A fun fundraiser ‘Dogs, Cats, and Cowboy Hats’ will be held at the Mayfield Community Center
By Amber Countryman, Sumner Newscow – A fun western-themed fundraiser, Dogs, Cats and Cowboy Hats, will be an adult night out an event to benefit the Wellington Humane Society on Aug. 26 at the Mayfield Community Center. Girl With A Black Dog, founded by Shelley Pooler of Arizona, will host the event.
Girl With A Black Dog was founded in August 2020. Pooler had recently lost her black dog, Tatum, a rescue from a Kansas shelter to bone cancer.
“He had been adopted out twice and returned in his short three months of life,” Pooler said. “When we found each other, it was meant to be.”
Shelley Pooler and her dog.
Pooler began volunteering at a local animal shelter in Casa Grande, Arizona.
“Rescuing was near and dear to me because of Tatum,” Pooler said. “It opened my eyes to how many homeless pets there truly are, at no fault of their own.”
After volunteering the first day, she quickly realized how much animal shelters need, both financially and hands-on.
“I knew I wanted to help, so I reached out to a friend in Missouri who owns a screen printing business and told her I wanted to do a shirt fundraiser, and I thought, why not have a logo?”
Before she was well-known in her neighborhood in Arizona, people referred to her as the “girl with the black dog,” and so it began.
“It’s my way to honor Tatum and give back to shelter animals,” Pooler said. “After that initial fundraiser, I began playing around and creating my own shirt design and sayings.”
Girl With A Black Dog has held numerous fundraisers for her local county shelter in Arizona, including the first Dogs, Cats and Cowboy Hats event last year.
“It raised $15,000 and was a blast,” Pooler said. “It was so fun bringing people together for such a great cause. I have an online store with my merchandise, but hosting these large fundraisers is pretty exhilarating!”
Pooler adopted her current dog, Katie, from the Wellington Humane Society two years ago.
“Wellington Humane Society is near and dear to me, and I wanted to give back to them, so I thought, why not take this show on the road? It has taken a village to pull this off, but I am so grateful for so many amazing friends in Wellington for jumping on board to help. None of it would have been possible without them, and the community has been amazing and so generous! We are excited for the 26th!”
Dogs, Cats and Cowboy Hats is a western-themed adult evening out. The evening will include a bbq dinner by Travelin’ Smoke BBQ, dessert, live music by local artists Kirk Russell, MaKayla Brownlee and Braden Struble. Yappy Hour begins at 5 p.m. with appetizers, cash bar, music, and silent auction bidding.
“We are releasing a calendar that night that I put together of alumni pets from the Humane Society and classic cars. One of the calendar model dogs will be on-site with her dad’s car selling calendars and giving pawtographs.”
Dinner begins at 6 p.m. There will be two guest speakers, Jodie Hearlson, director of the Wellington Humane Society, and Derek Harrison, animal lover and advocate. Raffle drawings, giveaways, and an outlaw dog and cat roundup, spotlighting adoptable pets in hopes of finding them forever homes, are some of the events that night.
“We have received so many amazing items for the silent auction, weekend getaway to Table Rock Lake, KSU football tickets, KC Chiefs Mahomes jersey, photography sessions, just to name a few,” said Pooler.
Tickets are $50 and can be purchased locally at Travelin’ Smoke, Countryside Motors and the Wellington Humane Society. They can also be purchased online at https://girlwithablackdog/com/kansas-event/.
