Want to help care for animals and find them a forever home? Join us and make a donation with the I Love the Burg Pet Walk team.

SPCA Tampa Bay’s biggest fundraiser of the year is coming up, and all those adorable cats, dogs and more are looking for support from the community. The 2022 Pet Walk is Saturday, April 2nd and is the 31st iteration of Tampa Bay’s furriest and most beloved fundraiser.

The event is a fun walk with dogs along the St. Pete waterfront in North Straub Park, and includes a pet costume contest before the walk begins. Last year’s event raised more than $115,000 despite pandemic restrictions, and SPCA Tampa Bay hopes to top that number in 2022. Already, nearly $35,000 has been raised to help SPCA, a For-All shelter, take care of animals and help them find a home.

While walking through downtown with hundreds of animals is the fun part, it’s the sponsorship of teams and individuals that helps SPCA Tampa Bay raise the much-needed funding. Participants are able to join the walk either with a team or as an individual, and then recruit others to join their team or sponsor their walk. And to make it easy for those who simply want to give, you can donate directly to the fundraiser through their website.

Just to make it even sweeter: anyone who raises at least $25 receives a free T-shirt. That amount is intentional: on average, it costs $25 per day to care for one animal. And for an organization that welcomes in more than 7,000 pets and wild animals per year, every $25 counts.

Want to join in? Register now at their website. Want to support? Sponsor the I Love the Burg team as our crew has created a team in honor of our animals at home we love so much. Together, we’ll help take care of the beautiful animals in our community.

SPCA Tampa Bay welcomes all

Part of what makes supporting SPCA Tampa Bay so important is that they are Tampa Bay’s only For-All shelter, meaning they will take in any animal regardless of health, breed, age or other factors. As a result, the animal shelter in Largo is not only home to cats and dogs, but rabbits, mice, iguanas, birds, pigs, goats and much more. The center welcomes injured or ailing wild animals, as well, and treats them before returning them to the wild. On top of all that, the SPCA Veterinary Center in St. Pete provides stellar pet health care and services for dogs and cat.

SPCA Tampa Bay’s mission is to transform the lives of animals through passionate collaboration with the community, in order to create a community where every animal matters. Adoptions volunteers work to match families with animals that are a good fit with the family’s home, lifestyle and personalities. As part of their goal to welcome all animals, there is no time limit for an animal’s stay at the pet shelter, and every animal receives compassionate care, regardless of its breed or size.

Animals receive immunizations, medical care, behavior training, enrichment and loving care while they live at the animal shelter in Largo, and the animal adoption office is open from 1-6 pm Wednesday-Friday and 12-6 pm Saturday and Sunday. In addition to younger pets, SPCA Tampa Bay also has a Diamond Dogs program that offers special services and health screenings for any animal adopted over the age of seven.

Learn more at SPCATampaBay.org