I love the contributing to events that help bring awareness to the need for education about animal rescue and welfare. Recently, I was invited to provide Pet-Lebrity News coverage at the Wags and Walks 2016 Muttin’ But LoveFundraising Gala at the fabulous SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.
Wags and Walks is a highly-regarded, Los Angeles-based rescue founded by Lesley Brog after she spent over 10 years volunteering in shelters and witnessed numbers of pets being euthanized. The American Humane Association reports that 8 million stray and unwanted animals are taken in by U.S. shelters each year, and 3.7 million (46 percent) of these animals must be euthanized as a result of a lack of adoptive homes. Remarkably, shelter-based euthanasia is the primary cause of death for cats and dogs in the U.S.
Much of the success of Wags and Walks comes from choosing dogs that exhibit behaviors that make them more suitable candidates to be placed into forever homes. Wags and Walks puts their canine adoptees through the ‘Lesley Test,’ about which Brog states, “Wags and Walks dogs are those that I would feel 100 percent comfortable having in my own home with my three little girls and my own two dogs.”
The evening was emceed by Los Angeles KCAL 9 weatherman Garth Kemp, who lent a humorous spin on the serious issues of reducing pet overpopulation through adoption and roused people up for the live auction. Lots of desirable options for determined participants in the silent auction, including luxurious travel packages, elaborate baskets of pet supplies, unique works of art and even extravagant jewelry.
A whole slew of celebrities were scheduled to attend and lend their star power. I nearly had a face-to-face a run in (in a good way) with Peter Facinelli, an actor from the Twilight movies, CBS’ Supergirl, and Showtime’s Nurse Jackie. My favorite of Facinelli’s roles was as Dr. Fitch Cooper, an emergency physician with an unconscious propensity to occasionally seek inappropriate physical contact with the ladies with whom he works.
Wags and Walks honored LA Kings’ Jeff Carter, his wife Megan Carter and life coach Betsy Rosenfeld Vargas for their contributions to animal rescue.
I have previously done some veterinary work with Wags and Walks, as the organization was holding a dog adoption event at Pussy & Pooch Pet Lifestyle Center in Beverly Hills while I was offering a vaccine antibody titer clinic. Fortunately, I had available VacciCheck test kits to perform antibody titers on some of the dogs up for adoption. Those dogs that produced a protective level of antibodies in response to their prior distemper, adenovirus and parvovirus vaccinations were able to go to their forever homes with greater likelihood they are sufficiently protected by the immunizations provided Wags and Walks.
Overall, the night was a huge success for both pets and people. Money was raised to help fund medical care for dogs while people partied for a good cause.
Interested in helping Wags and Walks? There are multiple ways to do so, including:
Adopt a Wags and Walks dog: if you are financially stable and have the available time to incorporate a companion canine into your home, then perhaps adoption is right for you.
Become a canine foster parent: perhaps pet ownership isn't within your best interest right now, but you still have some availability to help a dog in need of adoption get a sense of what life will be like with a new family. If so, then fostering a Wags and Walks dog may be appropriate for you.
Financially donate to Wags and Walks: if adopting or fostering are not within your means but you still want to help, then make a financial donation. Wags and Walks is a 501c3 non-profit, so your contributions are tax deductible.
Dr. Patrick Mahaney
Thank you for reading this article. Your questions and comments are completely welcome. Please feel free to communicate with me through Twitter (@PatrickMahaney) and follow my adventures in veterinary medicine by liking Patrick Mahaney: Veterinarian Acupuncture Pain Management for Your Pets on Facebook. Copyright of this article (2016) is owned by Dr Patrick Mahaney, Veterinarian and Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist. Republishing any portion of this article must first be authorized by Dr Patrick Mahaney. Requests for republishing must be approved by Dr Patrick Mahaney and received in written format.