Daniela Brighenti Photo
Dogs hang around the bar.
For one night, Anna Liffey’s Irish Pub significantly lowered its entrance age.
Bellying up to the bar — or at least the base of the bar stools— were a multitude of puppies.
They were honored guests at “Puppypalooza,” a fundraiser for the Robin I Kroogman New Haven Animal Shelter.
Saturday’s event at the popular Whitney Avenue watering hole was organized by Friends of the New Haven Animal Shelter, a local group of volunteers who assist in running the shelter, the second largest municipal animal shelter in the Connecticut. Money raised at the event, which ran from 5 p.m. until closing, will go primarily towards the purchase of noise abatement equipment for the dog kennels, renovation projects and a medical fund for animals with injuries.
“Sometimes the work can be tough and depressing, it’s hard work,” FNHAS President Deb Wan said. “But we think of it as giving the animals something positive.”
Wan holds Sydney.
Wan held Sydney as she spoke, a recent addition to the shelter’s family of dogs. Sydney had been hit by a car. Wan said she hopes that part of the money raised Saturday night for the medical fund can be used to treat dogs with those types of injuries.
According to Wan, the city is often unable to provide the shelter with all the resources it needs. Currently, over 30 FHNAS volunteers help the five full-time staff members at the shelter.
“Their help is important,” city Municipal Animal Control Officer Joe Maganiello said. “Whether it be to take dogs out on walks, just really to have more hands there.”
Shelter staff members Joe Maganiello and Nancy Perry.
He explained that the staff members bring in dogs, run temperament tests and, after establishing that the dogs are safe, the volunteers come in to help take care of the animals.
For Elaine Spinato, who has been a volunteer at FHNAS for the last nine years, the work is “all about the dogs.” She works as the group’s treasurer and also helps to organize events to promote the group and raise funds for its projects.
Though in the past the group has organized larger events, such as the formerly annual “Makin’ Woofie” that featured a catered dinner, the group is focusing now on smaller events such as Puppypalooza, FHNAS volunteer Anna Schildroth said. Schildroth has been working with the group for over two decades.
“We’ve gotten more visible in the community through the years, and now we have great supporters that let us focus on smaller events,” Schildroth said.
This was the second year a fundraiser for an animal shelter was held at Anna Liffey’s. Last year, the event was organized for the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter of Branford.
“We were very thankful when they called us and said, ‘Why don’t you guys host it this year?’” Wan said.
Saturday’s fundraiser featured two bands, a bagpiper, a silent auction, and a canine massage station.