Confident. Strong-willed. Committed. Dedicated. Stubborn. Lovable. All of this and more describe a typical dachshund — aka wiener dog — and the inspiration behind one of the Brazos Valley’s newest nonprofit organizations, Wienerspiel.
Founded in May by Judy LeUnes, Wienerspiel, a 501c3 nonprofit, aims to raise money for organizations that strive to improve the welfare of homeless, neglected, and unwanted animals, as well as promote the human-animal bond.
LeUnes is responsible for bringing the popular wiener dog races to College Station in 2007. After taking her own dog to the races in Buda, she was inspired to bring the races back home. The idea to start Wienerspiel began after her horse tragically died and a personal fight with cancer. LeUnes says she realized she wanted to raise money for multiple animal nonprofits and shelters, as well as educate the community on the importance of animal care.
“I started thinking, if I start my own nonprofit, we can reach out to many different animal groups — not just dogs and cats,” LeUnes says.
Many shelters and nonprofits have limited funding and can’t afford to plan and host their own fundraisers. That is where Wienerspiel comes into play.
“We are looking at partnering with some of these other organizations,” LeUnes explains. “I’ve been very successful in raising over $500,000 for animal organizations over the years, and a lot of nonprofits, that’s what they need the most is money.”
Some of the events Wienerspiel has planned are wiener races, wannabe wiener races, cat modeling, and more. The money raised at events will go to nonprofits and shelters Wienerspiel chooses to partner with after evaluating their conditions, missions, and policies.
“It’s just fun,” LeUnes says. “All of our things with Wienerspiel will focus, just like in the other races I’ve done, on the human-animal bond. People who come to any of our events don’t need to worry about us trying to get money from them talking about the torture stories and the horror stories. It’s all about what animals give us and what we can give back.”
Tyra Watts, a board member for Wienerspiel, has been working on other nonprofits with LeUnes for several years. She shares the same enthusiasm about the future for the organization. “Now that we’re our own, independent nonprofit group, the possibilities are endless,” she says. “I’m excited that we are going to be able to help more nonprofit groups than ever before, and we’re just going to reach more animals that way.”
The other facet of Wienerspiel will be educating the community on the importance of animal care.
“We’re not going to just raise money for nonprofits, but we’re trying to educate children on how to be good pet parents and things like that because they don’t get to see that often,” says Watts.
Both LeUnes and Watts have a background in education and are passionate about using Wienerspiel as a tool to educate the next generation. One of the ways they will do this is through a partnership with the CHI St. Joseph Laboratory Department called Humane Libraries.
The Humane Libraries will be a section of books in the Bryan and College Station public schools, as well as the two public city libraries. Wienerspiel has cultivated a list of books for people to buy and donate to the Humane Libraries. Each book on the list deals with the humane treatment of animals.
“This is just a way that I’m able to give back to homeless, neglected, unwanted animals, as well as help children through our next few generations learn how to properly handle animals, care of family members, care of their significant others, and become better people all-in-all through what we do and how we help animals,” says LeUnes.
Just like a wiener dog, LeUnes can be confident, strong-willed, committed, dedicated, lovable, and yes — sometimes even stubborn. However, all of these trademark qualities drive her to educate the community and help give back to other organizations through Wienerspiel.
Wienerspiel’s first fundraising event will be the Wiener Dog Races and Wannabe Wiener Dog Races on Oct. 19-21 at Wolf Pen Creek. For more information about Wienerspiel, call (979) 412-6051 or email wienerspiel@gmail.com.
