Get your pack together to support the Arizona Animal Welfare League, Arizona’s oldest and largest no-kill shelter, as it presents the 24th annual Walk to Save Animals on Saturday, Nov. 5. 

This family and pet-friendly event helps raise funds for vulnerable and medically in-need animals across Arizona. Friends, family, coworkers and pets can enjoy fun activities at Tempe Beach Park from 8 a.m. until noon. Registration is only $20 per participant and the first 1,000 walkers receive a Walk to Save Animals T-shirt. Additional prizes are available for select fundraising goals.  

Activities will include the clinic corner with health supplies for pets, a fun activity play zone, pictures with Santa, dog training demonstrations, designated shopping zones, food trucks and an on-site adoption center. 

The Walk to Save Animals is AAWL’s largest annual fundraiser, bringing together a community of people and pets to support the shelter’s life-saving programs, including adoptions, behavior training, and low-cost medical care. By registering to participate as an individual or team, you are supporting AAWL’s mission of saving dogs and cats in need. The walk can be either a 2k or 5k.

This year’s presenting sponsor, who would like to remain anonymous, made a very generous donation in memory of very special two-and four-legged family members: JD and Mick and their beloved Kroos, who was an AAWL alumni and was adopted from our shelter by JD in 2013. JD and Mick James were devoted AAWL supporters. JD began volunteering at AAWL in 2013, during which time, he met a rambunctious and very vocal Dodge, a two-year-old German Shepherd, whom he later adopted and renamed Kroos after JD’s favorite soccer player Toni Kroos. Kroos came to live with Mick and Leslie when JD passed away in 2018. He lived a happy life with the James family (and AAWL alumnus Jack) until recently passing away in early August after being diagnosed with Lymphoma.  

“The Walk to Save Lives has a special place in our lives because JD took Kroos to the Walk shortly after he adopted him in 2013,” the donor said in a statement. “The AAWL community of staff, volunteers, fosters and adopters is a community that spans beyond the physical walls of the shelter. Whether it's transporting animals from rural areas and supporting local rescues with their difficult medical cases or providing needy pet owners with affordable, accessible veterinary care, the AAWL community comes together each and every day to help vulnerable cats and dogs and the people who love them.”

Walkers can document their journey on social media with the hashtag #WalkToSaveAnimals and #ThisIsHowIWalk