One of the canines in the running for best dog at the Fur Ball.

WARSAW —  The tenth annual Fur Ball gala for the Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County took place on Saturday, Sept. 17, at Toyota of Warsaw.

The Michele Payton Band played music as guests participated in the silent auction, visited booths and ate dinner.

There was something for everyone to do during the evening. Those who attended were able to bid on items in the silent auction such as photos, paintings, gift baskets and various other items. Four dogs were brought from the shelter for guests to vote on based upon who they thought the best dog was.

Vietnam veteran Pat Money spoke at the event. Money told his story of how his service dog Scout changed his life. Money mentioned how as he was recovering from a spinal injury, he struggled with simple tasks such as walking. Scout helped him find a way to cope with the fear he struggled with.

Director Darla McCammon spoke at the event to tell about what the proceeds of the event were funding. The AWL is in the process of gathering funds to renovate a new facility for the shelter. The new facility will have 11,000 square feet of space, almost double what the shelter has now. The new property will also have five acres of land.

The project is totaled at 1.4 million dollars. The shelter has already raised about one third of the total and hope to begin renovations on the building this fall. The proceeds of the event were to go to the renovation costs and to the everyday needs of the shelter.

McCammon mentioned that, “It’s been a rather difficult year,” in reference to an overflow of animals in the shelter this year. She said that while the shelter’s normal capacity for cats is 75, at one point they had 239. While this was a struggle at the time, she assured everyone that almost all of the cats have now found homes.

The evening also concluded with a visit from Bubka, a canine on the Warsaw Police Department’s K-9 unit, a dog and cat show and a live auction.