Scraps & Treats

Rusty’s Rendezvous

Things are looking up for shelter animals in Oakland County. Rusty’s Rendezvous, a new permanent pet-adoption site at Oakland Pet Adoption Center in Auburn Hills, is gearing up for a spring full of successful adoption events. The $20,000 structure, which is a large outdoor gazebo area, provides an accessible and highly visible public place for rescue groups and shelters to use year-round, for free. The site was made possible by the Oakland Pet Fund, a newly formed charity dedicated to bringing the “No More Homeless Pets” campaign created by Best Friends Animal
Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, to Oakland County. “The absolute key for so many of these rescue facilities is to get the animals out of the shelters and into the public,” says board member Linda Wasche. Rusty’s Rendezvous is dedicated to Wasche’s father, the late Michael Wasche of Shelby Township, and his dog Rusty, who was rescued as a stray. Rusty’s Rendezvous is located at 1700 Brown Rd in Auburn Hills. For details call the Oakland Pet Adoption Center at (248) 391-4100.

We’ll Drink to Dog House Wine

It’s not like we really need another excuse to pour a nice big glass of vino, but the folks at Dog House Winery are throwing us a bone. Now you can justify that overworked corkscrew with the comfort of knowing you are drinking for a good cause. Dog House Winery, part of California wine company Kendall-Jackson, recently released three canine-inspired labels: Maxie’s Merlot, Checker’s Cabernet, and Charlie’s Chardonnay. Fifty cents per bottle will go to support Guide Dogs for the Blind, a nonprofit charitable organization that provides and trains guide dogs for visually impaired people in the United States and Canada. The mutt behind the mission is the Jackson family dog, Robbie, who, of course, inspects each bottle and gives it his seal of approval in the form of a paw print. The wine retails for around $10 a bottle and can be found at major grocery stores and wine distributors. For details, visit www.DogHouseWine.com.

Orange You Going to Help the Animals?

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals wants you to go orange. On April 10, the oldest animal-welfare organization in the United States is turning 140 years old and it’s asking Americans to help it celebrate. As part of the festivities, skyscrapers in the group’s hometown of Manhattan (including the Empire State Building) will be lighting up orange–the official color of the ASPCA. Other big cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, will be going orange as well. But the ASPCA also offers a number of ways for people to show their support on a local level. Suggestions include asking your local pet store to go orange and offer discounts on April 10, getting an “orange” thumb and planting an orange garden in your yard for the animals, organizing a wear-orange-for-the-animals day at school, and having a benefit for your local animal shelter by organizing a bake sale with orange cookies and cupcakes. For other ideas on how to go orange, please visit www.ASPCA.org.