We’ve been busy with vacations and family and stuff and Valentine’s Day has been over for more than two weeks, but it’s never too late to find the one you love. And Haute Dogs’ Valentine’s Day Yappy Hour and Card Contest was the place to find it.
“This is for animals who don’t have a lot of love in their lives,” said Justin Rudd, the event’s organizer. “If you’ll consider one, you’ll find yourself falling in love.”
Rudd came up with the event so that animals abandoned to the shelter could have a day of celebration and coddling. It was also a slyboots way to get people out to see the cats, dogs and rabbits and consider taking one home. Several weeks before Valentine’s Day, classrooms and individual children were invited to make Valentine cards and send them to Animal Care Services (ACS). On the day of the contest, one card would be selected as winner. The card’s creator would win a pizza party for his or her class. There were 500 cards submitted and judged by several of the Long Beach Pageant winners; all were hung outside the animals’ kennels and outside in the garden where the event was held. (See more photos by clicking here)
Attendees were asked to bring treats and goodies for the cats, dogs and rabbits, which resulted in the groaning sideboard pictured above. A card reading “For pets only” was necessary to be placed near the home-baked cookies made especially for the Yappy Hour by Chuck and Toby’s Scott Rinehart and Jim Poer. They smelled really good—ever been in their store?
The winning card was created by Grace Ellen McAdam in Mrs. Graham’s third-grade class at St. Cyprian’s School in Long Beach. Rudd is shown here reading the card’s message, which he said expressed the spirit of the event: “I love to be here with my friends….But what I really want is a family of my own to love and for them to love me too.”
Well, we try to be sneaky, too, but we’re probably pretty transparent. We’ll take any opening to get a pet adopted to a responsible, loving home. Love isn’t confined to Valentine’s Day, and if your house and heart can handle it, visit ACS and consider taking home a shelter animal. Think carefully before you start filling out the paperwork—loving an animal is sublimely rewarding for both human and pet, but it’s also a responsibility.
“We have one, but you never know,” said Audrey Takamiyashiro, who was there with her daughter, Alice. Colin MacDiarmid, who won CAT’s Giving Project, was looking at a pair of beagles and thinking of passing his award further forward. MacDiarmid said that he was surprised to see the number of purebreds in the shelter.
“People are going to breeders [for a purebred]?” he said. “There are so many here.”
If it’s not practical for you now, there are volunteer opportunities there or you can “just come to love and hug them,” as Sue Johnson and Dianne Kavanaugh did.
Responsibility about bringing pets home has come early for Little Miss Southern California, MacKenzie Tufts. “I’ll have to ask my grandpa,” MacKenzie said.
Two more young animal advocates—who, not surprisingly, are Judy’s granddaughters—gently make a new friend out of Harley. Harley was found lying in the grass in North Long Beach with both his legs rendered useless. He’s on meds and has just received his wheels. He’s ready for a new, loving home, and so are these animals. Anyone need a date?
Virtually Pets
Hett, ID #A395835
Bubbles, ID #A394722
Please don’t tell us that you can look at these two faces and not want to run down and take these guys home. Okay, tell us, but we won’t believe you. Hett is a male brown tabby domestic shorthair about a year old; Bubbles is a female black-and-gray Lhasa apso mix who was abandoned here at 7 years old. Desperation and that “rescue me and love me” look may make you run the other way when a human being gives you that face, but it has the opposite effect with an animal countenance. If you want to be his or her number one, don’t let either one of them down. Check with the shelter for spay/neuter, licensing/microchipping and immunization information. 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach. (562) 570-7387. Use the shelter entrance.
Vinny, seen here in fashionable blue sweater, is one of several Chihuahuas who went down the runway Feb. 21 at the “Help Save the Chi-Chis” event at the Gaslight. Vinny is one of many small dogs available for adoption. Visit this site for information.
Pet Projects
Feb. 28, Beautiful Bulldog Contest
Oh, you beautiful dog, you great big beautiful, slobbering snuffly sweetheart! More than 300 of these popular pets will wobble down the red carpet to compete at Haute Dogs’ main event and fund-raiser for the nonprofit Community Action Team. The contest, produced by beauty pageant and bulldog lover Justin Rudd, also includes a competition for pugs and all breeds of senior dogs (more than 10 years old). The event takes place at the Marketplace Long Beach at the corner of 2nd Street and the PCH. Click here for rules and information. Spectators are welcome, of course!