More than 2,000 Palisadians and Angelenos hoping to make a pawsitive difference in the lives of LA’s countless homeless pets packed Will Rogers State Historic Park on Saturday for the Strut Your Mutt fundraiser.
Participants raised more than $600,000 in support of adoption programs, spay/neuter services and other life-saving programs for animals in local shelters – breaking records for the number of participants and funds raised.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
“What started as a grassroots movement just to save one animal at a time has thrived and survived to become this national movement,” said Best Friends Animal Society’s founder, Francis Battista. “It’s amazing to see that together, we really can save them all.”
Participants and their dogs gathered for a twilight walk/fun run around the park and perused the outdoor festival, which included pet yoga, pet product vendors, a mini agility course and raffle prizes.
Palisadian Joelle Friedman endured the crawling traffic up the winding road to the park to bring her 11-year-old Maltese Asia to the festival for the first time.
“This is such a fun and positive event. It’s really amazing to see everyone come together for such a great cause,” Friedman said.
Strut Your Mutt veterans Hannah Heyman and Bella Joyner, third-graders at Seven Arrows Elementary, came with the Joyner family’s rescue dog Lacy and a donation of $1,000.
“We wanted to raise the money and do the walk to help save dogs in shelters,” Joyner said. “We love dogs, and we want to help them.”
Robert Reiff and Joan Van Horn, who live in the El Medio Bluffs, joined hundreds of others at the Eat/See/Hear screening of Dirty Dancing that followed the Strut Your Mutt festivities.
“There was a lot of synergy between the dog people and non-dog people. Surprisingly, with so many dogs in one place, they were very well behaved. There were only a few barks during the movie,” Reiff said. “It was really a great evening and great place to see an outdoor movie.”
See more photos from Strut Your Mutt on the cover of Pali Life.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
