For more than 50 years the Helen Woodward Animal Center has fostered the belief that “people help animals, animals help people” by offering animal re-homing and adoptions, as well as a wide variety of educational programs, therapeutic programs, and humane care.

What started as a sweet social media photoshoot in 2012 — their summer fundraising event Pawmicon — has blossomed into a full-on spectacle of epic “pup-portions.” Furry friends don their best geeky, heroic, pop culture costumes and strut their stuff to the sound of “oohs,” “ahhhs,” and “oh my goodness, look at that cutie!”

This year, Pawmicon will be taking place on Tuesday, July 22, just a day before the San Diego Comic-Con festivities officially kick off. The action all goes down at Balboa Park, near the Air & Space Museum, from 5pm – 7pm. Entries are still being accepted and the event is free to attend. You can RSVP for free on Eventbrite now. 

I recently had the chance to speak with Austin Hale, PR and Communications Manager, and Jessica Gercke, PR Director, about the Helen Woodward Animal Center and the importance of Pawmicon to their mission, as well as an exciting addition to the event this year.

 

Thank you so much for spending some time with us, we are excited to get to know more about Pawmicon and the Helen Woodward Animal Center. The Center is unique in that  adoptions and rehoming animals is just a slice of your focus. You also provide extensive animal education, equine therapy, a mobile service that provides services for un-homed pets and their owners, and companion pet therapy. What size of staff or volunteers does it take to operate? 

Austin: We have 99 full-time employees, 86 part-time employees, and an absolute army of volunteers. 

As a no-kill, non-profit, you rely on contributions from the public for funding. One way you solicit those is through events like Pawmicon. Can you tell us when Pawmicon started and how it’s evolved over the years? 

Jessica: The idea behind creating such an event was based on my observed parallel between orphan pets and Comic-Con attendees.  While comic book enthusiasts wait all year for Comic-Con International, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite action-adventure stars, orphan dogs and cats at Helen Woodward Animal Center will wait a lifetime to meet their superheroes – individuals with one sole mission… to rescue an orphaned pet.

In 2012, I did a cute photoshoot and video of the pets at Helen Woodward Animal Center, “throwing a PAWmicon” to search for their superheroes, and sent it to the media on Comic-Con weekend to get eyes on our orphan pets.  The media loved it and it got great air time and we decided to make it an annual promotion. 

The promotion grew each year and eventually a downtown Brewery asked us to bring the idea to life at their location on the Friday of Comic-Con weekend.  That year, the San Diego Union-Tribune listed it as one of the “Best Things” to do without a Comic-Con ticket.  But the event really took off when we held it inside (and on the lawn) of the yet-unopened Comic-Con Museum in 2019.  Since then, the event has been featured nationally and even on the BBC News, reminding people what superheroes can look like. 

How important is this event to your fundraising efforts? 

Jessica: The event is important to our fundraising efforts, but to be honest, we get more in the way of media attention than we do in actual dollars. The contests are purposely inexpensive so that everyone can take part.  People are welcome to make donations, and 100% of anything we make from sponsors, donors, and participants goes directly to the pets and programs at Helen Woodward Animal Center.  But the main purpose of this event was to bring attention to the cause of pet rescue and that remains the most important reason for the event.

For many years, Pawmicon took place a little earlier in the month. This year, it’s taking place the Tuesday before Comic Con, just when the masses are starting to descend on the city. Was this a conscious decision or just how the calendar fell?

Austin: 100% a conscious decision! This year, we really wanted the pop-culture-loving guests of Comic-Con to be able to participate in our tail-wagging spin-off. By hosting the event the day before things kick off, and in the more central location of Balboa Park, we’re hoping that those passionate about both paws and pop culture will be able to check out the wholesome festivities.

How do you see fan culture helping to promote animal welfare and the belief that “people help animals, animals help people?” 

Austin: I think both fan culture and being an animal lover come from places of passion. Just as Marvel fans will (wrongly) say that their pantheon of superheroes and villains is better than DC’s, animal lovers will argue all day about a silly thing like, are cats or dogs better? Cats, by the way. And yet, both come from a passionate love of the thing people are debating.

I think that people who participate in fan culture ARE extremely passionate and if they’re animal lovers, they probably have similar conversations with everyone that associates with them too. Thus spreading the good word of animal welfare and animal rescue through word of mouth.

