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Therapy Animals of San Antonio

 Bringing People and Animals Together for Healing

 Bringing People and Animals Together for Healing

For questions related to donations please contact [email protected]

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Updated 11 November 2021

Five members of the CARE Program deployed to Houston to support survivors of the Astrodome Music Festival tragedy:                                                                                                  Walter Macias                                                                                                                              Gerald Dubinski and Bonnie                                                                                                        Christi Morrison and Maggie                                                                                                      Audrey Charlton and Indigo                                                                                                        Linda Porter-Wenzlaff and Indigo Moon                                                                    They were able to interact with many people at the site and to share information about the work we do with the press.  This was their first deployment and it went well and taught us more about how to deploy next time. 

October News 2021

Board Meeting 19 October

Our 19 October 2021 Board meeting will be face to face/live at the office.  We look forward to seeing everyone. The office will be open around 6:30 and the meeting will begin at 7:00 – we encourage people to attend (your animals are also welcome).   

TASA Annual Meeting – November 14th

Please plan to attend our Annual Meeting at noon on the 14th of November. Details on the 2021 calendar. 

September News

Evaluations have started again – vaccine requirements

Please see the TASA Calendar or the events page for evaluation dates.  We are asking that all those volunteering for the Pet Partner and the Local evaluations be fully vaccinated.  

New Program for TASA

Linda Porter-Wenzlaff and Walter Macias have worked with a steering committee (Gerald Dubinski, Jr., Kathy Meade, Pat Smutz and Sara Morgan) to develop and implement a new Program for TASA. It is a state wide animal assisted crisis response program called CARE (Crisis Animal REsponse). Eighteen TASA members have completed FEMA, human and animal CPR and first aid certification and a 8 hour course in working with people experiencing  crises and disasters. The program they completed meets the 2010 National Animal Assisted Crisis Response Standards. Sara Morgan has worked to  developed a distinctive look / brand and related literature, to increase our visibility. The CARE members  are now ready to deploy as needed. See more about this under “About US” at the CARE link. We believe this will both expand our work to vulnerable Texans and increase our visibility as a progressive organization.  

They are currently busy connecting with local emergency and community response leaders to share information about CARE. 

Social Media Development and Growth

Sara Morgan has been working to enhance our social media exposure and engagement (Facebook and Instagram) and we saw a very strong increase in engagement during the Pooch Parade. If you have not gone to the sites and liked us please do and then share them with your friends and family. 

This is OUR Facebook and IM network and we need to help Sara keep it vibrant. Please send her your visit and animal stories / pictures (those that are supported by consent forms) and engage on the sites. 

2021 Pooch Parade

The Pooch Parade was virtual this year due to the change from spring to summer which left us without our usual venue, the heat factor for people and animals in costume, and the earlier uncertainty related to Covid-19.  Please visit the Pooch Parade page on this website to see all the parade participants. 

The costume contest was held at North Park Subaru. The winners were selected through a combination of online votes and a panel of judges from North Park. You can see the many participants photos and the crowd watching the contest under the Pooch Parade link on this website.  Our thanks to Sara Morgan for making this happen.   

Covid-19, and Delta

This spring the community was beginning to reopen and our teams were starting to visit again. Many found the need to do a little tune up as they got ready to visit but all found people so appreciative and happy to see us. At the time, teams were given an extension of their registration renewal dates so that they could visit as places reopened and were then asked to plan with Pat Smutz when to renew. You should be renewing now if you have not done so if you are visiting or want to support presentations and de-stress events. 

With COVID -Delta now having an impact on the community we realize some sites may limit volunteers again however many are not; and are continuing to welcome teams. We also realize that each team will now have to decide again when they are ready to resume their work. Just remember you need to be a currently registered team to do so.

Extension of Membership for all Members 

At the August Board meeting the Board voted to extend all TASA memberships by 15 months from their current expiration dates. The Board wanted to recognize each member’s ongoing support of TASA even when unable to visit or participate in our events and activities and to thank you. This decision allows everyone to continue to have access to our resources, to minutes and email blasts, etc. while not bearing any financial burden until things are fully open and functioning again.    

$10,000 Challenge Campaign

TASA has completed a $10,000 challenge campaign begun in November.  We are so very fortunate to have such strong community support and wish to thank all who made the campaign a success.