PAWS
Fur Ball: Tail-wagging good time for rescue animals
The
15th annual PAWS Chicago Fur Ball was held Nov. 18 at the Drake Hotel. More
than 700 guests, many with four-legged friends in tow, enjoyed a night of
fundraising for the Midwest's largest no-kill shelter. Longtime supporters and
board members Judy and Howard Tullman were the honorary co-chairs for the
evening that also featured adoptable PAWS rescue dogs and cats, a lavish
buffet, live and silent auctions, entertainment, dancing and a doggy spa.
The sold-out, black-tie event took place in
both the Grand Ballroom and the Gold Coast Room. KISS FM's Angi Taylor served
as the master of ceremonies for the Grand Ballroom audience with Lisa Dent hosting
the auction there. In the Gold Coast Room, emcee Sean Lewis (WGN) introduced
PAWS founder Paula Fasseas to a crowd of over 400.
She shared the nonprofit's current statistics.
"As the largest shelter in Chicago, we house more animals on a daily basis
than the city pound. We have over 500 animals at any one time in our program.
200 are in foster homes, several hundred are in our medical center and 150 are
in our adoption center."
Fasseas introduced the Tullmans calling them
"change-makers" for PAWS. They own three rescue dogs, Tramp, Gertie
and Molly Pecan. Judy Tullman has been a constant at the adoption center,
volunteering every Sunday with fellow board member Bonnie Spurlock. They
explain the adoption process to visitors. She also volunteers at Angels With
Tails events, Adopt-A-Thons and at the PAWS Medical Center.
Entrepreneur Howard Tullman is CEO of 1871, an
incubator for digital startup companies, as well as managing partner of venture
funds G2T3V. He and wife Judy have been involved with PAWS since its inception.
He said, "We love PAWS for the animals, of course, but mostly for the
people who make up the organization. Nothing is better than the opportunity to
work hard and be surrounded by passionate, enthusiastic people who are
committed to making the city a better and more animal-friendly place one dog or
cat at a time."
A live auction conducted by David Goodman
featured "A Day With Two Sharks," a package that included a
meet-and-greet, tour and lunch with Daymond John, co-star of ABC's reality
television series "Shark Tank," and Tullman. It sold for $10,000. A
"Live From New York" package included a weekend stay for two and
tickets to "Saturday Night Live" and "LIVE With Kelly" that
sold for $28,000. An opportunity to have your pet featured on the cover of the
2018 PAWS Chicago desktop calendar sold for $17,000.
Throughout the evening, volunteers strolled
through the venue introducing the 10 rescue dogs and nine cats that were
brought to the event with the hope of finding them forever homes. They included
Peppo, a 3-month-old kitten; Mimi, a 6-year-old dachshund who was rescued from
a Tennessee puppy mill; and Monty, a 6-year-old mixed breed who was rescued by
police from an abusive situation.
The event was co-chaired by Victoria Magnus,
and Corey and J.P. Marchetti, and netted approximately $1.3 million, which will
account for almost 14 percent of the annual funds required to operate PAWS
Chicago's adoption and subsidized spay/neuter programs. Since its founding in
1997, PAWS has helped to reduce the number of pets killed in the city by 80
percent.
Freelance writer Candace
Jordan is involved with many local organizations, including some whose events
she covers.