by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

On Saturday night, August 18th I was invited to The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons (ARF) annual Beach Ball, with this years theme the ‘Jewels of Summer’ appropriately so for who the evening honored.  A lovely event held at the Bridgehampton Tennis & Surf Club, you can’t go wrong when you are literally over looking the beach, surrounded by pets up for adoption and of course some Hamptons and NYC celebrities.

Everyone there had the same mindset, that it’s about rescuing and caring for the animals.  The affair was emceed by NBC’s Chuck Scarborough – who you may not know that he and his wife Ellen are ardent supporters of various rescue organizations, including ARF, but they are also proud parents of their own adopted pets.  Chuck did a great job and he was also pretty funny when describing his pets and how he and Ellen recently just adopted another dog.  (Way to go!)

There was a cocktail hour with a lot of hors d’oeurves being passed around a raw bar and a lot of picture taking and laughter happening – everywhere you went people were talking about their own pets or a pet they were thinking of adopting.  So while to the rest of LI – it might seem like just another ‘Hamptons’ event with celebrities, it wasn’t just about that, it’s all about the animals, and ok and maybe a little about what some of the guests were wearing.

This year’s Beach Ball honored Candy Udell the President of London Jewelers and Founder of Rescue Paw Foundation.  ARF recognized Candy with the ARF Champion of Animals Award  for her tireless efforts, generosity and dedication to animal welfare.  Candy has a jewelry line called, ‘Our Cause For Paws‘ and the sale of the jewelry helps provide grants to qualified Not-for-Profit organizations that operate facilities to provide care and shelter for animals who have been rescued; seek qualified adoptive owners for saved animals; promote, foster and advance the adoption of rescued animals; stimulate interest and concern in the prevention of abuse and neglect of animals; and promote the prevention of animal overpopulation through spay and neuter programs.

l to r: Kathleen Rice Nassau County District Attorney; Candy Udell President London Jewelers; and Chuck Scarborough NBC News Anchor

Candy was introduced and given the award by Nassau County District Attorney, Kathleen Rice.  Who is also an animal lover and has her own adopted dog too.    Kathleen has also recently really started taking big initiative with the Nassau County SPCA, and proposing bills that strengthen the laws of  people who are animal abusers.

“All of us at ARF were delighted with the success of the 2012 Beach Ball—Jewels of Summer.  You can’t have a better honoree than Candy Udell, President of London Jewelers and Kathleen Rice and Chuck Scarborough as presenter and Emcee were top notch.  $250,000 was raised to help cats and dogs in need at ARF,” said  Sara Davison, Executive Director of ARF.

ARF Board Member, Lisa McCarthy; Francis Hayward of Be Kind to Animals; and Sara Davison, Executive Director at ARF

There was also a silent auction at the event and adorable dogs, puppies, cats and kittens on hand for adoption in the new ARF adoption van. 

For more information on how you can get involved with ARF go to www.ARFHamptons.org.  See the slide show of pictures below!

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

It was a beautiful evening for the 3rd Annual ‘Unconditional Love’ event benefiting the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation (SASF) on Saturday, July 21, 2012 in Southampton, NY.  Held at the beautiful waterfront private residence of Sandra McConnell the evening’s event included honoring event Chairwoman Jean Shafiroff and Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation’s President Jonathan McCann honored Chuck and Ellen Scarborough at Southampton Animal Shelter.  Strolling the grounds there were also adoptable pets available for adoption at the shelter.  Summer and Smokey stood out in the crowd as well as the cutie pie, Captain Jack who came to the shelter scared and nervous – but thanks to the amazing trainers and staff, he was nothing but sweet, happy and said hello politely to anyone who came to him.

Captain Jack!

Over 300 people attended the elegant affair complete with a silent auction, cocktails and dinner and dancing to this year’s fete and live entertainment was provided by the Alex Donner Orchestra. The event was emceed by NBC’s Jane Hansen and some of the guests included Martin Shafiroff, Elizabeth Shafiroff, CeCe and Lee Black, Somers and Jonathan Farkas, Lydia and Rudy Touzet, Jean Little and Howard Marton, SASF Founder Susan Allen, Board Exec. V.P. Sony Schotland, Treasurer Steve Greenfield, Board members Joel Cooper and Jay Durante, and Darlene Rodriguez, David Ushery and Lynda Baquero from NBC, Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley and his wife Marianne among many other guests.

