Nevada SPCA hosts sixth annual high tea event featuring adoptable dogs

Their tails were wagging and their coats were shiny and soft April 28 as featured pooches greeted and charmed attendees at the Animals in Wonderland Champagne & High Tea.

The event, held at Siena Golf Club, 10575 Siena Monte Ave., benefited the Nevada SPCA no-kill animal shelter, 4800 W. Dewey Drive.

Kathy Jung, president of the Nevada SPCA board, said, “It’s so important to have an event like this because we receive no government funding. So we rely on events like this to fund the shelter that takes in animals that most other rescue groups will not and also to help with the rescue rehabilitation of some animals that may or may not lose their lives at other groups.”

Besides the $150-a-seat entry fee, attendees snapped up raffle tickets to try for prizes such as a custom-made purse, wine, jewelry and covered pet beds.

The silent auction included rock salt lamps, body products, a pet portrait package, a signed “Hawaii Five-O” script and a turquoise-colored tea set.

This was the sixth year for the event, and each year has refined it a little more. One of the most popular parts is the red carpet, where attendees could have their photos taken with the 10 dogs featured at the event.

Picture cards hung from a frame, each one featuring a photo of an animal with their name listed underneath. Buy a card for $20, and the corresponding number on the back was matched with a prize: facial products, candles, dinners and show tickets.

Each animal on the cards had a story. Janean Sechrist, a feline intake supervisor for the Nevada SPCA, pointed to one named Lacey and told her story. The older cat was owned by an elderly woman who had died. Missing her owner, Lacey was depressed and in mourning.

Lacey was also afraid, so Sechrist would go into the cat room and just hold her, trying to reassure her. Lacey would end up purring and “talking” to her, she said. One day, an older woman came in looking to adopt a cat and met Lacey. They clicked.

“When she was adopted,” said Sechrist, “it was so exciting for me because I knew she was going to be happy in that home.”

Not all the animals were inside at the event. Lani Mariani, a volunteer, was directing traffic with a baby carriage parked beside her on the curb. Inside, snuggled in soft blankets, was not a human baby but a 3-week-old kitten, pure white. It had been abandoned by its mother.

Mariani was nursing the kitten — named McFlurry at this point — back to health, feeding her with an eyedropper. She was thought to be deaf and was brought in by someone who said the mother cat had scurried off and hadn’t been seen for days. The kitten was a week old at that point and “nearly dead” when it came to the Nevada SPCA.

Back inside, the champagne was flowing, and the program began with cast members from “Menopause The Musical.”

Jung said every dog has a personality, and the volunteers who train them are familiar with which type of home that dog should be matched.

“People will see a picture of a dog online and go, ‘That’s the dog I want.’ But that may not be the dog that fits your lifestyle,” Jung said. “Some dogs need someone who is active, is, maybe, a runner, but you’re not. You prefer to stay home. So the adoption counselors know these dogs so well, they can help pick the ones who will flourish in (your particular) environment. It’s kind of like Match.com for dogs. It truly is.”

Proceeds from the event likely will be directed toward the group’s animal rescue projects this spring: 33 whippet mixes were confiscated from a person convicted of animal cruelty; 35 white shepherd and yellow Labrador mixes similarly were saved from owners convicted of animal cruelty; 121 animals were brought in from other shelters; and the group took in an expected 1,100-plus kittens this season.

The Nevada SPCA also raises money with other big events: Out of the Gutters Celebrity Bowling, the Jennifer Harman Celebrity Poker Tournament, and new to the group, a car show.

“We save a lot of lives,” Sechrist said. “What does that do for me? So much that I can’t even begin to explain. It almost makes me emotional. We save animals who might otherwise be euthanized. …When they come in, cats might have a cold, but anything major we do have hospital care. We make sure they’re healthy before they get adopted.”

Toko Lee, a Siena resident, was there. She told of having a dog and a cat when she was a child. When she came to America, someone gave her Mochi, a Lhasa apso and Shih Tzu mix.

“In Japanese, the name means ‘abundance,’ ” Lee said. “I only have one, so maybe I’ll find one to take home so they can play together.”

Cortney Hagen of North Las Vegas called it a wonderful cause. Her only problem, she said, was she was tempted to take all the animals home, “which is the purpose, right?”

For more information about the Nevada SPCA or to find adoptable animals, visit nevadaspca.org or call 702-873-7722.

To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.