Weekend plans: Free supplies, low-cost services at pet fairs

MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) - Animal advocates will gather to give resources to the Midland-Odessa community this weekend.

Fix West Texas is hosting two pet resource fairs featuring pay-what-you-can vaccines, microchips and spay and neuter vouchers, as well as free food, litter, leashes and other supplies.

The fairs are set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 16 in Midland at Fix West Texas and on Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Odessa at the Ector County Coliseum.

“If someone hasn’t fixed or vaccinated their pet, this is the opportunity in which to do it by,” said Lori Carson, a Midland pet owner and animal advocate.

Carson knows what it feels like to lose a pet without a microchip. She said she never imagined her obedient, lightweight Yorkie to go missing.

That’s why Carson is supporting Fix West Texas this weekend with t-shirts and a silent cake auction. The items commemorate the search and rescue of Pumpkin, who went missing for three months.

She saw the lost and abandoned animal population firsthand.

“While I was looking for Pumpkin, I was amazed at how many pets are out there that are lost. Just one after another,” Carson said.

It’s also an opportunity to get together with a community that Carson says is so helpful to her and other pet owners.

Building relationships between the community and animal advocates, as well as keeping pets and owners together are the main goals of the fairs.

“Their pets, their family members, first of all, safe, at home and healthy. If they’re all of those three things, they’re not going to end up in the Odessa or Midland shelters,” said Paula Powell, a senior strategist for the fair sponsor Best Friends Animal Society.

Another goal is ensuring pet safety.

“If your animal does end up in the shelter, number one, it’s going to be microchipped, so it’s easy to get it back home,” Powell said. “Number two, it’s going to be vaccinated. So it’s already coming in with protection from getting any disease.”

Fix West Texas hopes to serve 300 to 400 pets per day. If supplies run out, people will get a rain check for a later date.

If you don’t have a pet to bring to the fair, you can head there and adopt one. About 50 adoptable animals will be at each fair.

The event is sponsored by Best Friend Animal Society, PetCo Love and Fi Nano. Fix West Texas will be joined by Dog Rescue R Us, Midland Cat Wranglers, Happy Days Humane Society, Humane Society of Odessa and Grand Companions.

Food trucks and other vendors will also be in attendance. Fix West Texas will host other pet resource fairs across West Texas in the coming weeks.

Copyright 2023 KOSA. All rights reserved.