Friends of local felines got the chance to stray-cat strut their stuff on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Dartmouth VFW where a “Meow-squerade Ball” brought out the town’s most happening cats.

Though no four-legged friends were present at the party, they were its beneficiaries as the event raised money for Moby Kit Rescue, a recently-established animal rescue based on the South Coast.

Sarah Donner, a representative of the rescue who helped plan the event, said the organization started in January but does not have a physical location, instead utilizing a network of foster homes to take care of the cats it rescues.

“We rely on our volunteers to open their homes to foster,” she said.

Another representative, Emmily Melendez, added that the lack of a physical presence makes it difficult for the organization to elicit donations from the community because would-be donors cannot simply drop off supplies at a shelter.

Donner said that events like the meow-squerade — the organization’s first such fundraiser — are intended to bridge that funding gap.

Though she admitted that the rescue still had a lot to learn about the event planning process, Donner said the event should be a success no matter what, thanks to a small budget.

“In the end, it was a lot of time, but we didn’t spend a lot of money doing this,” she said, adding that it was made possible by the VFW, who provided the space for the event free-of-charge. “So we’re going to win [no matter what].”

The meow-squerade was decked out in Halloween decor and featured a raffle with items donated by local businesses, live music from three local bands, and plenty of refreshments.

Melendez said the money raised will help the organization continue its work of fighting the overpopulation of southcoast cats by providing low-cost neutering, fostering and some “trap, neuter, and release” services designed to keep feral cats from reproducing.

“We’re getting to the root of the problem,” she said.

Melendez explained that when the organization receives a call about stray kittens, they seek to pick up the adult parents too in order to neuter them and keep them from having even more kittens.

“We take the whole family,” she said. “Because if we leave the adult cats it just perpetuates the problem.”