For the Love of Animals: Friends of the Bisbee Animal Shelter Fundraiser
To state the obvious, there’s one common to dogs and cats and its this: they can’t talk. Sure, they can bark, meow, purr, whine and howl. Recent studies suggest dogs in particular are evolving at an accelerated pace in what is being called a “third wave of domestication.” Cats on the other hand have decided they’re just fine as is, thank you very much–as far as they’re concerned their humans are the ones who need to catch up.
Nevertheless, they can’t talk, at least for now. They can’t say “I need to go to the vet,” “I need to be treated better,” or “this human stinks and I want a refund.” Domesticated critters need people to care for them, to love them, and to be the voices they don’t have. They need advocates.
In Bisbee, the critters have their advocates in the form of the Friends of the Bisbee Animal Shelter, a non-profit formed by local business owners and animal advocates in 2014. In partnership with the City of Bisbee who owns the Town’s no-kill animal shelter, the Friends have leaned into their work with full hearts over the last 12 years, getting feral cat colonies under control, hosting spay/neuter clinics, helping run Bisbee’s Dog Park, finding lost critters and reuniting them with their humans, and adopting them out to forever homes.
Not only that. They also throw some great parties.
This Valentine’s Day the Friends hosted their annual fundraiser, an appropriately themed event called For the Love of Animals. One of Bisbee’s newest businesses, Standard Waffle, provided a great space for the event, with their well-appointed art deco interior and of course, delicious waffles alongside chocolate strawberries and other treats.
By sundown the place was packed, with a cheerful crowd testing the limits of Standard Waffle’s interior acoustics. Those who attended previous fundraisers like the FurBall held in the Pythian Castle recognized elements common from previous fundraisers: the cash bar, the great atmosphere, the silent auction and the live auction called by Emily Cayer, whose infectious antics have become something of a tradition.
There’s a reason for that. Emily is good at what she does. You humble blogger has attended a good share of previous Friends fundraisers and had declined to participate in the live auction portion. That is, until this year. Nudged by my bride, just to “keep things moving” she said, I raised a hand and in one bid Emily had me over a barrel. A second, and finally a third bid and…SOLD!
The prizes, most of which were donated by generous local businesses, are always great, and thanks to my big mouth this year we got our hands on one: a “Wild First Date” basket of loot including his-and-hers St. Elmo t-shirts, a gift certificate to Taquria Outlaw and Bisbee Bodega, VIP tickets to the next Bisbee Burlesque show at the Grand, a free tattoo from Gold Dust Supply, and…a perfect little horseshoe charm from Fernando Serrano’s Queen of the Rodeo jewelry shop.
(I called dibs on the tattoo without missing a beat. Guess I’m due for one!)
Like I said, the City provides the space and a good deal of the necessary funding–more than the minimum the law requires, it should be said–but the Friends raise the rest, and that is a tall order these days. If you’re a pet owner, you likely know that veterinary expenses have skyrocketed in recent years. One’s money doesn’t go nearly as far as it did before the pandemic. It’s true for pet owners and its true for animal shelters like ours. Fundraisers like the one held this month go a long way to keeping the shelter running. There will undoubtedly be more so if you missed it here’some good news: you, dear reader, are already invited to the next one.
It may happen that one day, and soon, highly evolved canines walking upright and equipped with AI-assisted bark-to-speech talking boxes will take up the role of animal advocacy, making the case for shelter support all on their own. They’d be good at it. They’re good boys (and girls) after all. They might even manage to talk the cats into helping, or at least tolerating it in classic kitty passive aggressive style. Until then, they need humans to do it for them. If you’re reading this the odds are good that you are, in fact, a human yourself. Just because they can’t put it into words (yet), they still need our help. So, good humans, consider making a donation here.
Do it for the Love of the Critters.
Keith Allen Dennis is a Bisbee writer, living the dream of becoming the songster he was meant to be. He’s also a rescue himself, having been fished out of the pound and carried off to his forever home by his wife Rachel back in 2010. Find his music at keithallendennis.bandcamp.com.