Reigning Cats and Dogs in Dallas: SPCA of Texas' Fur Ball Raises $400,000 in One Paddle Raise — and a Puppy Named Randy Goes Home
Five hundred animal lovers filled the Frontiers of Flight Museum for the SPCA of Texas' biggest night — and one guest who picked up a puppy in the Cuddle Zone never put him back down.
DALLAS — The SPCA of Texas' Fur Ball took over the Frontiers of Flight Museum under the theme “Reigning Cats and Dogs,” drawing 500 guests, according to PaperCity's report of the evening. Gina and Ken Betts chaired the event, and Mary McDermott Cook served as honorary chair with her rescue dog, Pepper, at her feet through the night.
The evening's first adoption happened before dinner. In the Cuddle Zone, where six puppies were available for holding, a guest picked up a big-pawed, blue-eyed puppy named Randy and, in PaperCity's telling, never put him back down — the adoption paperwork was signed on the spot. NBC 5's Brian Curtis emceed, and SPCA of Texas president and CEO Chris Luna presented the Mary Spencer Award to Kathy and Jim Hopper and the inaugural Brighter Future Award to Ciara Cooley Biggers.
The money matched the mood. A live-auction private dinner prepared by chefs Kent Rathbun, Abraham Salum, Janice Provost and Bobby Poulette sold twice, at $50,000 each, and after a matching donation from the Hoppers was announced, the paddle raise brought in $400,000 for the organization's work. Luna told the room the “Care Unleashed” capital campaign has reached 95 percent of its $31 million goal, with the new Stephens Greth Foundation Campus, including The Addy Foundation Animal Recovery Center, expected to open in spring 2027.
