Celebrate puppy love at Pups and Pints

The Pups and Pints adoption event at Jake’s Bar and Grill on Sunday was popular. 

The weekend event was filled with wagging tails, clicking pints and plenty of love.

Four out of nine dogs found their forever home at the Columbia Animal Services event, and it proved popular with the pups as well. The shelter puts on numerous free adoption events that aim to make it easy for people to adopt dogs.

Jake’s Bar and Grill is a popular setting because of its outdoor seating.

“You get to grab a beer and potentially meet your forever best friend,” said local resident Dakota Wilson.

Jake’s owner Jonathan Sears feels passionate about holding the event. 

“I have rescued animals my whole life … I think this is a great event,” Sears said. 

The harsh reality for many shelter dogs is that they won’t be rescued. 

Events such as “Pups and Pints” are a great way for local shelters to raise awareness about adoption.

“That’s the objective to the whole thing, is to get animals placed in homes,” said Victoria Clary, superintendent of Columbia Animal Services.

Raised adoption awareness also goes along with alleviating concerns about shelter pets. 

Shelter pets often get stigmatized that they are either unhealthy, hard to train or have behavioral problems.

 “I think there’s a lot of unfair misconceptions about shelter pets,” Clary said. “… We have a lot of really great dogs in the shelter environment so I always say just see what’s at your local shelter first.”

Having the dogs at Pups and Pints allows a potential adopter to see how the dogs interact in a fun public setting and lose any stereotype as being difficult. 

“Just give the shelter a shot,” Clary said.