Pinellas County -- The Great Recession has been hard on both animals and humans, and the Pinellas Paws Cause gives them both something to bark about. Some families have had to give up their animals because they can no longer afford to purchase pet food. The Pinellas County Animal Welfare Trust Fund offers basic necessities to keep pets and their families together as well as to provide special needs items that can make the pets more comfortable while they wait to be adopted.

Locally renowned Murals for Mutts artist Anna Hamilton is partnering with Pinellas County Animal Services to raise money for the fund at the same time she’s transforming the interior of a pet adoption center into an inviting and warm reflection of the love that pet owners and shelter workers have for animals.

Tired of pounding the pavement on the same ole’ 5K race course? Go-pher a fun and a different seven- kilometers that will take runners and walkers along well maintained dirt and board walk trails through native Florida habitats.

Enjoy the gorgeous views in one of Tampa Bay’s hidden gems, Weedon Island Preserve. Participants may see egrets, herons and spoonbills that populate the preserve as well as relic Indian mounds and dune ridges left by the preserve’s earliest inhabitants. A slow-moving gopher tortoise may even be spotted along the way!

This unique, professionally timed race begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19. Registered runners/walkers will receive a race T-shirt, professional race timing and race results and a one-year membership to the Friends of Weedon Island, Inc. Awards will be given to each age group, three-deep. Refreshments will be served. Aid stations will be placed along the way.