World Animal Awareness Society - WA2S.Org & WA2S Films

08/21/2026

Grade San Antonio Animal Welfare Leadership! https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9
The crisis of free-roaming and stray animals on the streets of San Antonio is not just an animal welfare issue; it is a public safety, economic, and moral challenge that directly reflects the priorities of municipal leadership. To effect true, systemic change, constituents must pivot from generalized frustration to precision advocacy. Evaluating elected officials using a public, standardized grading system creates an undeniable layer of accountability.
https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9

When utilizing an Asset-Based Community Development approach, the community itself—its residents, frontline rescuers, and digital tracking tools—becomes the most powerful asset for change.

By deploying an interactive grading system, we transition the conversation from anecdotal complaints to a data-driven ledger. Elected officials operate on constituent feedback and electoral viability. When a city council member receives a "D" grade explicitly tied to Animal Care Services (ACS) intake rates, bite reports, or a lack of localized spay/neuter resources in their specific district, it forces the issue onto their legislative agenda.

It makes the invisible visible and ensures that public service announcements and broad municipal promises are backed by localized, measurable action.

Why a Google Form is the Ideal Intake Mechanism
A Google Form provides the necessary infrastructure to democratize this grading process while keeping the data structured and actionable. https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9

Barrier-Free Civic Engagement: It requires no app installation or technical expertise from the public. Anyone with a smartphone can evaluate their district representative from the street level.

Standardized Metrics: Instead of sorting through disorganized emails, a Form forces respondents to evaluate council members on uniform criteria—such as response times to stray complaints, visibility of resources in the district, and policy voting records.
Geospatial and Media Integration: Users can upload localized, time-stamped evidence (photos of packs of dogs) and cross-reference this with open-source mapping data.

Interactive Logic: Using the Form's branching logic, a user selecting "District 5" is instantly routed to questions specifically regarding Teri Castillo’s recent votes and district-specific resource deployments. https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9

The backend spreadsheet easily links to visualization tools, converting raw constituent sentiment into live, interactive scorecards that can be shared via social media.

2026 San Antonio City Council Roster: Position, Official
https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9
Mayor, Gina Ortiz Jones
District 1, Sukh Kaur
District 2, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez
District 3, Phyllis Viagran
District 4, Edward Mungia
District 5, Teri Castillo
District 6, Ric Galvan
District 7, Marina Alderete Gavito
District 8, Ivalis Meza Gonzalez
District 9, Misty Spears
District 10, Marc Whyte
https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9

A constituent grading system for City Council, the ACS Advisory Board, and Executive City Management regarding the stray animal crisis. Created by the World Animal Awareness Society for the Unleashed: Dogs of San Antonio initiative, part of the ABCD Model the WA2S is using in San Antonio. Results to...

08/20/2026

Grade San Antonio Animal Welfare Leadership! https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9 The crisis of free-roaming and stray animals on the streets of San Antonio is not just an animal welfare issue; it is a public safety, economic, and moral challenge that directly reflects the priorities of municipal leadership. To effect true, systemic change, constituents must pivot from generalized frustration to precision advocacy. Evaluating elected officials using a public, standardized grading system creates an undeniable layer of accountability.

https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9

When utilizing an Asset-Based Community Development approach, the community itself—its residents, frontline rescuers, and digital tracking tools—becomes the most powerful asset for change.

By deploying an interactive grading system, we transition the conversation from anecdotal complaints to a data-driven ledger. Elected officials operate on constituent feedback and electoral viability. When a city council member receives a "D" grade explicitly tied to Animal Care Services (ACS) intake rates, bite reports, or a lack of localized spay/neuter resources in their specific district, it forces the issue onto their legislative agenda.

It makes the invisible visible and ensures that public service announcements and broad municipal promises are backed by localized, measurable action.

Why a Google Form is the Ideal Intake Mechanism
A Google Form provides the necessary infrastructure to democratize this grading process while keeping the data structured and actionable. https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9

Barrier-Free Civic Engagement: It requires no app installation or technical expertise from the public. Anyone with a smartphone can evaluate their district representative from the street level.

