Wags to Riches was another hit this year, bringing in around $125,000 for our organization and the animals in our care! Similarly to last year, we were able to sell out with over 400 guests packed into Tom’s Country Place to show their support!
We were grateful to have local businesses contributing to our event by showing support through sponsorships! Animal Clinic Northview and the Italian Veterans Association generously sponsored $5,000 as title sponsors! Additionally, Tito’s Vodka was back as our beverage sponsor this year providing tasty signature drinks!
Executive Director Greg Willey introduced our animal VIP Guests, who were helped by our organization in some capacity over the last year! Those animals included Martha, Squish, Stevie, Bumble and Winnie! All of these animals and so many more have stories that move our supporters. They are able to see first hand what their generous support and donations provide to the animals in our care, which in these cases were life saving vet care. Martha was part of a gruesome dog fight that left her with several bite wounds and a lengthy stay at the vet clinic. Squish was quite literally squished by a car, causing life threatening internal injuries, which resulted in an amputation. Stevie was surrendered to our shelter with double eye infections, so severe that both of his eyes could not be saved. Bumble was one of sixteen cockfighting roosters rescued by our humane officers last year. Generally, the outcome of these animals is grim, because of their aggressiveness. Bumble had a medical condition called Bumblefoot, that required routine vet care. Our humane officer decided to take Bumble home and adopted him! Lastly, Winnie was rescued by our humane officers as a puppy, and our vet team discovered a heart murmur. Winnie required heart surgery and several weeks of recovery in a foster home who ended up adopting her.
Guests at our Wags to Riches event enjoyed good food, fun games, lots of amazing prizes and a band that rocked the house! The $125,000 raised at the event this year is only a fraction of what we spend every quarter in vet bills to make sure lives are saved. When animals are injured or sick and have nowhere to go, Friendship steps up time and time again! If you could not attend this year’s event, don’t worry. We will be back in 2025!
Thank you to everyone who was involved with making this event a success – our volunteers, staff, board and everyone who contributed one of our fabulous prizes that make this night so memorable! Thank you also to our generous supporters who braved the cold to come out and open their pocket books to help us save lives!
