Final totals are not yet counted for this year's SPCA Pet Walk Fundraiser, but Teresa Cole, Development Officer with the SPCA, believes that the number of animals taking part was similar to previous years, even if the format was a little different.

"It went well. We're grateful to everybody for making the change to the new format. But I think folks enjoyed having the opportunity to walk alone or with their family. We had a workgroup. We even had a couple of people that walked in memory of dogs that had passed."

Looking at the information available, she said that it looks like the fundraising total will be similar to previous years as well, which is usually around $5,000.

Cole admits that 2020 has been a bit of a struggle with COVID-19 forcing some layoffs in order to keep costs a little bit lower. Like many non-profits that rely on donations for the majority of their operating expenses, the SPCA has been hit hard by a pandemic that put unexpected limitations on fundraising efforts.

"Hanging in there. Obviously we did some layoffs and some reductions there. So the costs have been a little bit lower. So that and the Radiothon being good for us and donations being relatively strong, we're hopeful that maybe we can get through the year."

The SPCA Radiothon in August raised $23,000 dollars for the SPCA, while last week they received word that another fundraiser; this time from Devon Oman, a long time supporter of the SPCA, raised another $1,900 from a number of sources.

"Devon gave us a total of $1,900 dollars. And that included the donations from Wine Creek and Lucky Charlies. Those were big parts of that, which was appreciated."

Oman held a draw to choose the colour of his beard, with all proceeds going towards the SPCA, while Lucky Charlies Pub and Pool donated a percentage of the proceeds from their COVID-19 cancelled trivia season.