We are excited to announce that we will be returning to the Historic Smithonia Farm for the Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter’s 9th Annual Bark and Wine on May 18, 2024. We are reaching out to see if you would consider supporting our event this year. This has been an extremely difficult year for MOAS financially due to inflation, slowing adoption rates, and the increase in animals coming into our shelter. In-kind donations or financial sponsorships of any amount are greatly appreciated, and I’ve attached a sheet describing our various sponsorship levels and how we recognize our sponsors.

As you may know, this is our largest fundraiser of the year, and we depend upon its success to support our shelter operations given that we receive less than 30% of our funding from Madison and Oglethorpe Counties, leaving donations and program services to make up the remainder of our annual budget. Like many industries that provide low-income services, we struggle daily with the challenge of needing to increase costs to cover our substantially increased expenses while striving to keep costs as low as possible so that we can continue to reach the neediest in our communities and make pet adoptions as affordable as possible. Your generous support helps make this possible.

Our Bark and Wine will once again feature dinner sponsored by our long-time Diamond Sponsor Carrabba’s Italian Grill of Athens, desserts, wine and beer from our friends at Boutier Winery, live and silent auctions, raffles, and live music. Our 2019 and 2023 events at the Smithonia were so popular that they both sold out in advance with 300 attendees.

We are thankful for the support of our donors across our region who recognize the critical role that MOAS plays in our community. We provide low-cost services, including spay/neuter, vaccines, heartworm treatment, and prescription medications. Last year, we spayed/neutered 1,719 pets, and we vaccinated 1,996 pets, all already owned by people in our region. This year, we’re thrilled to announce that we have received a new grant to provide free vaccines to 1,000 needy animals in Oglethorpe County. Most importantly, we continue to focus on our mission of saving as many lives as possible, and over 90% of the animals that come into our shelter are adopted directly from MOAS or are transferred to our rescue partners locally or up north. With the help of our donors, we saved 1,674 pets last year, including pets with serious medical issues. All proceeds of our Bark & Wine fundraiser go directly back to the management of our shelter and the care of our animals.

Please consider supporting our Bark and Wine in any way that you can. Feel free to contact me at barkandwine@moaspets.com or at 706-338-0128 with any questions. You can also view information about last year’s event at www.moaspets.com/barkandwine2023, and this year’s event page is available at www.moaspets.com/barkandwine. Thank you for your consideration and for your support of our animals!