In a unique fundraiser, volunteers “kenneled up” at the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire’s Bedford shelter, raising more than $16,000 in the drive, exceeding its $15,000 goal.

“That was an excessive goal,” said Robin McCune, coordinator of events and community relations at the ARL. “When we set it, we thought we were more likely to raise ($8,000 to $10,000.)”

The first “Kennel Up” event was held Oct. 22.

Fundraising has been especially important for the shelter this year because of a spike in health care costs. The shelter budgeted $39,000 for animal medical expenses in 2009, but has already spent $88,000.

“With the economy, a lot of people can’t afford it if their animal gets sick,” McCune said.

Volunteers were reaching out to people by phone, email and Facebook, any way they could find to make contact, said Sheryl Hammond, who has served on the ARL’s board of directors in the past and will return next year. Many took pictures of themselves in the kennel – “kenneled up” – and posted them as part of their online fundraising appeals.

“Hopefully I will be able to leave a kennel today,” Hammond joked.

She said the shelter is not well-endowed and gets no state or federal funding. All the money comes from private donations.

“We never have a problem with our enthusiasm and our commitment to raising funds for the animals,” she said.

As part of the fundraising drive, there were seminars held throughout the day about the work that goes on at the ARL and the needs of the shelter.

Adoption counselor Sara Nicosia asked the volunteers to guess how many pounds of cat litter the shelter goes through daily. The magic number was 300 pounds. The shelter also uses 125 cups of cat food and 50 cups of dog food a day, totaling 63,875 in a year. To illustrate that point, Nicosia brought in Tornado, a chubby cat who sauntered around the room until he finally found a closet where the cat food was stored.

“Sometimes, cats like Tornado eat more than their share,” Nicosia said. Nicosia said it costs $2,500 a day to run the shelter, and adoption fees pay for only 10 percent of that. “This is a lovely place for them to stay,” she said. “It costs a lot to run a shelter properly and keep the animals healthy.”

Leah Belanger said she did most of her fundraising for the day through e-mail and Facebook.

“We’ve had a lot of people give a little bit,” she said. Even though money is tight, animals are still in need, she said. “They’re still in need of our food and shelter and care,” she said. “They’re at our mercy.”