Standardized Metrics: Instead of sorting through disorganized emails, a Form forces respondents to evaluate council members on uniform criteria—such as response times to stray complaints, visibility of resources in the district, and policy voting records.

Geospatial and Media Integration: Users can upload localized, time-stamped evidence (photos of packs of dogs) and cross-reference this with open-source mapping data.

Interactive Logic: Using the Form's branching logic, a user selecting "District 5" is instantly routed to questions specifically regarding Teri Castillo’s recent votes and district-specific resource deployments. https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9

The backend spreadsheet easily links to visualization tools, converting raw constituent sentiment into live, interactive scorecards that can be shared via social media.

2026 San Antonio City Council Roster: Position, Official
https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9
Mayor, Gina Ortiz Jones
District 1, Sukh Kaur
District 2, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez
District 3, Phyllis Viagran
District 4, Edward Mungia
District 5, Teri Castillo
District 6, Ric Galvan
District 7, Marina Alderete Gavito
District 8, Ivalis Meza Gonzalez
District 9, Misty Spears
District 10, Marc Whyte
https://forms.gle/oh8eYLbYrjRnYS5d9

08/19/2026

🚨 "They're picking up 10 dead dogs from one house... and ACS doesn't know about it?" 🚨

In this eye-opening clip, we hit the streets with our guest Amanda Alfaro to discuss the massive disconnect happening right now in our neighborhoods. When Waste Management is left to handle horrific, compounding situations but that critical information never reaches Animal Care Services, it proves the system is fundamentally broken.

The current district ambassador programs are meant to empower the community, but as Amanda points out, without real internal communication and support, it’s just shifting the burden. "Y'all do it" isn't a strategy.

This is exactly why we rely on the " Model" (Asset Based Community Development). We know that the people, tools, and passion needed to raise the standard of animal welfare already exist within the community. We just have to connect those assets and support them the right way.

🎥 Watch the entire, unfiltered episode of Riding Shotgun with Amanda Alfaro here: 👉 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ9ngC-F7MQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ9ngC-F7MQ)

Want to help us document the truth and build real, community-driven solutions? Learn more and donate to support the mission at: 🌐 www.WA2S.org

08/18/2026

San Antonio's Stray Crisis is Worse Than You Think! Riding Shotgun With Strays Featuring District 2 Animal Welfare Rock Star Amanda Alfaro - Get ready for a comprehensive look at the front lines of animal welfare in this full, 75-minute episode of Riding Shotgun With Strays from WA2S Films. We hit the streets of San Antonio, utilizing OSM tracking technology and a 360-camera setup to accurately survey the local stray populations and map the density of animals in our communities. https://youtu.be/qZ9ngC-F7MQ

In this ride-along, dedicated District 2 resident Amanda Alfaro takes the passenger seat. As the driving force behind the advocacy group Community Companions, Amanda opens up about her grassroots fight to promote spay and neuter initiatives and the reality of getting free resources directly to working-class communities. As we drive, we dive deep into the systemic frustrations of dealing with Animal Care Services, the disconnect in the city's ambassador programs, and how we can use Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) to build real, scalable solutions for San Antonio's neighborhoods.

From logging kittens before we even leave the parking lot to a tense moment breaking protocol for a tiny waddling puppy, this raw, unfiltered drive shows exactly what it takes to document and solve the stray dog crisis.

Chapter Points:

0:00 - Cruising the Barrio: Intro to San Antonio's Strays
0:55 - The Mission: Mapping the Streets & Technical Breakdown
2:00 - First Sighting: Logging Stray Kittens Before Leaving the Lot
4:15 - Amanda's Advocacy: Bringing Vendors & Resources to the Community
9:25 - The District Ambassador Disconnect & Rescue Frustrations
16:33 - Debating ACS Cruelty Team Numbers & Handling Experience
22:09 - Building Tools: From Lesson Plans to the San Antonio Pet Promise PSAs
27:10 - The Happy Endings Smoke Shop Spay/Neuter Event
32:36 - Stepping Up: Finding Leadership & Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)
46:42 - The Power of Cameras & Dealing with Lenient Cruelty Law
52:13 - A Dense Neighborhood: Finding Packs Under the Roofs
57:26 - Rallying for Rescuers: Supporting Fellow Advocate Emily Casso
1:01:43 - The Puppy Encounter: Breaking Protocol on the Front Lines
1:08:00 - "See One, Do One, Teach One": Expanding Grassroots Events
1:13:23 - The Results: Reviewing the OSM Tracker Data (40 Animals Logged!)

