Public parks are a core part of Americans’ lives. According to the National Recreation and Park Association, most U.S. residents visit their local parks and recreation facilities about 22 times a year (or nearly twice a month!), and about 275 million people visited a park or recreation facility at least once during the past year.
In addition to being a hub for socializing, parks bring communities a host of mental and physical health benefits. Why not extend these benefits to more members of your community and their four-legged companions?
Animal-friendly programs and events can attract new visitors to your parks and community center, while keeping regular visitors engaged by appealing to their interests. We’ll explore the best practices for animal-friendly park events, as well as a list of ideas to get you started. Get ready to tell your patrons that a dog daycare isn’t their only choice for their next visit. Let’s begin!
Best Practices for Animal-Friendly Park Events
While your parks and recreation staff likely have experience running events, getting animals involved can introduce new challenges and considerations. To keep attendees safe and happy, follow best practices like:
- Setting clear, firm guidelines. Establish rules for pets and owners to follow to prevent potential conflicts. For example, you might require leashes, an up-to-date vaccine record, and basic training. Share these rules during registration and send out reminders ahead of the event.
- Requiring advanced registration. Because these programs can involve more stringent guidelines, it’s safest to require advance registration rather than accepting walk-ins. This gives participants the time they need to submit vet records, waivers, and any other documents.
- Provide adequate facilities. Ensure attendees have access to plenty of shelter, water, and waste disposal sites. Tents for shade, fans, or outdoor heaters are also great additions, especially during warmer months.
- Plan for emergencies. Have professionals on-site to take care of injuries, both for humans and animals. Consider having a member of animal control or an animal behaviorist attend in case there are any conflicts between pets.
- Collaborate with local animal organizations. This gives them the opportunity to spread awareness of their cause and help them find new supporters while boosting community happiness. For example, a shelter could hold an adoption event at your park to help more animals find loving homes.
Don’t forget to look for additional support from businesses in your community when organizing these programs. After all, who doesn’t love supporting animal-related causes? Double the Donation recommends seeking out corporate sponsorships, which are direct support that companies give to charitable organizations. Usually, this type of sponsorship comes in three forms: financial, in-kind, or media.
If you’ve obtained a corporate sponsorship, the company can donate a large sum of money that you can use for your animal-friendly park events. Or they can choose to provide you with goods like dog drinking stations, or help you out with marketing by providing professional graphic design support or promoting your park’s event to their customers.
Top Animal-Friendly Program Ideas
Social and Community Engagement Events
These events are fun to plan because you can get as creative as you want! Here are some of our favorite event ideas:
- "Bark in the Park" Festival: You can have this as an annual or a seasonal gathering, hosting animal-themed events like a dog fashion contest and a show featuring dogs doing cool tricks. You can invite local vendors and food trucks for more fun.
- Themed Golf Tournament: Have a charity golf tournament that benefits local animal shelters. To entice people to participate, you can offer themed signage, player apparel swag, and adorable merch like a puppy plushie wearing a golf player uniform.
- Dog Agility Leagues: This is the type of event that high-energy breeds like Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, and Labrador Retrievers will love. In a way, this is similar to a human sports league, except that it will be dogs competing to see who finishes an obstacle course the fastest.
If you’re feeling ambitious, you can even combine two of these ideas into one. For example, you can have dog agility contests during your “Bark in the Park” festival. This will entail more preparation on your part, but it’s not a bad idea.
Educational Programs
We also recommend planning educational programs on animal welfare in your local park. For example, there might be a lot of people in your community who are interested in adopting a pet, but they don’t know anything about taking care of animals. Or, there may be pet parents who still feel overwhelmed. They could use some help, too.
Here are a few programs you can host:
- Educational Workshops: Invite local trainers or veterinarians for free classes on obedience, leash etiquette, or pet first aid. To make the registration process for these workshops and classes seamless, use your recreation software to manage bookings.
- Adoption Drives: Are there any local shelters that are struggling to find homes for their animals? Why not partner with them by hosting an adoption drive? You can even have some of the dogs in the park so that interested people can check them out.
- Vaccine and Microchip Clinics: If your park is in a high-visibility area, consider partnering with local animal shelters or clinics to host pop-up stalls administering vaccines and microchip implants for their pets.
Business Partnerships
Most of the ideas we recommend are either free or low-cost, but if you need to earn some revenue, you can host a business partnership. This partnership can take a few forms, such as:
- Pop-Up Dog Daycares: Invite local boarding facilities to host shaded “VIP cooling zones” or temporary play areas. This way, park visitors can drop their pets off at any of these areas while they go enjoy other park activities. We recommend partnering with responsible businesses that have strong kennel management practices, experience with animals, and software to responsibly manage registrations and capacity.
- Sponsored Happy Hours: Partnering with local pet-friendly breweries or cafes to host evening park socials is sure to capture the interest of pet owners who also love a good drink. If you disclose that a percentage of proceeds goes to park maintenance, they’ll be incentivized to support even more.
- Mobile Grooming “Spa Days”: Have a few local mobile groomers set up in the park, offering discounted grooming services like nail trims or quick washes. This brings convenient services directly to parkgoers.
Digital Programs and Marketing Initiatives
If you’re struggling with online visibility, digital programs and marketing initiatives can help. Here are a few ideas to try:
- Virtual Pet Contests and Sponsor Showcases: Keep the community engaged online during the off-season with virtual photo contests sponsored by local groomers. In addition to your park reaching new audiences, this showcase can also be a way for pet professionals to expand their digital marketing efforts.
- Social Media Spotlight: Create a recurring social media feature highlighting a local park visitor and their pet. Just make sure you ask the visitor’s permission before posting their photos on social media, as some might prefer to keep their privacy.
- Interactive Maps: Create an online, mobile-friendly map that highlights animal-focused features like pet-friendly trails, water stations, and waste bins. This makes the park much easier for pet parents to navigate.
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Catering to animal lovers and their pets just might be your ticket to revitalizing your park or recreation center. By hosting fun animal-friendly events, you’re giving your patrons another reason to come and explore the space.
Make sure to use a comprehensive software to organize your events so that you won’t have a headache during the planning process. And don’t forget to promote your events on social media so your community (and even people beyond it) can attend!