The inaugural Spay-ghetti Night for the Bright Eyes Dog Rescue organization won’t be the last edition of the event.
A sold-out crowd of 112 people attended the fundraiser Saturday night at the Days Inn Plaza. People who attended enjoyed a spaghetti meal, music by DJ James Dobos and entertainment courtesy of fiddler Michaela Zatko. Zatko played for 30 minutes and event organizer Sherry Lukye-Horrocks said it was something people were looking forward to.
A silent auction boasted a lot of nice art pieces from local artists and merchandise from local businesses and others.
Between ticket sales, the silent auction and sponsorships, a total of $4,690 was raised for Bright Eyes, which operates in the Regina area but helps dogs throughout southern Saskatchewan.
“It is wonderful. Everybody is having a great time,” said Lukye-Horrocks.
The money will be directed to the spaying efforts of the rescue organization. Lukye-Horrocks said the animals that come in often need to be spayed.
“That’s the biggest problem is there’s overbreeding, and there’s not enough people to take and adopt these animals,” said Lukye-Horrocks. “So if we continue to do a spaying of a female dog, it helps prevent a pregnancy.”
Litters have been coming in to the rescue, so she expects the money raised on Saturday has already been spoken for.
Lukye-Horrocks has become a big fan of Bright Eyes. It’s a volunteer-based organization and no animals are caged.
“Every animal, the moment it is rescued or surrendered, it is placed into a loving home where they are fostered until they are placed into their forever home,” she said.
She knows from first-hand experience about the dogs that Bright Eyes looks after. She has fostered dogs in the past and might do so again in the future. Currently she is working as the fundraiser and the event planner for the area.
“I have had very, very sweet, such wonderful dogs, good puppies. Bright Eyes, I find, has always done a very, very wonderful job of finding homes for their dogs.”
Lukye-Horrocks said people can look forward to this becoming an annual event, thanks to the support shown on Saturday night.
According to its website, Bright Eyes has rescued 2,086 dogs since its inception in 2010. The number includes dogs that were abandoned, abused, feral, injured or surrendered.
