As the sun bathed the patio at Oakdale’s Dying Breed Brewing in warmth this past weekend, many families were sharing smiles and cuddles with some very cute, adoptable furry friends. At the fourth birthday party for Paws and Pints, friends Tawnie Thomas and Trina Wright celebrated the outpouring of support from local communities. Thomas and Wright, along with Wright’s husband Steven and friend Eric Metzler, founded the organization after spending an afternoon at a local dog park and sharing a few cold refreshments at Dying Breed a few years ago.
“We love our dogs and we enjoy it here at Dying Breed and so we kept doing it, going to dog parks, playing with our dogs and meeting up at local breweries,” said Thomas.
Wright and Thomas also continued to invite others to the gatherings and it eventually grew into a successful non-profit that works with shelters and agencies to help find forever homes for animals in need. From working with agencies including the Oakdale Shelter Pet Alliance to the City of Turlock Animal Services to rescue organizations such as Paws for Julia Rescue and Oakdale Tiny Paws Rescue, Paws and Pints continues to host events throughout the year to promote adoption and animal welfare.
“We started fundraising at various events like Modesto Nuts games and continued to host events at local breweries like Last Call Brewery, Dust Bowl Brewing Company and Persuasion Brewing and it just grew from there and here we are back at Dying Breed,” said Wright.
The Saturday, Feb. 7 birthday ‘pawty’ featured food, drinks, vendors, raffle drawings, live music, a photo booth, and plenty of adoptable dogs and cats.
Though they are dedicated to their Paws and Pints organization, all four founding members work in various professions and host the events as their work schedules permit. Upcoming events include a St. Patrick’s Day gathering, with more details soon to come, along with additional meet and greet events throughout the year.
“In the past, we have worked with Stanislaus Animal Shelter to participate in doggie day out events and we will now be working with the Oakdale and Turlock shelters as well to participate in their doggie day out events to help more animals enjoy time out of the shelter and hopefully get adopted,” said Wright.
And though they host events throughout the Central Valley, Dying Breed will always be their home base.
“Dying Breed will always host our birthday parties because we love it here but also because this is where it all started and we’ll never forget that,” said Wright, noting that Dying Breed Brewery supported their mission right from the start.
For more information on Paws and Pints, visit their Facebook page.
