Humane Society plans fundraiser

The Garland County Humane Society will hold its fourth annual Race to the Rescue fundraising event at 6 p.m. March 27 at Froggy's, 1834 Airport Road.

All proceeds from ticket sales and the silent and live auctions will go toward the rescue and care of homeless, neglected and abused dogs and cats in the community.

Race to the Rescue is one of two annual fundraisers that benefit the Garland County Humane Society. The other fundraiser is generally held toward the end of the year, said humane society President Ivy Wood.

"The end-of-the-year fundraiser is to raise money for our building, maintenance for the building and everything, and the one that we have during race season is just to raise money for the overall operating expenses -- spay and neuter funding and care of the animals," Wood said. "We always do it on a Tuesday night when there's no racing that day so that the race people can come."

A silent and live auction will be held during the event. In the past, the late Hall of Fame horse trainer Jack Van Berg served as auctioneer for the event, and while Wood said nothing has yet been set in stone, she hopes one of Van Berg's horse owners will take his place as auctioneer this year.

For the ticket price of $50, each attendee will receive dinner and nonalcoholic beverages. A cash bar will be available. Tickets can be purchased at the Garland County Humane Society Thrift Store, 2026 Central Ave., from any GCHS board member, through the society's Facebook page, or by calling Wood at 501-617-3750.

The silent and live auctions will feature items donated by local artists and businesses, including restaurants, jewelry stores and boutiques.

"We usually have a pretty good array of auction items and we'll start listing them on our Facebook page ahead of time," Wood said. "We sell probably 150 tickets on average. We know that 25-30 people are going to have something come up and not come; they just buy the tickets to help us out, but we usually have a pretty packed house."

In 2017, the humane society rescued and adopted out 485 animals. This year, the focus has been on the construction of its new Adoption Education Center, for which a grand opening will be held at a later date.

The center features a surgical room for veterinarians to perform spay and neuter services and a classroom for area residents to learn the importance of spaying and neutering their pets, treating them for heart worms and approaching and caring for animals.

The humane society will host a Critter Camp this summer for children to learn about caring for dogs and cats.

"It's all about helping the animals," Wood said.

Local on 03/18/2018

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