Animals Logged in This Episode:
OSM tracker recorded nearly 40 animals across 37 waypoints!

2:00 - The Parking Lot Kittens: Two curious young cats (estimated 3-4 months old) hiding beneath a parked car right at the start of the route.
7:51 - The Black Dog: A stray black dog wandering near a truck, chewing on garbage and plastic.
9:08 & 10:09 - Neighborhood Cats: Spotting roaming cats near the garbage cans while discussing chaining cases.
11:47 - The Chained Dog: Documenting a dog kept on a chain in a front yard.
13:35 - The Mangy Dog: A dog with a noticeable skin condition resting at the bottom of a set of stairs.
15:34 - The Young Pup: A very young, quick-moving dog darting around a property.
17:57 - The Collared Cat: A pretty cat spotted with a collar, prompting questions about ownership vs. roaming.
20:17 - "Boots": A young, friendly stray with white paws looking for food.
26:46 - The Duo: Two dogs spotted keeping watch in an open lot.
28:29 - The Street Sitter: A dog found just sitting casually in the middle of a dead-end street.
30:28 - The Posing Dog: A cute young stray sitting perfectly still in the sun-dappled shade.
38:29 - Hide and Seek: A shy dog playing peek-a-boo from behind cover.
40:39 & 45:20 - The Cat Colonies: Discovering multiple cats lounging on porches, by tires, and playing together in a small area.
49:00 - The Staredown: A curious dog comes right up to check out what the cameras are doing.
52:13 - The Pack Under the Roof: Logging a group of four dogs taking shelter and keeping cool under a carport/roof structure.
56:06 - Window Watchers: Three dogs spotted looking out from a window, with another tethered nearby.
1:01:43 - The Tiny Puppy: A very young puppy waddling down the street. This leads to a tense moment when Amanda attempts to feed it, resulting in a strict reminder about maintaining scientific protocol while mapping.
1:05:47 - The Mama Terrier: Shortly after spotting the puppy, an adult terrier-mix appears, likely the mother searching for her baby.
https://youtu.be/qZ9ngC-F7MQ

Join the official channel to help more dogs:...

08/16/2026

Riding Shotgun With Strays Featuring Amanda Alfaro, a District 2 Rock Star in her animal welfare community! We observed an enormous amount of cats and dogs roaming everywhere in District 2 ACS Advisory Board Member and District 2 "Ambassador," Dr. Lorena Havill's backyard.

This is your backyard Dr Havill. It's disgraceful what we found today within a half mile of where you live. Mr. Jalen McKee-Rodriguez you should be embarrassed for not supporting your constituents who are working hard to make D2 better.

Look for the whole episode of Riding Shotgun With Strays Featuring Amanda Alfaro and GPS data for mitigation in the next 48 hours.

More: www.WA2S.org

08/15/2026

Running Pet Surveys on the south side of San Antonio this morning. 8 to 1 cat to dog ratio. More: www.WA2S.org

08/13/2026

The World Animal Awareness Society (WA2S.org), operates on a fundamental truth: our community already possesses all the people, tools, and passion needed to elevate the standard of animal welfare in San Antonio. This is the heart of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD).

Instead of focusing solely on what our city lacks, we are actively mapping, connecting, and mobilizing the incredible strengths, skills, and resources that exist right here in our neighborhoods. We aren't importing solutions; we are building them from the ground up, empowering the community to lead the charge.

