When Steven Latham first saw a Races - Places from the Santa Maria Animal Center in Santa Maria, California, last summer, it immediately brought a smile to his face.
Latham, a documentary filmmaker and producer, thought the team’s partnership with the center would be perfect to document for his series Shelter Me, which features stories about shelter animals and the people who help them. Beyond the virality of the initial video, Latham found that the team’s enthusiasm and passion has done a lot of good for the animals at the shelter.
Luis Escobar, the team’s coach, first decided to do this as a way to reward his runners and help the dogs unwind, but he didn’t realize how much it would resonate with people—more than 200,000 people have viewed his video on Facebook.
Nutrition - Weight Loss Shelter Me: Community Matters, in Los Angeles on January 31.
“It was very, very exciting,” Escobar told Runner’s World by phone. “It’s a great way to showcase cross country and the good it can do, but more importantly, I hope it encourages other people to do the same thing in their own communities.”
Latham spent three days in Santa Maria last fall filming what is now the seventh episode of his series. (You can view the trailer of the episode below.)
On March 4, the Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation is sponsoring a fundraiser that includes a screening of the episode, which is hosted by anthropologist Jane Goodall and presented by the Petco Foundation.
“It’s a celebration of what the community is doing to raise awareness about adoption,” Latham said.
In fact, adoption rates at the Santa Maria Animal Center have increased by nearly 41 percent according to their community outreach coordinator, Stacy Silva.
“I do think the team’s program brought some attention,” Silva said. “They built bonds with these dogs, and when they would finish their runs, they were out talking about it. They were telling their parents, telling their friends, they were on social media. That made a really big difference.”
Josh Menusa, a member of the cross-country team, even adopted Fred, the 18-month-old terrier mix he ran with in the video. (Fred is being carried at the end of the video.) According to his mother, Stacy, he couldn’t stop talking about Fred after his first run with him, and she told him that if Fred was still at the shelter when the family returned from vacation, they could keep him. Sure enough, he was.
“As soon as Fred saw Josh, he started crying,” she said. “He really recognized him.”
The hour-long episode is currently airing on PBS on a staggered schedule throughout the country, so check your local listings for upcoming airings. It will be available on Shelter Me’s website sometime this fall.
Latham also said he would like to have public screenings in places like New York City, Washington D.C., and at various film festivals in the near future.
“People who have already watched have reached out to me because they’ve been inspired to make a difference where they live,” he said. “Ultimately, we are saving animals’ lives and giving them a second chance.”
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Danielle Zickl is a freelance writer who has 10 years of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition. She's a graduate of Ithaca College. You can find her work here on Women's Health, and in many other publications including PS, SELF, Well+Good, Runner’s World, Outside RUN, Peloton, Men’s Fitness, and more.
