Local shelters, nonprofits report tail-wagging response to Betty White Challenge

Animal shelters in Parker and Palo Pinto counties reported healthy hauls resulting from the Betty White Challenge.

“And it keeps coming,” said Therese Everett, animal services coordinator for the Weatherford Parker County Animal Shelter. “Everytime the mail comes, there’s another batch of letters.”

The call to donate in honor of the iconic comic, actor and animal advocate went out on social media shortly after her death on Dec. 31. Fellow animal lovers were asked to donate $5 to animal shelters on what would have been her 100th birthday on Jan. 17.

The Betty White Challenge mushroomed from there.

Everett said more than $2,200 had arrived by Thursday.

“It’ll help everything,” she said. “It’ll help the animals find a new home and get second chances.”

Kim Marinara, shelter coordinator for the Mineral Wells Animal Shelter, said Palo Pinto County residents likewise responded to the Betty White Challenge from several donation windows.

“We took in a little over $1,000 on our Facebook page,” she said, adding that Brandon’s Kitchen offered two-hotdog meals for $4 and raised another $275. “Things are still coming in in memory of Betty White.”

A PayPal account also brought in around $400, she said.

Marinara said money raised in the challenge will go for needs as they arise -- if an animal needs medical attention, or the shelter runs low on kitten food.

“It goes to the Friends (of the Mineral Wells Shelter Pets) rescue. All that money that goes to that goes directly back to the shelter,” she said.

The nonprofit Weatherford Whiskers, which helps rescue, foster and adopt out cats, was also a beneficiary of the challenge, netting about $1,800.

Founder Carole Malugani said they plan to use the funds to continue spaying and neutering as many cats as possible.

“We are also going to use some of the funds to buy much-needed supplies for the upcoming kitten season, which always brings in a flow of bottle babies rescued from our two local shelters,” she said.

Marinara reported having a dozen cats and 11 dogs in the Mineral Wells shelter Friday morning.

“But that changes daily,” she said. “I’m getting six cats this afternoon that I know of, and whatever comes in through the police department.”

Marinara said the shelter also is looking to hire an animal control officer.

In Weatherford, Everett counted 167 kennels filled, out of 184, on Friday morning.

“We’re still packed,” she said. “We need adopters.”

Both shelter directors praised White’s continued blessings on animals. The longtime volunteer and board member for the American Humane Society also was the author of a 2012 book, “Betty & Friends: My Life at the Zoo.”

“She’s still giving back to the community, for sure, even long after her departure,” Everett said.

And Marinara agreed the outpouring, which national media is reporting in unknown hundreds of thousand of dollars, showed how much people loved White.

“We do, too,” she said.