Fundraiser to help bring new animal shelter is Saturday in Fuji Park

Proceeds from this year’s Bark, Whine and Dine will go exclusively to the Carson Animal Services Initiative, the community nonprofit helping to raise money to build a new animal shelter in town.

“It’s going to be a really fun night, and it’s for a great cause,” said Lisa Schuette, chairwoman of the initiative.

The initiative was created in September to assist the city in raising necessary funds to replace the current animal shelter, which was built in the 1960s, when Carson City’s population was about 5,000 people.

“Now we have a population of 60,000, but we are still using the same small shelter,” Schuette said. “As a result, it is not able to provide the services that a city of our size needs.”

She said if a person is no longer able to care for a pet, that pet is turned away if the shelter is full.

“I shudder to think what might happen to them,” Schuette said.

The nonprofit is working with Carson Animal Services in hopes of raising $4 million for a new shelter. The goal for the initiative is raising half that.

Plans for the new shelter include a gift shop, Schuette said. Proceeds from that will go to providing vouchers for spaying and neutering, as well discounts for emergency procedures.

She said that with increased services, the community will see fewer strays roaming the neighborhoods and will receive quicker responses when there are animals wandering.

“Regardless of one’s position on animals, a new shelter will benefit everyone,” Schuette said. “It’s a safety issue.”

It also will benefit the animals.

“A new shelter will provide hope for the animals,” she said. “It will give them an opportunity to be adopted. It gives them a safe place to stay and receive medical care. We just need to be more responsible with how we treat animals and how we care for them.”

While the Bark, Whine and Dine is in its sixth year, this is the first year all proceeds will go toward the animal shelter. It will include a dinner and silent auction featuring 85 items, that include vacations, fishing trips, massages and more.

Line dance lessons will be available followed by dancing.

Other fundraisers include a 5 K-9 Run and Walk on Sept. 21, followed by a Pooch Plunge at the Carson Aquatic Center on Sept. 28. The Carson Animal Services Initiative will also be in the Nevada Day Parade.

In the 10 months its been in operation, the initiative has raised $400,000. Schuette said it is a testament to the community’s recognition of the need to build a new shelter.

“Shelters are sad places where people don’t want to go,” she said. “We need a shelter where people feel comfortable going. Animals don’t get adopted if people don’t stop to visit.”