Sunday, July 13, 2008

Broadway Barks

Every year thousands of animals wind up at New York City's animal control centers. New York law requires that these locations take in every animal brought to their doorsteps. Sadly, the lack of good homes cannot be found quickly enough and up until 2002 the City euthanized 80 or more companion animals daily. But hats off to Mayor Bloomberg who in 2002 signed an historic agreement with the City that prevented adoptable animals from being euthanized. However, with this the problem only got bigger. One can only think holy hell! where do we find homes for all these animals? The answer, celebrity hosted events of course!

In seeking to give back to this wonderful city we love so much, my husband and I volunteered at Broadway Barks yesterday. We discovered the event through The Mayor’s Alliance, which we are members of. Broadway Barks is an outstanding annual event that was developed out of Bernadette Peters’ and Mary Tyler Moore’s love for animals. It is one of the only events I know of where animal groups and organizations come together, put their differences aside, help animals find forever homes and raise money for foster homes. The event took place in Shubert Alley. The intimacy of the location and the celebrities present was the perfect equation to draw in the crowds. We watched as people walking through stopped to photograph Glenn Close (who with her husband created fetchdog.com) and ended up bringing a puppy home with them. The experience made me realize there are plenty of celebs out there that use their popularity for good causes and not just VIP tables at the hottest clubs and weekends in the Hamptons. Last night was extremely rewarding and a lot of fun. Hopefully next year you all will be able to join us!

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