Furries at Anthrocon raise over $89K for McDonald-based cat rescue

Sandi Eaton had long admired Anthrocon from a distance — but this year, she got to experience the furry convention up close and benefit from it firsthand.

As the director of the McDonald-based Nose 2 Tail Cat Rescue, which was the official charity of this year’s Anthrocon, she witnessed the donations rolling in all weekend. This year’s convention took place from Thursday through Sunday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Every summer, furries — fans who dress as human-like animal characters — travel from around the world to Pittsburgh for the four-day Anthrocon convention. The community includes artists, animators, writers, costumers, puppeteers, and anyone with a love for cartoon animals.

Anthrocon supports a local nonprofit each year. Since its founding in 1997, the convention has raised more than $340,000 for Pittsburgh-area organizations.

Approximately $89,127 was raised for Nose 2 Tail Cat Rescue — a sum Eaton said will keep the rescue running and help lay the groundwork for a better facility.

“It was different being actually totally immersed in the environment,” she said of Anthrocon. “It’s just a wonderful community that is full of joy and creativity … there’s a lot of hugs happening.”

Eaton said attendees could donate through the “Bucket Brigade,” where a rescue volunteer and a furry collected donations with a bucket. Other methods included merchandise sales, an auction, and raffles.

“One guy came up to our merch table. We had a donation bin, and he put $500 into the donation bin,” she said. “He said this is what I’ve saved all year just to give to your guys.”

During the auction, an Omni William Penn Hotel room went for $5,000 for next year’s Anthrocon, according to Eaton.

“Getting a hotel room, as you can imagine, is hard,” she said. “I think that was probably our biggest one.”

It’s hard to put into words what the generosity meant to Eaton and her fellow volunteers from the rescue, as it was “mind-blowing.”

“I don’t know if my fellow volunteers were totally prepared to have money thrown at them the way it was — it was just so humbling,” she said. “It was just so fun. It restored their faith in humanity … I think they underestimated what was going to happen.”

Donations are still open online, Eaton said, as the goal was to raise at least $100,000.

“We’re still hoping that people will still donate to meet or beat that. Our dream is to get a new space,” she said. “It’s not going to pay for a brand new building, but it can get us started.”

Typically, Eaton said Nose 2 Tail Cat Rescue usually brings in between $20,000-70,000 per year, but that’s basically all spent. The rescue will have just $10,000-20,000 in the bank at any given time.

Last year was an expensive one for the rescue, she said, costing over $50,000, as it took in a lot of special needs cats that needed specialized vet care. Nobody gets paid at the rescue, as they’re all volunteers, she said.

For a typical healthy cat, the minimum would be $120 to get spayed or neutered, as well as vaccines.

“They stay until they find their home,” Eaton said. “We’re not the type of rescue that pushes cats … We love them, but we don’t want them to come back. Our return rate is very low.”

Next year, Eaton vowed she will be at Anthrocon once again for its 20th year.

“It was amazing … We met people from all over the world,” she said of being exposed to a new community. “It went so fast, and it feels like a dream … I couldn’t be happier.”