The Family, Fur & Fun Festival raised more than $12,000 for animal shelters and rescues in Southern Nevada. The annual event, held at Exploration Park in the Mountain’s Edge Master Planned Community, educates the public about the importance of helping, fostering and adopting abandoned and neglected animals and proper care for pets, and provides a fun day for people and their pets.
During the festival, six dogs were adopted, including River, a blind dog rescued by On My Way Home Rescue. In addition, seven rescue organizations had the opportunity to educate the public about their work in the community, collect donations and sell products. They included: Animal Help Alliance, The Churchill Foundation, Hearts Alive Village, Chi of Hearts, Las Vegas Hot Diggity Dachshund Club and Rescue, On My Way Home Rescue and Paws 4 Love.
Funds at the free event were raised through a raffle and the Halloween Pet Costume Contest, the latter hosted by The Las Vegas Hot-Diggity Dachshund Club and Rescue. The contest winners were:
Best in Show: John and Catherin Baudoux’s two dogs, Lucy and Ben, as retro sailors
Best Family: Bob Manning and his three dogs, Rusty, Jessa, and Dee-Dee, in Star Wars-themed costumes
Funniest Costume: Jinjoo Maddy’s dog, Pearl, as Pug-a-Hontas
Cutest Costume: Marnie Montgomery-Blake and her dog, Lanie, dressed as a kangaroo and joey
Other festivities featured sports demonstrations from Atomic Dogs with dogs showing off speed, acrobatic and high flying skills; fun, educational and interactive booths; and hands-on activities for children to experience pets. Pet adoption and fostering opportunities, arts and crafts, doggie photography, music, and food and refreshments also were available.
The Family, Fur & Fun Festival was sponsored by Americana Restaurant, Bulldog AC and Heating, Joyce and Associates, Law Offices of Donna Stidham, Maupin Nalor Brastor Attorneys at Law, Mountain’s Edge Master Planned Community, Nutrisource, Pictographics, and Camp Bow Wow.
###