four years, TracysDogs has saved more than 4,100 dogs with pending euthanasia dates by bringing them into the program, providing veterinarian care, socialization, quarantine, nutrition, love, and attention before placing them into loving forever homes.
Membership: PetParents membership is available for TracysDogs adopters with a one-time donation of $600 or four annual quarterly recurring donations of $150.
Get Involved: Donate or learn how to adopt here.

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SPARE ART

North San Antonio gets crafty with new creative supplies shop

Photo by Ismael Rodriguez.

Local nonprofit Spare Parts recently opened its brick-and-mortar center for creative reuse.

One local nonprofit organization has spent years getting environmental accountability and community education down to a fine art. And now it’s getting crafty with a new brick-and-mortar shop in North San Antonio aimed to help locals to go green.

Spare Parts was founded in 2010 by executive director and longtime arts educator Mary Elizabeth Cantú to provide a creative spark for area students and schools lacking arts funding and resources. Through a variety of educational programs, public art exhibitions, events, and the organization’s traveling Mini Art Museum, Spare Parts has enlightened thousands of students and San Antonians, all while fostering reuse practices and sustainability, a key tenet of the nonprofit.

Spare Parts’ latest endeavor is another artistic triumph. Its new center for creative reuse, located at 13451 Wetmore Rd., is nothing less than a crafter’s delight. The shop features an impressive array of “pre-loved” and price-reduced artsy merchandise — from paint supplies and paper crafts to sewing items, beading and jewelry, school and office supplies, vintage gadgets, and crafting kits — all of which has been rescued from area landfills.

Cantú notes that proceeds from the new Spare Parts’ shop will enable the organization to further increase creative and educational experiences for San Antonio students and families. But even more so, she hopes the shop will help locals embrace the concept that one person’s trash can be another’s artistic treasure.

“There really isn’t any more room in the world for this stuff. Buying pre-loved at places like Spare Parts or other stores is a way to reduce the amount of things [people] feel that they need,” Cantú said in a recent interview with the San Antonio Sentinel. “We’re challenging people to rethink things around them, buy pre-loved, and find a way to be creative in their lives.”

In the time of COVID-19, however, getting the creative juices flowing isn’t as simple as popping into the Spare Parts shop. Though the center for creative reuse is open, the store is currently offering only weekend curbside pickup of items ordered through its website. But crafters shouldn’t despair, as Spare Parts is offering private in-person shopping experiences in the new year, with the first planned for January 16 and 17.

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