For the third time in as many years, St. Francis Lutheran Church (152 Church St.) will host a pet adoption event to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis. The event will take place this Saturday from 11am-3pm.
According to Randy Thueme, a member of St. Francis and one of the event's organizers, the event is a way of celebrating the church's namesake, a 13th-century saint who worked to help all creatures in need, including animals big and small. St. Francis is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year.
The Lutheran church is collaborating with Family Dog Rescue and Copper’s Dream Animal Rescue to make Saturday’s event happen. Unfortunately, unlike the past two years, the SPCA won’t be there with kittens. “They couldn’t fit it into their schedule this year,” said Thueme, “so we’re only adopting out dogs this year.”
Even if there won’t be kittens in attendance, Family Dog Rescue founder Angela Padilla is still excited for Saturday. She created the organization in 2010, after a long battle with aggressive breast cancer.
“Volunteering with shelter dogs helped to save my life while I endured long months of chemotherapy, surgeries, and radiation,” wrote Padilla. “I decided to ‘give back’ by starting a first-class rescue group that would save all breeds of dogs and place them in loving families."
Located at Alabama and 16th streets, Family Dog was the first animal rescue group in San Francisco to open a brick-and-mortar shelter. It saves over 800 dogs each year, both in San Francisco and as far away as Tijuana, Mexico. It rescues all breeds of dogs, but especially targets rescuing canines that are injured, neglected, and/or disabled.
According to Thueme, Family Dog and Copper’s Dream will bring along a total of about 15 dogs seeking adoption, from puppies to full-grown adults, on Saturday.
In addition to adoptions, St. Francis’s Pastor Bea will be on hand to dispense blessings to the neighborhood’s furry friends (note: it’s not the Folsom Street Fair just yet, furries). “The courtyard gates will be open,” said Thueme, “and Pastor Bea will be available to bless any dog that needs to have a blessing.”
