Furries raise $100,000 for Pittsburgh-area rescue dedicated to senior dogs

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The furries helped out their furry four-legged friends as Anthrocon broke a fundraising record over the weekend. The nonprofit organization chooses a charity every year in the Pittsburgh area with the aim to give back through the convention.

This year, Anthrocon partnered up with Gray Paws Sanctuary in White Oak. This unique nonprofit is dedicated to rescuing senior dogs who otherwise would be subject to euthanization due to age or vet costs. 

"Nationally, the definition of a senior dog is about 7 to 8 years old. At Gray Paws, they have to be at least 10 to 12 years old. So we are even focusing on the most vulnerable, fragile senior dogs," said Darla Poole Brescia with the sanctuary.

Brescia says they were elated when they found out they were picked.

"It was completely overwhelming and we found out all the way back in December and we had a Zoom call to go over what that meant and of course we said yes," she said.

This year, Anthrocon's fundraising broke records, raising a whopping $100,000 during fun events and multiple charity auctions.

Brescia says this money will be a game changer.

"A hundred thousand is about our annual operating budget, so we are able to save twice as many dogs this year," she said. 

Anthrocon organizers and participants were in the giving spirit all weekend, wanting to truly give back and help local animals.

"I'm going to cry talking about it but they said, 'OK, it's 90, we want to hit 100,000, we want to put this over the top and people just started pouring out of the audience, coming up and throwing money into the boxes and we did it, that's how we got over 100,000, we literally raised $10,000 in about 10 minutes."

By choosing smaller rescues to raise money for when the furries are in town, they truly make a positive impact.

"The Anthrocon people are the nicest people. The group, the organization themselves are just very kind, very generous obviously and the participants that come to the convention I think are sort of a mystery for many people and I'm here to say it's not a mystery, they're just really nice people," Brescia said.