Local band raises more than $24,000 for Humane Society of Yuma

A local band turned a Sunday night set into a major lift for the Humane Society of Yuma, bringing in more than $24,000 at Sage & Sand and drawing more than 300 people through the door.

Annette Lagunas, the shelter’s executive director, said the turnout mattered as much as the total. For a nonprofit that depends on donations, grants and earned revenue to keep animals fed, housed and treated, one crowded fundraiser can make a real difference in the day-to-day work of rescue and adoption.

The Feral Cats drew the crowd to Sage & Sand and gave Yuma a fundraiser with a clear local payoff. The Humane Society of Yuma describes itself as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) animal welfare organization in Yuma, Arizona, with a mission to reduce the number of homeless pets through rescue, adoption and spay-and-neuter programs. The shelter says it has altered more than 18,000 pets since launching its spay-and-neuter program.

That backdrop makes the weekend haul more than a feel-good number. HSOY handled 6,712 intakes in 2024, along with 3,246 adoptions, 1,511 transfers and 1,003 returns to owner, according to its annual report. The shelter also recorded 992 euthanasias that year, with a 66% save rate for cats and a 90% save rate for dogs. Nearly 3,000 pets were adopted in 2025, including more than 800 cats and nearly 400 dogs, and the shelter reported about $224,000 in grants and roughly $188,000 in thrift store revenue that went back to pet services.

The money from The Feral Cats’ show could help support the same core expenses that keep those numbers moving: food, vaccines, medical treatment, staffing and shelter upkeep. Even without a line-item breakdown, a $24,000 donation is large enough to matter in a shelter that has said it was at max capacity during kitten season and was taking in probably over 400 kittens in April and May.

Lagunas said HSOY saw more than 7,000 animals enter the shelter in the prior year, including nearly 3,000 cats. In that kind of pressure cycle, a strong weekend fundraiser does more than celebrate local music. It helps keep kennels open, treatment flowing and animals moving toward adoption instead of overcrowding the shelter.