Here is how the ABCD model is driving our 2026 initiatives and exactly how you can take action with us today:

📱 1. Mapping Our Strengths with PetNetSA - You cannot mobilize resources if you don't know where they are. This year, we are rolling out PetNetSA, our bilingual mobile asset-mapping application. This platform puts the power of open-source geospatial tracking directly into the hands of the community to conduct precise, street-level animal population surveys and map vital local resources.

Take Action: We need data to drive change. Once you have access to PetNetSA, start logging neighborhood assets—from local feed stores and rescue-friendly businesses to safe community spaces and active neighborhood watch groups.

🗣️ 2. Community Education via the San Antonio Pet Promise - Knowledge is our greatest shared asset. To amplify this, we are currently producing the San Antonio Pet Promise—a broadcast-quality, 26-episode bilingual Public Service Announcement campaign. This isn't just about broadcasting rules; it's about sharing grassroots wisdom and community education. We are working closely with vital on-the-ground advocates like Raymond Najera to ensure these messages resonate with the realities of our streets.

Take Action: When these 60-second PSAs air, share them across your neighborhood association groups, local pages, and WhatsApp chats. Use them to spark dialogue with your neighbors about responsible pet ownership and localized support.

❤️ 3. Supporting the Frontlines with A REST - The most critical assets in animal welfare are the people doing the heavy lifting every single day. Burnout is a real threat to our community's capacity. Deploying in late 2026, our A REST (Animal Rescuer Emotional Support Therapy) pilot initiative is designed specifically to provide dedicated emotional support for our frontline rescue workers.

Take Action: Check on your local fosters, shelter volunteers, and independent rescuers. Offer to transport a dog, donate supplies, or simply give them an afternoon off. Protecting their mental health sustains our entire local rescue ecosystem.

🏛️ 4. Mobilizing at the Dogs / Now Pets of San Antonio Open Forums - True ABCD methodology requires continuous, open dialogue. Our ongoing Dogs of San Antonio town hall events are designed to gather everyone in one room—citizens, advocates, and local officials—to brainstorm, debate, and forge collaborative solutions.

Take Action: Show up. Your voice and your unique neighborhood perspective are assets we need. Bring a friend, neighbor, or local business owner to our next open forum and be a part of the conversation.

The ABCD Checklist for San Antonio Citizens:
✅ Identify your own assets: Do you have a fenced yard? A vehicle for transport? Graphic design skills? Spanish fluency? Offer them locally.
✅ Connect with neighbors: Know who on your block has pets and who might need help with fencing or food during tough times.
✅ Leverage local institutions: Ask your local businesses to sponsor a rescue event or allow a microchip clinic in their parking lot.

We are building a sustainable, compassionate San Antonio from the inside out. Let's get to work! 🐾💪

08/12/2026

** STOP MAKING ANIMAL WELFARE LESSON PLANS - THEY DON'T WORK! HERE'S WHY:** Scaling a cultural shift in how a city views and treats animals requires broad, inescapable messaging. While developing curriculum modules or lesson plans seems like a logical step for NGOs, the reality of the educational system and modern media consumption makes it an ineffective strategy for city-wide change.

In 2014 the World Animal Awareness Society created some incredible lesson plans with teachers.

Here are the top ten reasons why relying on lesson plans cannot effectively scale an animal welfare message across San Antonio:

**1. The "Sell-In" Bottleneck is Unsustainable**
Getting a single lesson plan into a classroom is a localized B2B sales campaign. It requires pitching to district superintendents, curriculum directors, principals, and finally, individual teachers. Doing this across San Antonio’s numerous independent school districts (ISDs) requires massive administrative overhead, making a scalable rollout virtually impossible.

**2. Rigid and Fragmented Curriculum Standards**
State-mandated standards, like the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), combined with varying district-level STEM and STEAM initiatives, leave almost no room for unmandated curriculum. A lesson plan designed for 4th and 5th graders in one district often requires total structural realignment to fit the pacing and testing requirements of a neighboring district.

