San Marcos — Sharri Boyett wants to make her message perfectly clear at this year’s Pet Fest: Don’t breed or buy while shelter pets die.

The Pet Prevent a Littler (PALS) director is putting a specific focus on pet adoption at this year’s all-out celebration of furry friends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 1 at San Marcos Plaza Park.  More than 10 rescue groups and shelter organizations from around Texas will be present at this year’s Pet Fest.

“We want to remind people more than ever that this is not just a fun festival. The reason we do this is of course to raise money for our programs,” Boyett said. “Focusing on these groups, we want to show people, ‘Hey there are thousands of unwanted or waiting pets, just waiting for the right somebody.’”

Some of the rescue and shelter organizations featured at Pet Fest will be Cocker Spaniel Rescue of Austin, Texas German Shorthair Pointer Rescue, Love-A-Bull, Big Dog Rescue, Give a Dog a Home of San Antonio, Heart of Texas Lab Rescue, Luling Animal Welfare Society, Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society, Austin Aussie Rescue, Westie Rescue of Austin and German Shepherd Rescue of Central Texas.

Pet Fest will also feature demonstrations by the San Marcos Police K-9 unit, agility demonstrations, dancing and trick dogs, belly dancing from Midnight Breeze Dance Company, The Texas Dragon/Lion Dance Team and weenie dog and Chihuahua races. There will also be several pet contests, including Best Trick, Pet Look-Alike, Best Rescue Story and costume contests.

A Pet Fest 5K will kick off at 8 a.m. and a Fun Run at 9 a.m. Mayor Daniel Guerrero will also enter the dunk tank for the second year. All proceeds will benefit PALS, a group that focuses on preventing pet over population through a variety of programs: Humane Education, providing low cost Spay/Neuter vouchers, a Trap/Neuter/Return/Maintain program for cats and, of course, promoting pet adoption through shelters and rescue groups.

Kay Hetherly adopted her dog Gracy, a Chinese Shar-Pei mix, in January  2010. She had gone to the shelter to meet a black lab pup they had, but Gracy had other plans.

“She had come there as a stray before Christmas, but even after being confined all that time, she had a sweetness about her that I couldn’t resist,”  Hetherly said. “Gracy had those tiny Shar-Pei ears with wrinkly insides, and they were so infected when I got her, we all thought she might be deaf. No one ever heard her bark.”

At first, Gracy was afraid to come in the house, and on walks she would stop suddenly and refuse to budge. At pet training classes, she hid behind Hetherly’s chair. But Hetherly and Gracy continued to make progress.

At Pet Fest 2010, Gracy and her owner ran the 5K in the over 50 category and won first place.

“We went to have fun, but also to support the great work PALS is doing in our community, helping people fix their pets. It’s impossible to walk into a shelter and not have your heart break for all the animals that won’t find homes,” Hetherly said. “If only people would spay and neuter their pets, we would see a lot fewer animals in that sad position.”

PALS started in 1990 by three people, including Boyett. First called the “Friends of the San Marcos Animal Shelter,” the initial focus was on increasing donations for the local shelter, making purchases for the animals there and helping with adoption.

“We’d provide things for the animals that the city couldn’t provide, things like vitamins, beds and vaccinations,” Boyett said. “Every Saturday we’d take animals out of the shelter, set up signs and try to get them adopted.”

In 2003, the name changed to PALS. The group still works extensively with the shelter, but has branched out to the community to create awareness about pet over population. According to Boyett, about 70 percent of the animals nationwide who go into a shelter never make it out. That statistic is even higher, she says, for cats.

Programs — and overall awareness — have expanded over the years, and last year Boyett said the group handed out more than 2,000 vouchers to provide low cost pet spay or neuter.

In its ninth year, Pet Fest has become one of the most anticipated San Marcos events, particularly for pet lovers. Boyett says you don’t need a pet of your own to come enjoy the event. And its not just for dogs. Many residents in the past have brought exotic pets as well.

“We’ve had goats, sugar gliders, snakes, lizards,”  Boyett said.  “People certainly love their animals. This is just an unusual event and you can’t see something like this every day unless you’re watching Animal Planet.”

But she’s quick to remind people: It isn’t about one day. It’s about all year. And for those adopting animal, it’s about a lifetime.

“There are pets sitting in shelters because people didn’t research what the commitment was or what the size might be,” Boyett said. “When you adopt a pet, it’s a life-long commitment. It’s just like marriage.”