Charleston Animal Society Launches 10th Hank & Laurel Greer Lifesaving Car Raffle at Paws in the Park

by

CHARLESTON, SC – February 25, 2026 – Charleston Animal Society is kicking off its signature Hank & Laurel Greer Lifesaving Raffle at this year’s Paws in the Park, giving supporters chances to win a new car or cash prizes while saving the lives of thousands of animals across South Carolina. The 10th raffle launches at noon on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at the event in Brittlebank Park in downtown Charleston and will be hosted online through the nonprofit fundraising platform RallyUp.

This year’s grand prize is a 2026 Hybrid Toyota Grand Highlander Platinum Edition, valued at over $65,000, along with five additional cash prizes: $6,000, $4,000, $2,000, and two $500 cash awards. Only 4,000 tickets are available, with tiered entry options starting at $100 for one entry and multi-ticket packages offering increasing value—up to 20 entries for $1,600, at https://go.rallyup.com/toyota.

“Every ticket helps save lives,” said a Charleston Animal Society spokesperson. “Thanks to the generosity of our longtime benefactors Hank and Laurel Greer, 100% of raffle proceeds go directly to helping the 35,000 animals we care for each year.” Across 10 raffles, the Greers have personally purchased the raffle vehicles and provided the cash prizes, allowing all funds raised, now totaling more than $2.3 million from over 24,000 entries, to support Charleston Animal Society’s lifesaving programs.

The inaugural car raffle in 2018, featuring a donated Mini Cooper, sold out 500 tickets at $100 each and raised $51,000, with the winner driving from Ohio to pick up the car in Charleston. In 2021, the organization selected RallyUp, which is widely regarded as the best online fundraising software for raffles, raising over $270,000 with a Tesla Model Y grand prize. Subsequent raffles have featured vehicles including multiple Lexus hybrids, Subaru models, and a Hyundai Hybrid Santa Fe—each raising critical funds and expanding the impact for animals in need.

The raffle launch will be a marquee moment at Paws in the Park presented by Fetch Pet Insurance, the largest animal event in South Carolina and Charleston Animal Society’s biggest community fundraiser of the year. Held from 12:00 – 4:00 PM at Brittlebank Park (185 Lockwood Dr, Charleston, SC), Paws in the Park features dog adoptions, live music, Barks N’ Brews with 10 local craft beer breweries, a community-favorite Chili Cook-Off, an Oyster Roast, family fun, and opportunities to support Charleston Animal Society’s mission: the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Raffle entries are open to donors nationwide, and previous raffles have drawn participants from 48 states, with winners from both the Charleston area and as far away as Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, and California—demonstrating the broad support for Charleston Animal Society’s lifesaving work along with fundraising partner RallyUp’s national reach.

Call to Action
Raffle tickets will be available for purchase starting March 21 at https://go.rallyup.com/toyota, and Paws in the Park tickets can be purchased at https://www.citypapertickets.com/events/177805259/paws-in-the-park.

About Charleston Animal Society
Since 1874, the mission of Charleston Animal Society has always been the prevention of cruelty to animals. Recognized as an international model of lifesaving success, the Animal Society focuses on three impacts: ending the unnecessary euthanasia, overpopulation, and cruelty of animals. Last year, the Animal Society cared for over 35,000 animals, spayed or neutered over 15,000 animals, adopted over 5,000 animals, and taught compassion to over 11,000 children. As South Carolina’s largest lifesaving organization, animal organizations from across the state and beyond seek guidance and support from the Animal Society, whose guiding principle is that it has a disproportionate responsibility to others; if there is an animal in need anywhere that the Animal Society can impact, it will. With 13 consecutive years of exemplary independent financial audits, the Animal Society remains the top-rated nonprofit organization in South Carolina. For more information, visit CharlestonAnimalSociety.org.

About RallyUp
RallyUp is a global fundraising platform that makes professional campaigns designed to delight donors and drive results. With an average 38% increase in funds raised and a 97% donor satisfaction rating, RallyUp has become the platform of choice for global charities, national nonprofits, schools, churches, and other organizations. Learn more at rallyup.com.

Noted Veterinary Surgeon Dr. Theresa Fossum Adds CogniCaps, a cognitive function supplement, to her Popular Line of Natural Animal Supplements

by

Scottsdale, AZ – Noted veterinary surgeon Dr. Theresa Fossum DVM, MS, Ph.D., Diplomate ACVS, and author of the most referenced book on its topic, Small Animal Surgery, has added a new product to her popular line of natural animal supplements Dr. Fossum’s Pet Care, CogniCaps, to support healthy brain function in aging dogs.