**3. Teacher Bandwidth and Mandatory Testing Exhaustion**
Educators are already overwhelmed by the pressure of standardized testing (like the STAAR tests) and core curriculum requirements. Asking teachers to voluntarily adopt additional, earnest modules—no matter how well-intentioned—usually results in those materials sitting unused on a shelf or lingering as an unopened PDF.

**4. The Market is Already Saturated**
The idea of targeting youth through schools is not new. For decades NGOs have already produced countless animal welfare lesson plans. Introducing yet another set of classroom materials simply adds to the white noise without offering a unique or disruptive solution to the ongoing animal care crisis.

**5. Slow Generational Turnover vs. Immediate Crisis**
Targeting 9- and 10-year-olds means waiting a decade before those individuals have the autonomy and financial power to make household decisions regarding pet care. San Antonio requires immediate, systemic mitigation strategies and elevated standards of care today, not ten years from now.

**6. The "Preaching to the Choir" Disconnect**
Even if a student absorbs the lesson perfectly, they return to a household governed by adults. If the parents have not been exposed to the same messaging, the child has no structural support or resources to enforce better animal guardianship at home. The message dies between the classroom and the living room.

**7. Lack of Omni-Channel Saturation**
True behavioral change across a massive population requires piercing the public consciousness from multiple angles. A classroom module is a closed ecosystem. It completely ignores the adults driving to work, the families watching television, and the citizens scrolling on their phones—the exact demographics that need to be reached through TV, radio, and digital tools.

**8. Earnestness Fails to Compel Action**
Lesson plans are inherently didactic and earnest. To capture a community's attention and shift cultural norms, the messaging must be compelling and engaging. Cinematic storytelling reaches people on an emotional and entertainment level, bypassing the resistance people often have to being "taught" or lectured.

**9. It Fails to Leverage Modern Media Consumption**
Citizens consume information rapidly through visual, high-production-value media. A non-stop, broadcast-quality campaign meets the public exactly where their eyes and ears already are. Text-heavy plans or traditional classroom worksheets cannot compete with the daily media diet of the average resident.

**10. It Belongs at the Micro-Local Level, Not the Macro-Scale**
Because developing and implementing these modules requires such intense, hands-on customization and individual relationship-building, it fundamentally cannot scale. Creating new lesson plans should instead be considered a hyper-local craft project—ideal for localized, hands-on environments like Boy and Girl Scouts, 4-H, or FFA clubs, where the structure is inherently small-group and mentorship-based.

To actually raise the standard of animal care and welfare among citizens, the message must be inescapable. It requires a relentless, broadcast-level strategy like the San Antonio Pet Promise to deliver cinematic storytelling directly to the masses, shifting the cultural narrative faster and more effectively than a classroom curriculum ever could.

You can view our original work with the Good Pet Guardian Lesson Plans here: https://www.wa2s.org/good-pet-guardian-lesson-plans

You can learn about our current initiative, San Antonio Pet Promise here: https://www.wa2s.org/petpromisesa

If an NGO is working on lessons plans as a city wide initiative, and hailing their praise, it sends up red flags. They simply have not done their homework.

Below are some videos from our campaign in Detroit in 2014.

08/11/2026

Meet Janet. She prayed for Tom McPhee to come by her house even before they met the first time. Janet is a typical west side San Antonio resident who loves the animals and wants to help and support her neighbors. Look at how many dogs are on the street behind the interview. This is what does for a community, it builds tools for the community to solve their own problems, not having to wait on the city to fix things.

08/11/2026

Our new partner, the University of Alabama at Birmingham has an online survey for the animal welfare community you might find meaningful. I'm helping share a research survey focused on supporting animal advocates and rescue professionals.

This study is gathering information about the challenges animal advocates face, the resources they need, and ways communities can better support their work. The findings will help inform research on Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) and how community partnerships can strengthen support for animals and the people who advocate for them.

If you are involved in animal advocacy, rescue, welfare, sheltering, or related efforts, please consider taking a few minutes to complete the survey and share it with others in your network.

Survey Link: https://uab.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3rNFZepWF3I0JOm

Thank you for helping advance research that supports both animals and the advocates who work on their behalf.