Hundreds of dog lovers and their pets flocked to Dolphin Stadium Friday to watch the Florida Marlins play the San Diego Padres at their annual Bark at the Park event.

The fundraiser was hosted by the Marlins in partnership with the Humane Society of Greater Miami/Adopt-A-Pet and the Humane Society of Broward County. The enthusiastic crowd was greeted at the gate by Father Joe and Brother Richard of the Franciscans of Fort Lauderdale who offered a little divine intervention in the form of pet blessings.

Dogs of all shapes and sizes, many of them dressed in baseball jerseys, bounded for the stands to watch the game. Their caretakers saw this as an opportunity to support a worthy cause.

"We're excited to see the Marlins play and support the humane society as well," Alex Rodriguez said. Rodriguez attended the game with his wife Ania along with their pugs Gracie and Gucci.

For the Marlins, Bark at the Park is a great way to combine a good cause with baseball.
"It's something we've built a tradition around," said Sean Flynn, vice president of marketing for the team. "It gives folks an opportunity to bring their dog out...and have fun at the ball park. We've got a pet area set up that's exclusively for fans and their dogs. We make sure that we reach out to the humane society...and that they are the beneficiary of all the funds that come in from the dogs."

The event, said Flynn, brought in approximately a thousand dogs last year. The money received is particularly helpful to the humane societies.

"Anytime that we can do anything to raise money it helps us because we are a non-profit organization," said Laurie Hoffman, Director of Development & Communications at Greater Miami/Adopt-A-Pet. "We rely solely on donations and events like this to support our mission. We don't get any money from the government or any other animal welfare organization."

Hoffman stressed that along with financial obligations, one of their biggest challenges is pet overpopulation. "We try to educate the community about the benefits of spaying and neutering your animals. For every human born there are 45 cats and 15 dogs born,” Hoffman said. “There is just never going to be enough families to adopt all those animals, especially when you've got lots of people going to the puppy stores and buying a $1,800 puppy that isn't spayed or neutered that will keep on reproducing. It's just a vicious cycle."

Though the humane society has a no-kill policy, other animal organizations are far from lenient. "We have a euthanasia rate in our community that’s appalling. Our organization doesn't do that but the county organization does and they put down 20,000-25,000 a year and it's horrific."
Hoffman said that they try to end the cycle by spaying and neutering all animals given out for adoption without exception.

Laurie Wax, a Greater Miami/Adopt-A-Pet volunteer, has witnessed firsthand the effects of pet overpopulation and animal abuse. Her motto: adoption is the only option. "It's a fallacy to think that dogs in shelters are not wonderful animals." Wax said that they have a variety of dogs including purebreds. "I just got a golden retriever adopted two weeks ago and we have a beautiful greyhound that just came up for adoption. There is something for everyone."

Wax pointed out that older dogs should also be considered for adoption. "The older dogs are a little harder to adopt because people want puppies but the truth of the matter is that the older dogs could be easier to taker care of. They don’t need as much running around as much as a puppy would."

Along with considering adoptions at the humane society and utilizing their spay and neutering services, Hoffman also urges the public to support animal welfare organizations and their events.

Said Hoffman, "When you want to bring a pet into your family adopt from a shelter and when there are pet events, buy tickets …because organizations like ours are totally dependant on the community to support us."

Check out our Bark in the Park photo album here!