Dr. Curtis Dewey, a veterinary neurologist with extensive knowledge of the brain concerns aging dogs often experience, collaborated on the development of CogniCaps with Dr. Fossum. The supplement, a combination of eastern and western modalities, was created in an easy to administer capsule format and contains a proprietary blend including our own BioCog formula (registration pending) plus vitamin E, zinc, naturally occurring phytochemicals such as curcumin, oral S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), and phosphatidylserine, a membrane phospholipid. In addition, the supplement contains a number of herbs from Traditional Chinese Medicine that have been shown to support cognitive function.
According to Dr. Dewey, the estimated prevalence of cognitive concerns in older dogs generally varies between 14% and 35% of the pet dog population; however, these numbers are likely an underestimation. As with people, cognitive decline in dogs can increase dramatically with age; as many as half of all dogs 11-12 years old are likely experiencing age-related decline, and nearly 70% of dogs over the age of 15 are affected. Importantly, dogs may show evidence of brain changes as early as 4-6 years of age.

Even mild or moderate changes in cognitive ability can make living with affected pets difficult. Dogs may become disoriented and frequently become “stuck” in a corner of a room, they may urinate or defecate in the house because they may be temporarily confused about where the appropriate place to go is. They may seem stressed, they may bark at inappropriate sounds or objects, and they may become less interactive with their owners. Affected dogs often develop sleep disturbances (they are active and may vocalize at night, but they sleep during the day). In a word, these pets show signs of senility.

Dogs affected with changes in cognitive ability typically respond well to intervention, especially if instituted early in the process. Precautionary measures such as dietary changes and environmental enrichment can both help, and slow the progression of cognitive decline due to aging. This suggests that simple changes including health supplements as provided in CogniCaps may be generally advisable in pet dogs as they approach middle age.

Because there are so many individual health supplements for cognitive decline, veterinarians and their clients are often faced with the prospect of recommending multiple separate supplements to produce a positive response. It is also common practice to separate the recommendation into the categories of western and eastern medicine. Again, this conceptualization leads to the necessity of multiple supplements-both western (conventional) and eastern (non-conventional, holistic, etc.). Although pet owners often will administer multiple supplements to their senior dogs, it can be challenging. Also, it is unlikely that the average pet owner will administer multiple supplements to a well seeming middle-aged dog. CogniCaps is a truly integrative health supplement, combining a mixture of both western and eastern ingredients in one small capsule, allowing for ease of use for pet guardians to support keeping dogs’ minds sharp as they age.

Successfully Used on Animals Escaping from Fire, Noted Veterinary Surgeon Dr. Theresa Fossum Adds Wound Therabee, with Certified Manuka Honey For Animal Cuts and Burns, To Her Popular Line

by

Container of Dr. Fossum’s Pet Care, Wound TherabeeScottsdale, AZ – Noted veterinary surgeon Dr. Theresa Fossum DVM, MS, Ph.D., Diplomate ACVS, and author of the most referenced book on pet operations, Small Animal Surgery, has added a new product to her popular line of natural animal supplements Dr. Fossum’s Pet Care, Wound Therabee, with certified Manuka Honey for animal cuts and burns.

While in development, the product was used during Northern California’s Bear Fire in 2020 on numerous dogs and cats that had been burned escaping from the flames by veterinarians from the VCA Valley Oak Veterinary Center in Chico, California. The co-medical director there, Dr. Daniel Gebhart noted, “we were so impressed by the Manuka Honey/Cannabinoid ointment that is now available as Wound Therabee. Finding this incredible product was one of the few positives to come out of our fire experience. With over 80 fires already this year, and with more to come since it’s only July, we urge our veterinary colleagues to stock up on this incalculably valuable salve.” (see before/after picture below)

Wound Therabee combines sterile Manuka honey with hemp extract. This formulation is a great all-around first aid kit addition for wounds, sores cuts, and burns. It contains 100% active Leptospermum honey (Manuka honey), harvested by bees in New Zealand and infused with potent cannabinoids including CBD, CBG, and CBN.

While honey is often used as a folk remedy, regular table honey is actually not sterile and not antibacterial. Wound Therabee features an active ingredient that is unique to Manuka honey produced by bees pollinating the Leptospermum Scopartum shrub. It’s produced and regulated in New Zealand, is traceable, is free of pesticides, chemical residues, and antibiotics, and has a unique manuka factor (UMF) of 12.

Manuka honey is quite an impressive substance! Indigenous cultures have used this honey as a wound treatment for thousands of years due to its natural broadband healing properties from a highly concentrated viscous solution of floral sugars and amino acids derived from the crop of the bee. And it can be stored and remain stable unrefrigerated for over a thousand years!

The properties of Manuka honey include low water content, acidity (pH 3.9), high sugar content (80%), high osmolarity, it generates hydrogen peroxide, antimicrobial peptide (Bee defensin-1), phytochemicals including flavonoids, terpenes, antioxidants and polyphenols, and methylglyoxal (MGO) that correlates with Unique Manuka Factor (UMF).

The addition of cannabinoids to the Manuka honey may help reduce discomfort and itching.
Dr. Fossum notes, “while our proof of concept came from a very intense situation, we are proud to offer this natural ointment to our fellow veterinarians and pet parents for hopefully less dire but useful animal wound care.”