Kennels of puppies were scattered around Victory Lap last Thursday as PAWS Shelter of Central Texas hosted a Valentine’s Day fundraiser. Although many may have felt the gloom of droplets of rain and puffy clouds, students gained relief from the rainy afternoon to play with some furry friends.
Among those who stopped by were Texas football junior defensive back Michael Taaffe and sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr., both coming after a morning of off-season workouts. The duo played with the puppies and helped bring awareness to the importance of adopting animals from shelters.
Taaffe, whose family adopted two dogs from a shelter in Houston, emphasized the importance of taking in dogs who need love.
“Go adopt a little puppy,” Taaffe said. “Because I think puppies from shelters are the most lovable puppies.”
Organized by journalism sophomore Lailah Licon, the event was in collaboration with PAWs shelter to raise money and awareness for central Texas animals in need of homes.
“I need to see the difference I’m making, and using my personal skills to help smaller organizations is very rewarding to see the improvements that one person can make,” Licon said. “But it’s great to see that I can also bring other people along too because I think it’s a good experience to volunteer for something like this.”
Using her previous experiences in marketing and event planning, Licon offered her help to the organization and getting Texas students involved.
“I was in Kendra Scott on (South Congress), and they were doing a profit share,” Licon said. “So I just went up to the table … and I was just like, ‘I’d love to help you guys throw an event.’ So I kind of just volunteered to be the event coordinator.”
Licon turned to Victory Lap to host the event. The restaurant agreed to host the event, and donated a dollar to the shelter for every order placed during the event.
“Our space provides a welcoming environment for both people and pets, making it an ideal venue for community-driven events,” wrote Matt Wolski, the LV collective director of hospitality, in an email. “Since this event took place during the daytime, we thought it would be a great opportunity to cross-promote Victory Lap and Paws.”
Leslie Hutson, the executive director of PAWs, hoped the event would spread more awareness and information about shelters and animal care. Hutson, who started her career as a broadcast journalist reporting on shelters in Texas, fell in love with the process of rescuing dogs and helping them find new homes.
“It’s all about outreach,” Hutson said “When we’re able to partner with someone like Victory Lap, we’re bringing in a whole new crowd. …We love being asked to do events like this because it helps us for adoptions, for donations and for potential volunteers or fosters.”
Hutson said being able to reach new audiences, especially college students and young adults, is crucial to help alleviate over-capacity animal shelters across the region.
“There are shelters across the country, Texas included, overrun with dogs and cats,” Hutson said. “And so we’re in it to rescue dogs that are on the euthanization list at municipal shelters around Texas.”