The event helped raise over $375,000 for SASF which was founded in 2010  as a call to action when the town decided it could no longer care for the animals at the town shelter premises. Not only were the 225 animals currently housed there in jeopardy, so were all others that would be found.  The Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation offers a low-cost spay/neuter clinic to help combat pet overpopulation. All privately owned pit bull type dogs are spayed or neutered free of charge.  Dog obedience classes are also offered to the public. The Shelter is a non-profit organization relying on the generosity of individuals and businesses to help save lives at the adoption center and provide much-needed programs that benefit homeless pet.

The Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation was founded in 2010For more information please visit www.southamptonanimalshelter.com

See more pictures below!

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

It was a busy pet events day this past Saturday, June 9th, 2012 in the Hamptons.  In Southampton, Paws Across the Hamptons took place in Southampton Village starting at Lola Prentice Park and over a hundred dog owners and very eager dogs yipped and yapped through the streets for a mile and a half walk. The dog walk was fundraiser for the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation – and there were a lot of local adorable adoptable dogs and puppies on hand.  NBC News Anchor, Southampton resident and long time animal rescue supporters Chuck Scarborough, his wife Ellen and their dog took part in the walk.  Mayor Mark Epley his wife Mariane and their rescue dog were also on hand for the festivities.  Even celebrity English bulldog Igor did the walk, well part of it anyway.  Everyone was having a wooftastic time and after this event ended, many of the dog walkers and their dogs headed to the Pet Fest that was taking place in Bridgehampton, NY.

This first Pet Fest brought out many rescue groups from all across Long Island and vendors too.  With dogs dancing, frisbee dog demo’s, a training demo from Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation, and a Fashion show put on by Gregg Ohler, publisher of Cesar’s Way magazine and Ada Nievesof the Pre-Westminster fashion show – there was something for everyone to enjoy.  Many adoptable pets were available through the rescue groups there.  (I fell in love with Shiloh an 9-week old brindle pit bull puppy who was rescued locally from the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton, see her picture below!).

This day long event took place at the Bridgehampton Historical Society and was brought to the Hamptons by Watermill resident and animal advocate, Jewel Morris.   In the evening there was a VIP event for the Pet Hero Awards, a ceremony where many people in the pet rescue world and were honored for their hard work, dedication, passion and even lifelong commitment to helping animals in need.  Many touching and even funny speeches were given about each award recipient.  Jill Rappaport of the Today Show was honored the Pet Humanitarian of the Year award for all her work she has done and continues to do with many different organizations.  See all the award winners here.   See below for slide show of the day and evening’s event!

Gregg R. Oehler, Publisher of Cesar's Way Magazine with Jewel Morris, Founding Presidnet of the Pet Philanthrophy Circle

Actress Aida Turturro looking on as Jill Rappaport of the Today Show, receives Humanitarian of the Year Award

Jill Rappaport of the Today Show with Debi Boies, Co-Founder of Pilots N Paws

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

About six weeks ago I hosted a networking event for pet professionals with the topic, “Think outside the box,” because so many of us get stuck in a rut with the same pet events, marketing plans, etc.  It can be challenging to think of something new to do to promote your pet business or rescue group.  One rescue group that often thinks outside the box in a very creative way is the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons.  ARF has many different events that are not your norm, and they wisely use the location in which they are situated in to host such unique events.  All which help the animals in which they rescue and care for.

Over the Memorial Day weekend I was at the 2nd Annual Designer ShowHouse at the ARF in Sagaponack, NY.  ARF transformed their thrift and treasure shop into a designer showhouse for the weekend to raise funds for ARF to help the organization continue to find homes for the animals in need.

Talk about thinking outside the box, most people wouldn’t think of interior design and pets as a hand-in-hand event, but ARF and the designers pulled it off flawlessly.  Ten rooms were beautifully styled by some of New York’s most illustrious interior decorators in which some of the rooms had whimsical pet themes.  Over 200 people attended the kick-off cocktail party fundraiser held on Saturday, May 26th from 5 – 8pm with 5pm being the exclusive preview hour at $300 per person and $150 per person for general admission at 6pm.  The showhouse was open to the public for a suggested $10 donation Sunday & Monday, May 27th & May 28th as well.

The Thrift and Treasure shop itself is a priority for the organization’s long term strategic planning as almost 20% of ARF’s annual operating budget comes from funds raised there. Last year, the Thrift Shop, a charming Dutch colonial building was renovated and expanded allowing ARF to accept more donations and continue to successfully fund the organization’s animal Adoption Center.

