We are thrilled to report that our 2011 Holiday Raffle was a resounding success! Our goal was to raise $10,000 through raffle ticket sales. Not only did we reach that goal--we exceeded it by selling a total of $12,200 in raffle tickets, with two "matching" donations of $480. A grand total of $12,680 raised! This is the most money ever raised through this volunteer-run fundraiser. A big thank you to everyone who celebrated our raffle success by coming to this past weekend's Raffle Drawing party at Lee Harvey's. The raffle party photos by professional photographer Mike Hanna will be available for viewing shortly. Thank you to all of the donors of our raffle prizes, to our volunteers for selling tickets and to those who purchased tickets. We could not have done this without you. Winners of our fabulous prizes are listed below.
Our Raffle Prize Drawing Party will be held this Sunday, January 8th at Lee Harvey's from 3—5pm. All raffle prize winners will be announced AND we will announce how much money was raised during our fundraiser.
It should be a very merry place to spend a Sunday afternoon, and dogs (as well as their humans) are invited to attend. Professional photographer Mike Hanna will be taking photos of all the four-legged cuties and their humans.
A couple of gift baskets will be awarded as door prizes for attendees only--full of wine, Mary Kay products and Cowboys Stadium tour passes. PLUS a $10 donation to the shelter will get you Happy Hour prices on all well drinks and draft beers! So please invite a few friends to join our celebration.
The shelter has set an ambitious goal of $10,000 raised for this year's Holiday Raffle Fundraiser. Volunteers can pick up raffle tickets directly from the shelter to sell to their family, friends and coworkers. Raffle tickets can also be purchased at the shelter and at the many HSDC events we have scheduled in the next two months. There is a dedicated page on the website where people can buy raffle tickets online as well. Please help us spread the word and reach our $10,000+ goal!
Raffle tickets are $5.00 each and 100% of monies collected from ticket sales goes to HSDC. Please go to the raffle page to see the list of fabulous prizes that can be won, and see the generous companies that donated the prizes to be given away.
Raffle prize winners will be announced at the Holiday Raffle Party on Sunday, January 8th.
Our Cat Adoption Director, Caroline Spencer, has issued a challenge to cat care supporters. She will match, case for case, all cases of Friskies Savory Shreds, any flavor, delivered to Dog & Kitty City by volunteers and friends of the shelter--up to 50 cases--before December 25th.
Please drop your donation at the shelter and be sure staff logs it in as part of Cat Food Challenge. Let's make it a very Merry Christmas for our feline residents!
One of the unique things about the Humane Society of Dallas County is that we are the only true no-kill animal shelter in Dallas County. We do not screen animals prior to accepting them, except to provide better information about rehoming options. We do not turn down animals, except if we have no room.
Because of our no-kill philosophy, we also have what we call "sanctuary" animals. Sanctuary animals are considered the hardest-to-adopt animals that we care for. They may be difficult to adopt because they are older, they may have medical or behavior issues or are simply unsocialized. Most sanctuary animals live out their days at our shelter. Every once in a while, one of our sanctuary animals will find a forever home. Those are the adoptions that we celebrate the most.
That is how the story of Happy Jakesgiving came to be. Jake was a resident of the Humane Society of Dallas County from 2003 until 2010. While Jake was clearly one of the most handsome German Shepherds most people had ever seen, he unfortunately was aggressive to almost all strangers due to an abusive early life. Most people assumed Jake would live out his days at the shelter. But in 2008, an HSDC volunteer befriended Jake, providing some basic obedience training and weekend overnights for Jake at her home. Jake slowly became more trusting of people, and his aggressive nature began to mellow. Around Thanksgiving of 2010, Jake finally found his forever home with his current "Dad", Dustin, and said goodbye to shelter life for good. It was one of the most celebrated adoptions HSDC had that year. And we are happy to report that Jake and Dustin have been inseparable since the adoption, and are about to celebrate their one year anniversary as a family.
Dustin has said that every Thanksgiving from now on he will celebrate Happy Jakesgiving, in honor of the incredible bond he has with his special dog. We at HSDC would like to take this opportunity to give special recognition to all of the other sanctuary animals still residing at the Humane Society of Dallas County. We hope that they, too, will find their forever families; and until then, we wish all of them a Happy Jakesgiving.
![Paco - Basenji [Mix]](/images/com_petlist/thumb2/s271a4058801m10037462.jpg "Paco - Basenji [Mix]")
