Meet the owls, bobcats and turtles who need your help: Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance hosts its biggest party of the year

Every year, more than 1,500 wild animals in Colorado need a doctor, and the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance takes them in. The nonprofit wildlife hospital and rehab center in Sedalia treats bobcats, owls, hawks, turtles and a long list of other furry, feathered and scaly patients. Its goal is to get them healthy and back out into the wild. Now it’s asking the rest of us for a little help.

On Saturday, Nov. 7, the group is holding “A Wild Affair,” its biggest fundraiser of the year, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Lakewood Country Club. Guests get dinner, drinks and a silent auction. They also get to meet the alliance’s live animal ambassadors up close, which might be the best part. Other galas have cocktail hour. This one has cocktail hour with an owl.

The help is needed more than usual this year. Colorado’s wildfires are still affecting wild animals and the groups that care for them, and the alliance needs more support from the public. “It helps us afford medical care, food, enclosures and just about everything else that comes with taking in over 1,500 patients every year,” staff member Amber Best told FOX31. The group hopes to raise $100,000, and every dollar goes toward the rescue, rehabilitation and release of Colorado’s native wildlife.

Tickets are $125, and seating is limited. Two weeks ago, the group said half the tickets were already gone. If you can’t make it, you can still donate or bid on auction items online. If you ask me, there’s no better way to spend a Saturday night than making sure a hawk gets home.