The 13th annual Spare a Life Fun Day brought the community together while raising money to support animals at the Tallahassee Animal Shelter.
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Spare a Life fun day highlights the impact of giving shelter animals a second chance
When Wendy Fulton and her daughter Alexis Fulton began looking for a dog, they knew they wanted to adopt from the Tallahassee Animal Shelter.
That’s when they met Zazzy, a dog who had been malnourished, abused, and neglected before arriving at the shelter.
“We saw this beautiful dog, but she looked kind of quirky in the picture. And now we know why: because she was so malnourished. She was really abused and neglected,” Wendy Fulton said.
Despite Zazzy’s condition, the shelter provided the care she needed until she was ready for a new home.
“We’re so thankful to the shelter for picking her up and saving her and kind of nursing her back to life until we were able to get her into our lives,” Alexis Fulton said.
That level of care is made possible in part by fundraisers like the Tallahassee Animal Shelter Foundation’s most recent event, the Spare A Life Fun Day Event.
Crystal Bends, the lead volunteer at the Animal Shelter Foundation, says since the shelter is city-run and operates on a fixed annual budget, the foundation steps in to cover costs the shelter cannot absorb on its own.
“So there are certain things that come out throughout the year that the shelter can’t take on in their budget things like extra surgeries, heartworm treatment, transports. We actually pay for all the collars and leashes that people receive when they adopt an animal,” Bends said.
So far this year, the foundation has helped nearly 6,300 animals and transported more than 200 to shelters where they may have a better chance of being adopted.
For the Fultons, Zazzy is proof that giving a shelter animal a chance can change more than just one life.
“I think people have a tendency to believe that adopted animals may be tougher or come with more problems and things like that. But they’re so incredibly worth it, and they’re so loving and deserving, and they really acknowledge what you’ve given them, and they’re just worth taking a chance on,” Fulton said.
Bends says the shelter is always looking for foster families to help animals heal and prepare for their forever homes.
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