More than 550 board members, staff, volunteers, donors and advocates donned in their finest Western fashions, cowboy boots and hats and diamonds and pearls corralled at Tri County Humane Society’s 12thAnnual Doggie Ball at Boca West Country Club to raise $400,000 to support the mission of the region’s largest 100% no-kill regional 501(c)3 animal rescue nonprofit that operates 100% on donations. According to Doggie Ball Co-Chairs Harriet-Lewis Mooney and Sharon DiPietro, the significant funds raised enable Tri County to continue its life-saving work and restoring wholeness on a daily basis to puppies, kittens, dogs and cats in need, providing a safe home, comfort, nutritious food, lots of tender loving care and veterinary treatment until they can be adopted.
In addition to several rooms filled with 412 items available in a silent auction, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw served as auctioneer for a live auction including one-of-a-kind vacation experiences and a chance to be “sheriff for a day”. A highlight of the evening was when TCAR presented a Purple Heart Award to Police K-9 Kenzo, a black German Shepherd for taking two bullets in 2012 to save the life of Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Richard Burdick.
The evening program opened with a high energy, fun-filled music video of board members, staff, and volunteers singing and dancing through the Tri County rescue center and Board Chair Harriet Lewis Mooney unveiled a new name: Tri County Animal Rescue (TCAR) and a new logo plus plans for campus expansion. The new name and visual re-branding was launched to best reflect the distinctive brand promise, critical mission, and expansive reach of the organization.
“Our new name now accurately defines our organization’s brand promise of rescuing animals and preserving lives,” noted TCAR Chair and Doggie Ball Co-Chair Harriet Lewis-Mooney, Esq. “We have spent a great deal of time strategizing on a re-freshened branding that effectively communicates ‘what we do’ and ‘what drives us’ and determined that Tri County Animal Rescue achieves that.”
She added that the new logo design is symbolic in both color and elements. “It is a dramatic departure from the rescue organization’s previous branding mark that featured an umbrella and a variety of animals, including ducks, bunnies, hamsters and birds, that are not rescued by Tri County for adoption.” 

The new TCAR logo features:
  • Colors of red, yellow and orange, each evoking their own meaning while vibrantly blending to reflect a shared relationship and relevancy that has evolved into today’s TCAR brand. The choice of:
    • red reflects the action and passion of its Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, donors and advocates who support and champion the TCAR mission and vision
    • yellow infusion emulates the warm Florida sun, happiness and cheer awaiting the thousands of abandoned, abused or neglected dogs and cats, puppies and kittens rescued by TCAR each year, and
    • orange awakens social communication of and within community to join and advocate for TCAR and those it protects and saves, AND stimulates the optimism of finding loving “furever homes”, either on campus or through carefully vetted adoptions.
·         A more accurate representation of the today’s Tri County Animal Rescue mission and services, with only a dog and cat (a canine and feline) are featured living in harmony in a protective haven with the brand promise of “100% no kill” arched above their heads.  A Florida Palm Tree, with generous frowns, provides a sense of geographical place with added protection to dogs and cats in need — near and far.
TCAR Co-Founder and Executive Director Suzi Goldsmith reported that the new nearly 9,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Animal Rescue Center has been a dream for more than seven years and in development by TCAR board leadership for 18 months. With input from staff and volunteers, the center has been designed to boost TCAR’s ability to expand quality intake services, including veterinary health assessments and medical treatment, inoculations and grooming. The center will house an examination room, a treatment room, and isolation facilities for rescues with contagious illnesses and conditions. 
Lewis-Mooney noted that “if a dog or cat is in need of medical care, it will receive it at the new center if level of care is possible. Once cleared medically, and as disease-free and non-contagious, only then will it join the other animals at the main facility for adoption.”
“The dedicated Tri County Animal Rescue staff, volunteers and advocates witness first-hand the rough, lonesome road many furry paws have traveled to its doors, not understanding why they’ve been abandoned or surrendered by their owners,” added Lewis-Mooney. “These animals long to be loved and yearn for acts of loving kindness. Their stories and resilient spirits inspire us to help write a new chapter in their lives, one with a happy ‘furever home’ ending!”
“TCAR’s compassion for homeless animals has no boundaries or borders,” reports Sharon DiPietro, TCAR board member and co-chair of this year’s Doggie Ball that annually raises significant funds toenable TCAR to continue its life-saving work and restoring wholeness on a daily basis to animals in need, providing a safe home, comfort, nutritious food, lots of tender loving care and veterinary treatment until they can be adopted.
Doggie Ball Honorary Chairs included Lois Pope, Ari Rifkin, Andrea Kline, Herme de Wyman Miro, and Richard Schechter, and were supported by Ambassadors Jay DiPietro and Jerry Kramer.  Encouraging pet lovers to support the great work of TCAR were the adorable 2014 “Rescue Set” Grand Marshals: the “chirping” Maine Coon/Scottish Fold Mix feline Merlin Mooney, Chihuahua Chloe Green and Pomeranian Snowball Godin.
Event committee members include Mia Brattan, Pam Casanave, Anita Caston, Amanda Chussler, Stephanie Deutsch, Julia Eastman, Gayle Elliott, Julie Godin*, Suzi Goldsmith, Sandi Greenblatt, Debra Kramer, Jodi Levy, Annette Mesa, Susan P. Merkel, Roberta Mizrachi, Marie Occhigrossi, Orrine Orlando, Laura Sabbatino, Barbara Seward, Jennifer Schiavone, Barbara Sneider, Nancy Stroud and Laurie Udine. (*deceased)
Saving lives in Palm Beach, Broward, Dade and Martin counties and beyond, the TCAR is a protective haven to thousands of abandoned, abused or neglected dogs and cats from other facilities in South Florida, Treasure Coast and as far as Sarasota, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Louisiana. A top-rated 501(c)3 animal rescue center, TCAR has rescued more than 42,000 animals since its inception, offering homeless pets a welcoming forever home, either on campus or through carefully vetted adoptions that total more than 3,000 per year.
Located at 21287 Boca Rio Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33433, TCAR is open for adoptions Tuesday-Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, call (561) 482-8110.
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