On a hot and breezy summer day in Nassau, Bahamas pet care groups partnered with a community to make the lives of pets and those who call them their best friends a little bit better. The event in the park was organized by the Dannottage Estates Neighbourhood Association.

While volunteers and vets from BAARK performed spaying and neutering surgeries to reduce the plight of stray animals and control the population of those well cared for, from 5-lb puppies to a 130-lb great Dane, groomer Lynn Grattan spoofed up a few dogs. And the Washington, D.C.-based trade and educational association Pet Food Institute (PFI), one of the event’s sponsors, spread the word about caring for a pet’s health through safe and nutritious feeding.

PFI has shared its message about the dangers of cooked bones and other foods including chocolate, grapes, onions and peanut butter containing xylitol to thousands of students across the region in classrooms virtually and in-person in The Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Turks and Caicos. But on July 2, it was hands-on under the shade of mature trees and even some hand-outs of educational material and useful pet food-related items.