With tickets now sold out, the Cochrane and Area Humane Society (CAHS) anticipates its 2018 Wags and Whiskers Gala fundraiser, Nov. 3 at the Cochrane Ranchehouse, will be a great evening for animal lovers in the region. According to Tracy Keith, executive director of CAHS, this year’s gala also corresponds with a significant milestone in the shelter’s history. “It is our 20-year anniversary,” Keith said. “It was 20 years for us officially in March, so it is a little bit exciting. We have a few extra prizes and surprises at the gala in honour of that 20-year anniversary.” The society has earned a reputation for hosting excellent events, Keith said, and this year’s gala will be no exception. The event will feature a variety of delicious appetizers, live and silent auctions and a raffle for two WestJet tickets – with all proceeds supporting the humane society’s work to care for local animals. “We get very little funding through grants,” Keith said. “About 96 per cent of our funding – we have about a $1-million budget – comes through our own initiatives.” The humane society does significant rehabilitation work with pets, Keith said, along with arranging specialized surgery for injured animals. That care can be costly, and fundraising events are critical to keep the shelter in operation. Keith added she hopes to see around $40,000 generated through this year’s gala. “Typically, [funds go] toward our hospital costs, which is one of our larger costs,” she said. “The majority of the animals that we get in here are not spayed or neutered, have never been vaccinated.” CAHS provides an essential service for the region, according to Keith – taking in animals from Rocky View County (RVC) as well as Cochrane. This year, the shelter has taken in 170 pets from RVC, along with 112 from Cochrane. The shelter also conducts education programs with local schools, and often hosts school groups for tours of its facility. While servicing rapidly-growing urban centres like Airdrie and Cochrane, Keith said its work in RVC remains among the society’s top priorities. “Our vision was always to be a leader in rural animal care,” she said. “That’s because we felt that a lot of the rural communities don’t have the resources they need to be able to offer animals this kind of opportunity that a humane society does.”