Jessica: Look at what has happened to COMIC-CON!  There can’t be any denying that these fans are some of the most passionate, creative, and dedicated individuals on the planet.  If we can get the support of these fans — which, fingers crossed, can result in a promoted photo, an invitation to a friend, or a shared post — the message highlighting the mission of animal rescue is suddenly plunged into an active and impassioned group of people.  Who wouldn’t want these fans supporting our cause?

Can you share with us how many adoption success stories you have per year?

Austin: We share a success story every week! (That’s my shameless plug for my weekly success stories articles.) The actual answer is that we do anywhere between 2,700 and 3,200 adoptions per year. We take in between 50 and 100 orphan pets per week from shelters all over the country. The shelters we work with are mostly in areas with rather lax laws regarding euthanasia. So, when these organizations are at capacity, they reach out to us to take in some of their animals so they don’t have to make incredibly difficult decisions that nobody in this industry wants to make.

We’re fortunate enough to have extensive animal care infrastructure; including an in-house medical facility with state-of-the-art technology, over 350 foster volunteers – many of whom are bottle baby certified – and temperature-controlled kennels. This infrastructure allows us to take in particularly challenging pets that other organizations aren’t equipped to handle – such as those with rare medical conditions, as well as neonatal puppies and kittens. And that’s just our adoptions department!

I am incredibly honored to have been asked to participate in Pawmicon as one of your judges this year. What criteria or advice do you give your judges? 

Jessica: I think you’ve just accepted a harder task than you are anticipating! Firstly, it is AMAZING how creative the participants are and how adorable every single face that walks down the runway is. You’ll want to give them all prizes. We try to help the judges with different criteria such as “level of challenge to create the costume.”  For instance, you’ll see some purchased costumes and some handmade sewn costumes and we like to remind judges to add a point or two for the level of difficulty in creating the costume.  

“Uniqueness” is another factor we layout for our judges who may have seen a bunch of Supermen but not a lot of Pennywise the Clown, for instance.

At the end of the day though, “Cuteness” is always going to be one of the judging criteria and that is very open-ended and can make a seemingly simple costume stand-out and rise to the top in one of the categories.

Do you have any favorite costumes from over the years?

Austin: Last year, the coolest costume I’ve ever seen got SNUBBED! One of our PAWsplay contest regulars built samurai armor from scratch! I mean I assume she used cardboard, but still! The end result looked absolutely incredible and her dog didn’t even get an honorable mention! Had I been judging I DEFINITELY would have given her first place. I’m also a fan of when people match their costumes with their dog’s. 

 

Jessica: I already mentioned Pennywise the Clown but that still goes down as one of my very favorites.  The little dog was a tiny poodley thing with curly hair and the owner had created a sidewalk above the “sewer” of the dog’s stroller.  So this little dog in a clown costume was peering out at us with this red balloon flying above its head.  It was pure magic.

A Game of Bones costume that included a dog throne made of over 300 dog bones was another one I’ll never forget. But like Austin, I love when I see an owner and a pup dress up together.  You just get this really happy beating heart feeling of knowing, “Oh yes!  They’re besties!  Quite a duo.  Meant to be.”

What can spectators expect to see at the 2025 Pawmicon? 

Austin: The big new thing is the normal Human Cosplay Contest! When we were thinking of ways to make this year’s PAWmicon more inclusive to the broader public, we figured including a human cosplay contest would be the perfect idea! That way, those who want to compete but don’t necessarily have an animal with them, can still participate!

For those not familiar with PAWmicon, they can expect to see dogs (and sometimes cats!) in costumes. We have three categories people can sign up for: Superheroes and Supervillains, Pop-Culture Pups, and Duos, Trios & More. A lot of our PAWticipants go all out. We’ll also have a variety of vendor booths, artist booths, trivia, and more!  

Jessica: People can expect to see dogs.  So many dogs. TONS of adorable dogs. This is all about the way these magical creatures can literally save your life.  It’s one big Instagram-able moment of how absolutely funny, kind, loving, happy, and amazing rescuing a pet can be.

What would you like SDCC attendees, and all visitors to San Diego, to know about the Helen Woodward Animal Center and the work you do?

Jessica: Helen Woodward Animal Center has been dedicated towards the mission of “People helping Animals and Animals helping People” for over 50 years.  The Center has 14 unique programs all dedicated towards that mission… from rescue and adoption, to Humane Education, to Therapeutic Horseback Riding to community services like AniMeals (feeding the pets of homebound elderly clients) and Pets Without Walls (providing health checks and services for the pets of unhoused individuals) and much more.  We are so grateful to anyone who takes the time to extend kindness and show responsibility towards each living creature we share the earth with.  Please adopt, foster or donate at www.animalcenter.org.