Party for pets

Party for the Paws raises more than $20,000 for Adams County Pet Rescue

OTHELLO — Lisa Newton and her good buddy, her cat Crumpet, probably wouldn’t have known each other without Adams County Pet Rescue. Giving other cats and dogs – and the occasional lizard and bird – the same chance as Crumpet was one reason Newton drove over from Seattle to attend the ACPR’s “Party for the Paws” fundraising dinner Saturday night. The dinner raised more than $20,000 for ACPR, according to the group’s social media, and the crowd almost overflowed the venue at Phoenix Family Farms near Othello. The proceeds will be used for shelter operations, said ACPR director Kyya Grant. Newton is a veterinarian who volunteers with ACPR about three times each year. She knew what she wanted when it came to a pet, and she gave Grant a description. “I told Kyya that I wanted an overwhipped whipped cream long-haired calico,” Newton said. “I was over here (on) May 1 two years ago. We were in Ephrata, and as we were finishing the last cat (at a spay/neuter clinic), Kyya sent me pictures of this really mad 17-ounce kitten.”