CEO Lida Orzeck, "Chairman of the Board" Henree and President & Creative Director Gale Epstein

Last September, Gale and I attended the Humane Society of the United States’ Make History Gala at the Pierre Hotel in New York. The event placed a spotlight on the cruelty behind the puppy mill industry and raised funds to help end the abuse nationwide. That night we learned that the state which has the dubious distinction of housing the most puppy mills in the nation is Missouri. (What an unfortunate irony, I thought, since Gale is from Missouri and she is an extremely devoted animal welfare advocate.) The event was fun and successful and raised over $1,000,000 including a chunk which helped the Missouri ballot initiative outlawing puppy mills, to pass two months later.

At the live auction during dinner, we could not keep our paddles in our laps when the following item came up: YOUR PET FEATURED IN PATRICK MCDONNELL’S RENOWNED MUTTS COMIC STRIP. Long, nail-biting story short, we won! The “pet” in question is Hanky Panky’s Chairman (sic) of the Board, Henree. Patrick and his lovely wife, Karen O’Connell, visited the Chairman at her office a few weeks later, to get to know her in order to properly depict her looks and personality. Henree appeared in MUTTS on Sunday, March 27, 2011. It is indeed a win-win: $7500 for the HSUS and immortality for Henree!

-Lida

© 2011 Patrick McDonnell King Features Syndicate Inc.

Share this:

No related posts.