Sara Davidson, Executive Director of ARF with one of the ARF dogs up for adoption

“Last year’s first designer showhouse and grand re-opening was such a success that we decided to make the designer showhouse an annual event for ARF. The funds raised by the designer showhouse and Thrift & Treasure Shop are vital to the organization and its mission to provide for the health and welfare of dogs and cats on the East End of Long Island.  We are in awe of the designers’ creativity who will transform the shop.” said Sara Davison, Executive Director of ARF.

The line up of top designers, who created rooms for the second annual showhouse, included: Jeffery Howard Brodersen, Nancy Corzine, Gary Crain and James Alan Smith, Michael Grim, Gigi Mahon, Jeff Pfeifle, Scott Salvator, Rob Southern, and Tony Urrutia.  All the designers are animal lovers who are donating their time and expertise to help the ARF cats and dogs, who are less fortunate than their own beloved pets.  Each room will feature Thrift Shop items and pieces donated from the designers’ own collections.  Unlike traditional showhouses, every item in the ARF designer showhouse was for sale. There were also many adoptable pets on hand in ARF’s brand new adoption truck in which they rolled out for display for the evening’s event. 

So regardless of your location, think outside the box of something different you can do for your rescue group or pet business.  What is in your local community that might be different than others?  Start thinking more creatively and look around in your own backyard to see what you can come up with!

More Pictures below of the ARF Designer ShowHouse!

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

On a sunny and beautiful afternoon this past Saturday, July 30, in Bridgehampton, over 100 guests and their four legged friends attended the first, ‘Unleashed Hits the Hamptons’ event.  Unleashed NY is a non-for-profit organization that launched in 2010 and is just a year old.  Unleashed has a unique approach to rescuing puppies and helping change the lives of middle school aged girls – Unleashed is an after school experiential leadership program for middle school girls that uses a social change curriculum focused on puppy rescue and welfare.  Unleashed focuses on a pivotal time in the girl’s lives and the girls learn to advocate for others; think critically about a complex social problem; and, most importantly, gain confidence in their ability to lead change.  This inaugural event in the Hamptons hopes to become an annual event to help raise funds and awareness about the cause.

The event was a star studded event bringing in pet celebrities and vendors alike including Erika Searl and her two dogs, Cubby and Ginger of the NYC TV Show Doggie Mom’s, and fantastic vendors such as; Hampton Pet Club, Life is Grruff, Hampton Pet Chef, Macaroni Kid and the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation, and lots of scrumptious hors d’oeurves passed for both people and pets. There were also casting agents in attendance for potential stars of  Animal Planet’s hit TV show ‘It’s Me or the Dog,’ featuring Victoria Stillwell.

Erika Searl, Cubby & Ginger for NYC's Doggie Mom's

“We were delighted to make our debut in the Hamptons this week and were so happy to attract so many   enthusiastic supporters of girls and puppies.  We look forward to making many new friends as we grow and develop this wonderful program. We invite anyone that is interested in Unleashed to check out our website to learn more about the great work that we do,’ said Shelly Wimpfheimer, Event Chair of Unleashed Hits the Hamptons.

The day also featured veterinarian, Dr. Barry Browning, who provided consultation for all of those nagging problems plaguing pet owners every day.  Shelly also said, “We thank all of those who made this day possible, especially our generous sponsors, Ellen Kapit, Sotheby’s Realty, Middle Sister Wines, Pfizer Animal Health, Archie the Dog, Game Day Girl, Pine Barrens Printing, Scopinich Signs, Long Island Pet Professionals, the Zonta Club of Peconic, Dr. and Mrs. Fred Small and Julia, and last but not least, our generous hostess, Mary Moran.”

So many dogs were romping around, devouring yummy treats and gourmet pet food while enjoying a beautiful day in the Hamptons all for a wonderful cause and great new program.

To find out more about UnleashedNY go to their website and like them on Facebook too. If you are a local rescue group that would like to get involved with this program – please email info@unleashedny.org to find out more information.

More Pictures below!

Kim Loper & Andrew LoMonaco of Life is Grruff!

Bonnie Mollin Emmerich of Hampton Pet Chef

Amber

Raymond

Dusty

Erika Searl of Doggie Moms holding Ginger and Nancy Hassel Founder of Long Island Pet Professionals holding Cubby