Every year my darling feline son, Pasha, looks forward to one of the biggest cat shows in the country, the CFA Iams Cat Championship at Madison Square Garden. Constantly upset by the endless dog competitions, this is really Pasha's weekend to support his species, and what a weekend it was. Of course, every year Pasha chickens out (he's something of a scaredy cat) and I end up taking Lucky where no dog should ever go: an arena filled with hundreds of cats!
Lucky and I saw every type of cat you could see (except for the big ones, you know, lions and tigers). I wasn't sure, but I think I did spot a cougar or two, but I'm not sure if the cougars in question were with their songs, or young lovers. We also saw plenty of ailurophiles. The name sounds like something you'd see on To Catch a Predator, but it simply means "lover of cats." It was a shame Pasha couldn't come after all because the winner was Runner, who we ran into, a 1-1/2 year-old Russian Blue -- Pasha's own breed -- from Greensboro, NC. Too bad Runner's a boy and Pasha's fixed, if not the two could have made future CFA champs! Runner won 400 pounds of cat food and an even higher honor, an appearance of Live with Regis and Kelly!
The next stop on Lucky and my pet show tour was Central Park for the 7th annual My Dog Loves Central Park Country Fair presented by Rachael Ray's Nutrish dog food, her new premium gourmet dog food line which donates proceeds of its sales to North Shore Animal League, Bad Rap, and the ASPCA via Rachael's charity, Rachael's Rescues (for more information check out RachaelRay.com/Pets, or google respective charities). Although her food sponsored the event, Rachael herself was nowhere in sight and neither was her elegant Pit Bull Isaboo. Lucky and I looked at the Boat House, checked out the Carousel, the zoo, the fountains and even Tavern on the Green, but the pair was nowhere to be found.
Lucky and I were chosen with honor to be judges for the Best In Park Dog Show Agility Course alongside some of my CBS' Greatest American Dog alums David and Elvis and runner-up Laurie with her mighty Maltese, Andrew. My little girl Lucky was so happy to see her old comrade Andrew that she wagged her tail so much it was about to fall off! We watched some pretty tough dogs compete in an intense agility course (but nothing quite as over the top as the elephant in Greatest American Dog course). The Best in Park Winner of the day was Jonathan Polan and his lab mix Posey.
We saw a special holiday, Columbus Day, this week and if you know anything about Columbus Day, it means a major parade in New York City. Well sure enough I found myself on a float smack in the middle of the New York Columbus Day Parade. Lucky and I were bearing the cold and waving to the crowd. You have no idea how funny it feels to wave at massive groups of people and have no one wave back. Lucky and I were part of the Green Chimney's float, a charity we just adore that does great work for both animals, humans as well as the environment. If you're in New York City this week, check out the dazzling sculpted dog I helped design for Green Chimney's "Celebrity Dogs Unleashed" fundraiser. The dog, along with many other celebrity-designed-dogs you're sure to recognize, is on display at the Essex House on Central Park South (a far cry from Main Street in my hometown of Chagrin Falls, Ohio). For more information on Green Chimneys, check out GreenChimneys.org.
Finally this week, Lucky and I stopped by the Four Seasons for the live auction of "The Best Seats in Sports" for Jets Coaches Club in the new Jets Stadium. I was there to show my support for the cause, but since I'm not the biggest sports aficionado, while football enthusiasts placed their bids, we ran into none other than legendary quarterback "Broadway Joe" Namath. Namath is a huge animal lover and told us, "My daughter loves rescuing animals - we all do in my family. I have four dogs (including a Weimaraner and Chihuahua), two cats, two daughters and a wonderful wife, we are animal crazy, especially rescuing!" I suppose he has a few "pig-skins" that he throw around sometimes when he finds the time.
Also at the event was Nobu famed restaurateur and founder of the Myriad Restaurant Group (which includes his Robert DeNiro partnered eatery, Tribeca Grill) Drew Nieperont. Nieperont is already excited to bring his two cocker spaniels, Chloe and Jackson (named after Jackson Brown) to our Halloween Pet Costume Party on October 27th at Mansion in New York City, with all proceeds going to the Humane Society of New York (for more info visit: animalfair.com). Nieperont eventually confessed the truth -- he's more excited for his wife, because she finally has an excuse to dress up the dogs and take them out.
The Jet's football seats group auction event hosted by Robert Wood (Woody) Johnson IV raised $400,000, which is $200,000 a seat! Lucky and I couldn't help but wondering how far that money would go for animal causes, but trust that good animal-loving-former-mega-sport-stars like Broadway Joe are doing their part to rescue animals.