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Saturday night was for Buddy and Rambo, for Beau and Blazer, Daisy and Katie. In fact, all the dogs and cats (and occasionally less domesticated critters) at the Azle Animal Shelter will benefit from the Azle Animal Shelter Humane Association’s BARKtoberfest, which filled Vance Godbey’s Restaurant in Lakeside Saturday, Oct. 17.
A late contribution Monday pushed the total raised above $30,000, Azle Mayor Russ Braudis said Tuesday.
BARKtoberfest marks the first time AASHA has put on a major event for fundraising, volunteer Denise Offield said this week. “Back in February when we were planning, we thought ‘Anything we raise will be wonderful,’” she said. “But what a success it was!” The shelter needs more kennel space to handle a growing population of stray and abandoned pets.
The animals are coming from a growing area, AASHA volunteer Rhonda Braudis told Azle city council earlier this month. “As many as half of the animals are from the counties,” she said at the council’s Oct. 6 meeting. Unincorporated areas of Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties are close enough to Azle that stray animals from those areas are brought to the Azle shelter, she said. And proving that the love of animals, and concern for their welfare, does not end at the city limits, BARKtoberfest participants included residents of Lakeside, Reno and Pelican Bay, as well as Azle folks from all walks of life. But the shelter is full, with only 15 kennels for dogs, and even more limited space for cats. The situation leads to heartbreaking decisions by shelter employees each week – in September they had to put down more than 40 animals that had not found homes in time. AASHA has plans to build a new shelter, starting with a new “adoption center” which will be added onto the front of the current building and will increase kennel spaces for both dogs and cats. The new space will add 20 additional kennels, Braudis told the crowd at Saturday’s event. The adoption center will be more appealing to people who come to the shelter looking for a new pet. Mayor Russ Braudis, also AASHA president, has called it “curb appeal.” It could mean far more to the animals of the area. |
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