You’ll really eat like a horse at Pets Lifeline fundraiser

Paws for a Cause - on Saturday, July 30 at Vintage Kennel Club,|

Pets Lifeline, Sonoma’s no-kill animal shelter, holds its most fun fundraiser of the year – Paws for a Cause – on Saturday, July 30 at Vintage Kennel Club, a great venue among animals to celebrate animals.

The event itself is a fabulous dinner enjoyed in horse stalls. Yes, horse stalls. And occasionally the horse who normally lives in the stall where you are dining might just reach in from the outside and nibble your salad. It’s that good.

Vintage Kennel owners Mike Weiss and Brian Ness always donate their elegant kennel for the event. Both gentlemen grew up on farms in Wisconsin and Minnesota, loved animals and went on to success in other fields. The have been raising and showing Wheaten Terriers since 1995, as well as Irish Wolfhounds and Kerry Blue Terriers.

Now their Vintage Kennel family includes dogs, draft horses, Friesians, a pony, miniature donkeys, a Dromedary camel or two, goats, chickens, ducks and livestock guardian dogs.

Ness serves on the Pets Lifeline board and is the Sonoma Valley 4-H dog leader.

While they open their facility to daycare and longer stays for pets, they open it once a year for the Pets Lifeline fundraiser.

Stellar Catering (Ari Wesisswasser and Bruce Riezenman) will cook and serve a “family-style” dinner preceded by passed hors d’oeuvres such as yellow watermelon gazpacho shots, beef skewers with Tamarind chilies, and heirloom tomato tartlets with ricotta salata.

Guests will sit down to grilled zucchini ribbons with radish and shaved Parmesan, golden beets with blood-orange oil, grilled layered eggplant, and Za’atar spiced flatbread.

Served on the tables in bowls and platters will be Bloomfield greens with a 6-minute egg, Berkshire porchetta with blistered shishito peppers, chicken Veracruz with dried tomatoes, Lazaro’s (Patch) Romano beans with olives, and “Dirty Farroto” with a celery trio of shaved celery, celery leaves and micro celery.

And the super local dessert will be Watmaugh strawberry cobbler in cast iron skillets, and housemade (Glen Ellen Star) individual ice creams. $150. 5:30 to 10 p.m. 22071 Bonness Road, Sonoma. Tickets at 996-4577 or petslifeline.org.

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