City of Rochester
News Release
(Friday, March 27, 2016) – The City of Rochester Animal Services and the Verona Street Animal Society are inviting dog owners and their dogs to The Fast & The Furriest®, benefit event on Saturday, June 4, at the Animal Services Center, 184 Verona St. and adjacent Brown Square Park.
“We are committed to maintaining a high quality of life in Rochester, not just for our human residents, but for their furry companions as well,” Mayor Lovely A. Warren said. “The Fast & The Furriest event is a great way for people to get to know the staff and volunteers at our Animal Services division who provide these services, a critical component to creating more jobs, safer and more vibrant neighborhoods, better educational opportunities and keeping tails wagging all over our city!”
The tenth annual event includes 10K and 5K races, a dog walk and pet festival to highlight the City’s Animal Services agency, boost pet adoptions, stimulate volunteer recruitment and support the shelter’s animal care, enrichment, community outreach and spay/neuter programs. The event features live performances by local musician Travis Fitch and a dog playgroup demonstration. Activities for children include face painting, a bounce house, a fire safety house and Safe Child IDs. Pet contests for the furriest dog, best tail wag, best dog trick, hot dog bobbing and owner/pet look-alike will be held. More information including online race registration is posted at www.vsas.org.
The event will raise awareness about services including pet adoptions, pet lost-and-found, spay/neuter programs, rescue partnerships, dog bite prevention, community outreach initiatives and volunteer opportunities. This event raises funds to help support the health and wellness of sheltered animals, the canine play yard, pet owner assistance and pet foster care program among others.
Event volunteers and participants are invited to raise money and earn prizes by competing as individual fundraisers or as teams formed by friends, groups, businesses or clubs.
New to The Fast & The Furriest® this year is the inclusion of free distemper/parvovirus vaccinations along with rabies vaccinations at the walk-up clinic. Microchips will be provided at no charge at the clinic. There are limited quantities of vaccinations (200) and microchips (100) so the free service will be provided while supplies last. Owners seeking three-year rabies vaccinations should bring vaccination records to avoid the recording of a one-year vaccination.
During the event, adoptions will be just $10 for cats and $20 for dogs. The shelter will be open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on June 4.
Major sponsors include: Petco Foundation; Monroe Veterinary Associates; Karpus Investment Management; Buckingham Properties; Fleet Feet Sports; Pet$aver Healthy Pet Superstore; Invisible Fence® Brand; Lori's Natural Foods; Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; Southtown Plaza Associates; Wegmans and Xerox Corp.
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News Media: For more information, contact Press Officer, Jessica Alaimo, at 428-7135.