BELLEVILLE - The Belleville Area Humane Society will host their annual “Wine for Whiskers” fall festival event to support animals.
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From 5:30–9 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, community members can enjoy dinner, drinks, carnival games, a silent auction, raffles and more fun at The Weingarten in Belleville. Geared towards adults, this fall festival promises a fun evening to benefit local animals.
“It’s just going to be a really good night,” said Chelsea Erxleben with Belleville Area Humane Society (BAHS). “The community always just wraps their arms around us and they support us so much. We couldn’t do it without our community because obviously we’re a nonprofit running on donations. We’re here because the community believes in us, and we believe in them.”
Tickets to the event cost $50 each and include dinner from Tavern on Main and two drink tickets.
In addition to the dinner, live music, raffles and silent auction, attendees can play carnival games or get caricatures drawn of their pets. Winners of the duck pull receive an Eckert’s pie, and a mum pull will send attendees home with fall mums. Erxleben loves the “fall vibe” of the festival and the “beautiful” atmosphere of The Weingarten.
Proceeds from ticket sales, the silent auction, the raffles, the carnival games and sponsorships will go back to BAHS.
BAHS hopes to raise $55,000 for their animal care. This money will go towards basic costs like food, veterinary care, and facility updates, but it will also allow BAHS to continue to offer services like their low-cost vaccine clinics. Their pet food pantry alone serves 8,000 pets every year.
Erxleben explained that this “proactive” approach is a new focus in animal welfare. In addition to “reactive” measures, like taking in strays or surrendered animals, shelters like BAHS work on initiatives to help people keep their pets and keep animals out of shelters in the first place.
“I always like to make the joke that I want to work myself out of a job one day,” Erxleben said. “I hope that I don’t have a job because there are no animals at the shelter.”
She hopes the Wine for Whiskers event is a step in the right direction. People are encouraged to purchase tickets today to secure their spot at the event, which will likely sell out. Erxleben believes the event is a great chance to come together for an important cause.
“You walk in and just see so many animal-loving people, and they’re people who love people, too. I always say, I work in animal welfare because I love animals, but also, I have to love people, because people love their pets,” she added. “It’s so nice seeing so many people coming out just to support the pets and their people in our community.”
For more information about Wine for Whiskers, visit the official Facebook event page or click here. To learn more about the Belleville Area Humane Society, check out their official website at BAHSPets.org or their official Facebook page.
