Special Fundraising Event - Liza Minnelli Lends Support to Mayor's Alliance at Rubyfruit Pet Pride Pageant - May/June 2006 - Out of the Cage!, the E-Newsletter of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

Home > Out of the Cage! > May/June 2006 > Special Fundraising Event: Liza Minnelli Lends Support to Mayor's Alliance at Rubyfruit Pet Pride Pageant

Special Fundraising Event

Liza Minnelli Lends Support to Mayor's Alliance at Rubyfruit Pet Pride Pageant

Special guest judge Liza Minnelli mugs with Maddie at the Rubyfruit Pet Pride Pageant, a benefit for the Mayor's Alliance, on June 24.

In what was without a doubt one of the highlights of Pride Weekend in New York City, legendary Liza Minnelli joined nearly two dozen pets and their proud people and supporters on Saturday, June 24, for the First Annual Rubyfruit Pet Pride Pageant to benefit the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals. The event was created and hosted by Rubyfruit Bar & Grill, a popular eatery on Hudson Street in Manhattan's West Village.

Despite unrelenting rain, Liza appeared as scheduled to join the panel of pageant judges and crown the Grand Prize winning pooch. (Cats and other pets were invited to enter the pageant, but the venue apparently appealed primarily to people with canine companions.)

Midway through the event, rain forced the festivities inside the restaurant, where the parade of furry contestants and their people continued to vie for top dog honors as Cutest Pet and Proudest Senior Pet. The crowning moment came when Liza awarded the Grand Prize to Lilly, an adorable Schnauzer. (Maddie, the six-foot Miniature Schnauzer mascot for Maddie's Fund who shared the stage, looked on approvingly!)

Liza gets acquainted with Lilly, the pageant's grand prize-winning pooch as judge Kate Casey looks on.

Winners and runners-up were showered with prizes, including gift certificates and gifts from sponsoring businesses, including Petland Discounts, Macy's, Beasty Feast, The Dog Run – NYC, Le Petit Puppy, Hartz, Honeybark Bakery, Red Bull, and New York Dog magazine.

Liza was quoted as saying she was "…glad to be here to help support the work of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and their efforts to make New York a no-kill city, where homeless animals will no longer face the possibility of being euthanized. As an animal lover, this cause is very dear to my heart."

To underscore the message behind the Pageant and garner support for NYC's homeless animals, Animal Haven Shelter (a Mayor's Alliance founding member) was represented by two adorable adoptable dogs, Leon and Dusty, who were introduced to potential adopters from the stage. (You can meet both cute pooches at Animal Haven's web site — they both are still awaiting their forever homes.)

Animal Haven's Jennifer Bristol introduces Liza to Leon, a Chow mix puppy available for adoption.

The Mayor's Alliance wishes to extend its deep appreciation to Ms. Minnelli for her support of the event; Debbie Fierro, owner of Rubyfruit Bar & Grill; Alayne Skylar, the event's producer and chief organizer, who along Ms. Fierro, raised close to $20,000 last year for Petfinder.com rescue and aid to hurricane Katrina's animal victims; the terrific staff and helpers at Rubyfruit; the event sponsors named above; and all the wonderful people and pets who participated in the pageant.

Be on the lookout for next year's Rubyfruit Pet Pride Pageant…information will be available at a later date at www.PetPridePageant.com.