Next weekend's Fur Ball is the biggest event of the year for the Putnam County Animal Relief Center Fund.

Fundraisers are trying to replace the current animal shelter in Winfield, which was built in the mid-1980s as a temporary facility and is today filled at least three times beyond capacity with poor ventilation, heating and cooling.

"We've raised almost $100,000, and we've received two $20,000 community participation grants," said Karen Haynes, one of the leaders of the effort. "We're going to need around $800,000, somewhere around in there."

The site for the new shelter is already secured. When Haynes started raising money, she found a piece of state-owned property she liked. The state sold it to the county for $1.

"It took a year, maybe two years, to get things through," Haynes said. "It's been maybe a year that we've had the property now. So it's just raising the funds to get it built."

Although Haynes, whose husband is County Commissioner Joe Haynes, has been the public face of the effort - she won the Chamber of Commerce's community service award last year for her work - she's not working alone.

Jeff Barnes of the Barnes Agency is the chairman of the Putnam County Animal Relief Center Fund.

Barnes became involved when his then-8-year-old son wanted a kitten for Christmas several years ago.

"I made a decision to take him to the animal shelter to do some reconnaissance for Santa Claus," Barnes said.

"I basically walked out of there with tears in my eyes. It was the saddest situation that I have ever seen."

Barnes described seeing 30 to 40 cats cramped in a small room. He decided that day to get personally involved in trying to raise money for a new shelter.

He found out Haynes was already on the job, and he got in touch with her.

"I had never met Karen before," Barnes said. "I met her at the shelter one afternoon, and I walked up to her and I said, 'Karen, my name is Jeff Barnes. You don't know who I am, but I am going to do everything in my power to help you build an animal shelter.'"

Barnes said that in addition to his love of animals, his motivation comes from a feeling that residents should give back to their communities.

Haynes encouraged Barnes to come up with a proposal to present to the county commission, which oversees the shelter.

"I came up with a campaign to raise half a million dollars to build a shelter at least three times larger than the existing shelter," Haynes said.

"The plan was presented to them, and they approved it. It calls for three times the number of dog runs that currently exist and three times the space to house cats."

Barnes said that the current shelter was built just before Putnam County's population boom began.

"If you take a look at the population of Putnam County back in the late 1980s, the shelter was probably adequate at that time," Barnes said. "But since that time, the population has exploded. Since then, the number of abandoned or neglected animals has increased."

The strain on the shelter not only means animals are housed in bad conditions, but they can't stay very long.

The shelter has to euthanize more animals than it otherwise would because of the demand for space.

One of Barnes' hopes for the new shelter is that the additional space will give the animals a better chance of being adopted.

"The percentage of adoption is not what it could be if the shelter could accommodate them for a longer period of time," Barnes said.

Barnes said the new shelter will have an on-site veterinarian and groomer.

The shelter will offer the vet free space in return for free spay and neuter services to the shelter.

The groomer will keep the animals clean and healthy to improve their chances of adoption.

Barnes also said that a new HVAC system would greatly improve the conditions for the animals and the employees.

To date, all of the contributions to the fund have been small.

"We are blessed that we've raised a little over $100,000," Barnes said. "But not more than one contribution has been more than $5,000. It's been small contributions, a lot of small contributions that add up."

Barnes had hoped to get larger donations from businesses and industry, but the beginning of the fundraising efforts coincided with the onset of the economic recession.

"People that we believed would help with corporate contributions and sponsorships told us they were no longer in a position that they could give," Barnes said.

That's meant a longer timeline for raising money and starting work on the new shelter.

"We launched this campaign, and we were optimistic in the early stages that we would have the funds necessary within two years," Barnes said. "Unfortunately, what happened is shortly after we launched this campaign, the economy fell apart."

Haynes said this spring was the target date to begin work.

"I'd like to break ground by spring," Haynes said. "But you have to understand I'm a very optimistic person."

Barnes said the fund has enough money to get a loan to begin work, but he'd rather not borrow the money.

Barnes said that the fund needs for either corporate sponsorships to come in or for a single donor to give a large sum of money, which happened recently to a Cabell County shelter.

But even without those types of donations, the effort will continue.

"Karen and I are fighting the good fight," Barnes said. "This is now three years and there is not a month that goes by that Karen is not out there doing something to raise $500 here and $1,000 there.

"It will happen. It will take us longer than we thought it would. But it's going to happen."

The Fur Ball will be 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at the new First State Bank.

Singers John-Eric Booth and Lady D will provide entertainment.

Tickets are $75 each, and Haynes estimates they've sold about 80 so far.

The ball also has several sponsors. AEP has sponsored the ball at the $5,000 level, and several others are sponsoring the event at the $2,500 and $1,000 level.

First State Bank has donated the use of the room, though part of the ticket price will go to pay for the event.

The Putnam Animal Relief Center Fund also holds other fundraisers throughout the year.

In March, Animal Relief Center employees and volunteers will bowl against AEP employees in a charity bowling match in St. Albans.

In the spring, they'll hold Bark at the Park and a softball tournament.

At the end of the summer, the wave pool opens to dogs on the last day, and at Christmas, they have a "rein-dog" parade.

Haynes said they're also considering a wine and noses event.

For more information about the Fur Ball and the Putnam Animal Relief Center Fund, contact Jeff Barnes at 304-757-5700 or jbarnes@jbarnes.com.