Fur Ball will replenish Cinderella Fund that treated 3,838 homeless pets in the last year
When pets sheltered at our Robins-Starr Humane Center need lifesaving veterinary intervention, our Cinderella Fund guarantees them the care they need to go on to better lives in new, loving homes. Each fall this fund is replenished at our Fur Ball, presented this year by Dominion Energy. The Richmond SPCA’s signature event celebrates the lives of sick, injured and neonatal homeless animals who have been saved thanks to our community’s generosity and compassion. All the proceeds are dedicated to providing treatment and rehabilitation to cats, dogs, puppies and kittens we will care for in the year ahead.
In our most recent fiscal year, October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023, we spent more than $980,000 delivering pre-adoption veterinary services to 4,433 animals, 3,838 of whom required additional treatment beyond sterilization and preventative care. Our shelter veterinary team made 6,019 diagnoses over those 12 months, and for each patient they delivered expert, compassionate treatment. These patients don’t come into the exam with a guardian to describe their symptoms and often have few, if any, available veterinary records. Many times they have just arrived at our humane center after a long ride from a rural municipal shelter, one of the more than 70 agencies we worked with last year to transfer pets into our care.
Top conditions treated in Fiscal Year 2023
The complexity of cases treated by our Internal Veterinary Services (IVS) grows each year. These are some of the most significant conditions the IVS team addresses with Cinderella Fund resources.
The Fur Ball’s 25th year
When our Fur Ball was first held in 1998, even minor sickness could mean the worst for a dog or cat entering an animal shelter because at that time, even for healthy homeless pets, adoption was not guaranteed. The complex medical needs we treat today make the Cinderella Fund critical to our work. This year our fundraising goal is $675,000.
Leading the way in making Cinderella dreams a reality for thousands more dogs and cats are our incredible sponsors.
Parade of Pets sponsor Holiday Barn Pet Resorts
Online Auction sponsor Tranzon Key
Dinner sponsor Moore Subaru
Cocktail reception sponsor The London Company
Angel Pledge sponsor ColonialWebb
Registration sponsor Richmond SPCA Board of Directors
Cinderella video sponsor Virginia Sargeant Reynolds Foundation
Many months of hard work on behalf of our Fur Ball Committee, led this year by Chair Elizabeth King, will culminate on Saturday, November 4 at the sold-out 25th Annual Fur Ball. Those who aren’t joining us at The Jefferson Hotel can still watch the premiere of this year’s Cinderella Pet video and show their love of pets by placing a bid in the online auction, which is open until Saturday, November 4 at 11 p.m., or by purchasing raffle tickets for a chance to win one of five prize packages.
