Pro Athletes Make 'Time' For Animals

The Houston Astros step up to the plate with a charity calendar to support the pets in their community

By Sharon L. Peters
CTW Features

Pitcher Dave Borkowski, along with wife, Jill, organize the annual Houston Astros Pets Calendar to benefit Saving Animals, a Houston-area animal-welfare agency. Image courtesy Evin Thayer

Baseball season may be winding down, but the Houston Astros are making another pitch.

Their 2008 calendar, a 14-month album of aw-gee photos of players, dogs and cats, aims to encourage shelter adoptions by spotlighting irresistible homeless critters.

Players’ wives and volunteers have been hawking the $15 calendars on the concourse at home games; they expect to sell thousands (proceeds will benefit animal welfare) and perhaps inspire some folks to get their next pet from a shelter.

“I think most people aren’t aware [of] how many wonderful, beautiful dogs and cats are in shelters,” says Jill Borkowski, who, with Astros relief pitcher Dave Borkowski, spearheaded the calendar project.

Now they do.

There’s pitcher Trever Miller sitting cross-legged on the field with a tiny white kitten curled into his glove and an adorable little pup on his other side. And there’s catcher Brad Ausmus in the bullpen playing cozy with a beautiful Golden Retriever.

More than half the animals in the calendar are from the Harris County (Texas) Public Health and Environmental Services kennels.

The rest are the players’ own pets: Pitcher Jason Jennings with his athletic-looking German Shepherd, Chipsi, and his cute-as-a button Yorki, Hope (all dolled up with a pink ribbon); pitcher Roy Oswalt with his tan-and-white bulldog, Dixie; and Borkowski with Lab mixes Belle and Bailey, and cat Camden.

All three of the Borkowski pets are globe-trotting shelter rescues that journey every year from the Borkowskis’ home in Holland, Ohio, to Florida for spring training and then to Houston for the season. They “never complain about the long road trips,” says Jill. “They just love being with us.”

The Astros’ 2007 calendar – their first – featured player pets along with animals from the City of Houston’s Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care. The calendar sold about 5,000 copies and helped all the featured BARC animals find new homes.

Several major league baseball teams produced pet calendars this year, including the Atlanta Braves and Detroit Tigers.

The 2008 Astros pet calendars are being put up for sale months earlier than last year’s, and Jill Borkowski believes they’ll be able to sell all 10,000 they’ve had printed. The proceeds benefit Saving Animals Across Borders, a Houston animal-welfare agency that works to find homes for the city’s sheltered pets.

Borkowski hopes the calendar will serve as a monthly reminder for would-be pet owners to go the shelter or rescue route.

“The city pound and the county pound are two places that people often do not consider when looking for a new family member,” the Borkowskis wrote in the introduction to the calendar, “but collectively they take in around 50,000 animals a year, the majority of which are euthanized simply for lack of a home.”

The calendar can be purchased at Houston-area Petco stores and on the Astros Web site.

What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, training and loving your pet. E-mail Sharon@Pets2008.com.

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