Piles of puppies, clusters of kittens and growing vet bills are likely to ease, thanks to an arts fund raiser for Tauranga SPCA.

Welcome Bay artist Lorraine French with art donated by Papamoa Art Group and the Tauranga Society of Artists to this year's SPCA fundraising auction.

The SPCA and Greerton Village Mainstreet auction kicked off last year as a small fundraiser and has grown 'massively” this year, with more than double the number of paintings donated and more flooding in at the time of writing, according to Greerton Village Mainstreet manager Graeme Morrissey.
'It's taken off massively this year and paintings are coming in as donations from all over Tauranga. Pensioners are giving art that's been sitting around. Papamoa Art Group and the Tauranga Society of Artists are being really generous. Individuals from all over the community are giving us art to auction. We're rapt with the support,” says Graeme.
SPCA manager John Esdaile says veterinary bills are about $120,000 this year – and growing.
Last year the auction raised a couple of thousand dollars from about 40 pieces of art.
'That helped but our aim this year is to raise as much as possible for food and vet care,” says John.
Temporary loving foster homes for animals are also needed by the SPCA while they try to secure permanent residences for puppies, kittens and fully grown animals.
'The support for the SPCA is huge and given the enthusiasm behind this year's auction, we want to grow it even more next year to make it a black tie dinner charity auction,” says John.
The SPCA and Greerton Mainstreet art auction is on Friday 13 November at Greerton Hall. Entry is a gold coin donation. Bubbles and bites will be served with art viewing from 6pm and the auction from 7pm.