The Pet Pages - Kim Aranha
Three animal fundraising events in one month!
By Kim Aranha
May 28, 2007 - 7:43:41 PM

Wow, what a month May was for the animals! New Providence had a total of three events to fund raise for our less fortunate friends in the space of one month. I think that must be a first in Bahamian animal “History”.

The first event was held on Saturday May 5^th. by the Bahamas Humane Society. Organized by yours truly, it was a totally new event for the BHS. I put together a “Film Night”, featuring the excellent Bahamian film “Eleuthera Adventure” made by Bahamian film maker Kareem Mortimer. Tickets were $20.00 each. This delightful movie is full of local folklore and tradition, an absolute “must” for the whole family. Tambearly School at Sandy Port generously allowed us to use their school hall “The Bassett Centre”. The film was preceded by an hour of drinks, pizza and KFC. It was a very interesting and diverse group of people and I believe that everybody who attended enjoyed getting together and talking before the film started. The film itself was very well received indeed.

This was a day where so much was already happening that at one point I was seriously worried how many people WOULD actually turn up for Film Night. There was a wonderful concert, Mass for Peace, The FNM victory rally, the Lyford Cay Club start of Summer party,  one of Atlantis’ phase three launch parties, The Eleuthera Bike of Hope event, and I believe that there was some Jr. sporting banquet! In spite of all the competition, we had close to 120 people attend and thanks to the amazing generosity of private bank, Lombard Odier Darrier Hentsch, we raised in excess of $5,500.00 pure profit, straight-to-the-animals money! We had a wonderful “in house“raffle with a main prize generously donated by American Airlines of two round-trip tickets to anywhere in the continental United States of America. Thank you AA! This event received a good deal of positive feedback and I will definitely be looking for another movie to show, in the not too far future. It is possible that we will move the venue further east in order to give those who do not like driving out west at night a chance at seeing the next one.

Film night was immediately followed by a Proud Paws ‘Potcake Party” held at the National Trust headquarters on Village Road on Friday, May 11^th. The tickets were $50.00 each and included the food and two drinks, plus a free raffle ticket. This event was organized by Stephanie Kesten, Tressa Piekarz and Annette Dempsey, with a strong team comprised of Proud Paws volunteer supporters. The decorations were lavish and the food catered by Chef Boy Catering (Chef Collie) was unending, delicious, and diverse, was carried around on huge platters, and subsequently set up buffet style.  Paul Cowderoy and Bristol Liquors put together an excellent bar service. This event was tremendously well attended, and for those that stayed after 9pm, Tommy Goodwin and the Last Quarter Band along with Special Guests got the crowd dancing and enjoying the evening all the way to midnight. Many guests took advantage of the party favors, taking home a small stuffed dog, an inflatable potcake-sized dog, or even a collar and leash. 

They had a silent Auction with all sorts of wonderful and interesting prizes generously donated by Atlantis, including, but not limited to, rounds of golf on the exclusive Ocean Club Golf Course, dinners, and much more. There was also a raffle with all sorts of interesting prizes. We regrettably had to leave early because I was flying up to Tampa the next day for Mother’s Day and had to be at the airport for 6:00 am, but I believe that the party went on into the wee hours and much fun was had by all. Dr. Peter Bizzell, President of Proud Paws and his lovely wife Sylvia were in attendance as were several of our local vets. The event was able to raise approximately $18,000 to foster responsible pet ownership through spaying, neutering and education. Many different people and businesses donated generously to make the evening the success it was but I have been told that special thanks went to Technical Adjusters Bahamas Limited, Baker Construction and The Bahamas National Trust.

On Saturday, May 26^th, The Bahamas Humane Society was at it again. This time with a most ambitions “Fun Day”.  A well attended event at the Nassau Botanical Gardens. Various International Animal Groups had booths and were handing out information, answering questions and generally educating the public on animal issues. The Royal Bahamas Police Force was there with their canine unit, and put on a display.

There was a fun dog show run superbly by Donna Kiriaze, who had a seemingly endless supply of energy, and ensured that the event ran smoothly in all directions.The dog show had all sorts of different cute categories to enter. It was clear to all who watched that the young owners really enjoyed putting their dogs “through their paces”! The dogs seemed to be having a good time too, even though it was quite hot; there was plenty of shade and fresh water available. There was constant breeze and the mosquitoes stayed away.

There were lots of families out in the Botanical Gardens with their dogs that day, it was wonderful to see just how many children were there and how well they interacted with their dogs. Another plus was to see all the teenage volunteers helping out, as it was one of the main objectives of the event to promote responsible animal ownership in young people and it certainly was encouraging to see how many of them were helping out and having fun with their pets.

***image1***The Britto painting was won by Mr. Dean Heliwell of Sandy Port. This was a very popular win as he is a huge charity supporter, who is constantly involved with one charity event or another. The winning ticket was bought right on the “Fun Day” and is considered a well deserved win! Congratulations!

The kid’s Christmas card competition had to be deferred to a later date because some of the packets of art from the schools did not arrive on time, and it was thought that all the children who had entered should have a chance to compete. The new date will be announced in the near future.

A special guest at the “Fun Day” was a very sweet, rather shy (but very friendly) potcake, with enormous ears called “TANKS”. For those of you, who do not know who “Tanks” is, allow me to enlighten you. Several months ago, a lady was passing by the “Daily Grind” coffee shop in Nassau, and heard horrendous “doggy” cries of help, she quickly intervened with the assistance of a couple of passerby’s to find that a man (Tanks’ “owner”) didn’t want Tanks anymore, so he was trying to kill this poor little dog by bashing him in the head with a large rock. Things happened quickly and Tanks was rushed to the BHS headquarters. Over a period of a few weeks and after several surgeries to “mend him” (among his injuries were a fractured skull), Tanks was a healthy and happy little dog again. His savior adopted him, and he now enjoys the kind of life all dogs should be entitled to.

I met Tanks sitting behind a table where his owner was selling beautifully hand painted glassware. His simply huge ears sticking up as he watched the world go by. When I was introduced I was struck with the gentle nature and trusting friendliness of this little dog who gave me several licks,  and it made my blood boil to think how badly treated he had been. Thank goodness he has such a good and loving home now! Way to go TANKS !

Lightbourn Trading and Pedigree Pet Food sponsored the event and the Bahamas Humane Society was delighted to announce that they raised approximately $10,000.00, thanks to the generosity of the sponsors! The organizers were thrilled as they were competing with the long Wit Monday week-end and the Long Island Regatta. Mr. Kevin Degenhard promises that the “Fun Day” will be back again next year, and will be even bigger and better.

This is a good time to reflect on how many good people are out there that are willing to work hard to raise funds to help the animals in this country. Many people donated time and money to make these three events so successful and they deserve to be saluted. Hopefully as the year continues many more events will take place and animal awareness will increase daily.

About the author: Kim Aranha grew up in the Berry Islands with her first dog, a beloved potcake named “Friendly” (who was anything but!).  First educated at home, and then in boarding school in Switzerland, Kim moved to Rome, Italy in 1974 to pursue a career in the dramatic arts and ended up working as an interpreter.  She moved back to The Bahamas in 1980, and now lives in Nassau with her husband Paul, and their two teenaged sons.  Kim has 3 dogs (soon to be 4), 5 fish (1 Beta, 4 Goldfish), 10 turtles (6 babies, 4 adolescents), 1 Asian box turtle and 4 Budgerigars. Her idea of relaxing is being home to take care of all her pets. Kim is a member of the board of the Bahamas Humane Society

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