Finding a Man’s Best Friend

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Sorry, not talking about that close buddy you can go to the bar with, get advice from or play an Xbox game with, but a sweet canine. They can raise your emotional quotient, help your body release endorphins and act as your running sidekick. Well, in just a short distance away, you can adopt one. You will have saved money (as opposed to spending a load at the pet store), rescued an animal and done a good thing for society.

Every year, LA County shelters are forced to kill over 100,000 dogs and cats because of space shortages. They are filled with many lost and abandoned animals. This is where rescue organizations like the Bark Avenue Foundation and the Amanda Foundation step in to find them a home.

To note, there are a few differences between buying and adopting. Pet stores usually buy their dogs from commercial kennels and brokers who buy from breeders, and then resell them to customers at a high price. Shelters and rescue organizations consist of animals that were strayed or pets that have been brought in by owners who are no longer able to care for their furry pals. Adopting a pet dog may mean owning a mixed breed, but they are just as cute and cuddly, less expensive, and perhaps easier to handle if they’ve been trained by previous owners.

Last week the Bark Avenue Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to reducing pet overpopulation through spay/neuter, humane education and re-homing, held an adoption and silent auction fundraiser event hosted by Villa Firenze, a local manufacturer and retailer of home textiles who has supplied stores like Z Gallerie and Anthropologie.

Designer Lisa LaPorta of HGTV as well as local and aspiring designers had their bedding displayed with coordinating dog beds, which were raffled off at the end of the night. All profits went to the Bark Avenue Foundation, helping them shoulder the high costs of rescued-animal care.

Outside the storefront, a teeny pup with droopy eyes lay slightly shivering from the light breeze in the arms of a volunteer. On the other side a golden mutt stood quietly, looking stately and awaiting adoption.

The Bark Avenue Foundation is one of several rescue organizations in the Los Angeles vicinity and has adoption events at the Farmer’s Market the second Sunday of every month, next to the clock tower from 11am to 3pm, (on 3rd & Fairfax). If you’re one of those people who has always wanted a dog but never did anything about it, here’s your chance. Their next adoption event will be held on March 14, but for more events, opportunities and information, visit BarkAvenueFoundation.org.

These four-legged creatures might not be the type of friend you can go to the movies with or assign as the designated driver, but you can always count on their loyalty—no strings attached.