West Hollywood’s passion for dogs and for reality TV came together on Saturday at West Hollywood Park in a celebration of World Dog Day with Lisa Vanderpump’s Vanderpump Dog Foundation.
The event included live performances, contests and more than 35 exhibitors featuring pet-friendly products and services, including a dog agility park, an animal education area, a morning “Doga” class, and food trucks. World Dog Day also featured the first annual “Best of Vanderpump Rescue Contest,” hosted and judged by the cast of Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” reality TV show.
Comedian and videographer Ben Kawaller attended the event on behalf of WEHOville and took to the red carpet to interview “virtually famous” people many of us have never heard for a video posted above.
The Vanderpump Dog Foundation was created in 2016 with the stated mission of “protection of dogs and prevention of cruelty towards dogs.” One of its major efforts has been a campaign to shut down the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, which launched in 2009 to celebrate a Chinese tradition stemming from 4,000 years ago. Consumption of dog meat occurs primarily in Asian countries, with Vietnam said to be the second largest consumer of dog meat after China. However the passion for dog meat apparently has declined over the years. In this country, some Native American tribes are known for having regularly consumed dog and puppy meat.
The Vanderpump Dog Center at 8134 W. 3rd St. in Los Angeles, described as a “center for dog royalty,” is home to the Vanderpump Dog Foundation, which raises money through events and by charging adoption fees and offering grooming services at the center and from the profits it makes by selling luxury dog products there.
Lisa Vanderpump has found herself immersed in recent months in a reality tv show bruhaha called “Puppygate.” That “scandal” involves allegations that Dorit Kemsley, one of Vanderpump’s co-stars on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” dumped a dog that she adopted from the Vanderpump Dog Center.
Kemsley allegedly took the dog to another shelter after it bit her two-year-old daughter, Phoenix. Vanderpump, however, has said that her friend handed the dog off to another companion with her blessing only to find out that that person had taken it to another shelter.
