This intimidating pair, Tanya and Samson the Doberman Pinscher, stepped out in full army fatigue.
Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
THEY REALLY do yeomen's service in an area where little is understood by the majority. They are also under-funded, and for the most part, their work is not at all welcomed by many, as, after all, this here is a brutish society, where animals are not only constantly mistreated, they are seen as being in competition for the scraps on which many would survive.
As a direct consequence, dogs, supposedly man's best friend, suffer degradation and brutality which often leaves them lame, bruised and battered and on the brink of starvation.
Enter the Jamaica Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals (JSPCA). This 103-year-old organisation, with its very meagre resources, has been spreading the anti-cruelty word by sensitising many of the rights of the animals and the need for a new approach in the caring for and interaction with our animals.
To make this message of being our animals' keepers resonate with more of our people than the affluent, the board of the JSPCA appointed Kayleigh Malcolmson as its GM; her task, not just to efficiently manage the affairs of the society, but also, to sensitise more Jamaicans to the outreach programmes being effected by the society, as well as forging a more friendly atmosphere for animals.
RAFT OF MEASURES
To achieve her objective, the charming Malcolmson has instituted a raft of measures. One of them is the recruitment of scores of volunteers, drawn from a number of the city's leading secondary schools who actively donate their time in after school care programmes at the society's Winchester Road offices.
My dears, this influx of volunteers has brought with it a new need for additional funding to shore-up the society's meagre resources and expand its range of services. Not content with just sitting by and playing the 'we coulda or we shoulda' game, JSPCA decided to take their show on the road to raise these funds.
To assist with their fund-raising efforts, it was noised abroad that the JSPCA would be hosting its inaugural annual Wine and Cheese and Doggies Fashion show, on the grounds of the Guardsman Group headquarters on Old Hope Road.
Fab society was all fit and ready to support this event that was originally scheduled for two Thursday evenings ago. But the inclement weather ordained otherwise as it rained cats and dogs, (pun not intended) causing the organisers of the much anticipated event to postpone same.
Well pumpkins, with supporters of the event clamouring for its staging, last Saturday saw the event being staged at its originally scheduled venue and dearhearts, it was quite the social outing, and then some!
The show was the bomb and the night belonged to the pampered pooches and innovative styling. My dears, with some of the island's leading wine distributors showcasing their stuff for the tasting, a fine collection of cheese from which to sample, and various other fabulously laid-out cabanas, the grounds and gardens of the Guardsman headquarters was like unto a profilers dream.
It was a family affair and then some, with spouses and their off-springs leisurely strolling from cabana to cabana, sampling the fare from Jo-Jo's Market on Waterloo Road; cheeses from GraceKennedy; the celebrated wines of Paul Hanworth's 1860 Wine Club and the products from the Busha Browne portfolio of premium Jamaican spices.
FASHION SHOW
Hosted by Radio's Jenny-Jenny, the fashion show was a fabulous over-the-topper!
Pooches with attitude! Primped Pooches! Primed Pooches! Prissy Pooches! Fabulous Pooches! There they were on stage and strutting their stuff like hot runway models; their handlers fading into the background as man's best friends, at their pampered best, took to the stage with the effortless grace and élan known only to those of the pampered class.
A boa-constrictor, an African Macaw, and a sassy feline, did make guest appearances but sweet-things, the night belonged to the pedigreed pooches.
And the human society was fine too, as among those out, were: Chairman of the JSPCA Kenny Benjamin; Junior Tourism Minister MP Dr. Wykeham McNeil and his fiancée the lovely Sheila Benjamin-Fernandez, their children Jordan McNeil and Ashleigh Fernandez, also out; Head of the EU Delegation HE Ambassador Gerd Jarchow and his fab wife Mara Mandara-Jarchow; Chilean Ambassador HE Alfonso Silva;Peter and Dawn McCauley; Robert MacMillan; Roy and Sylvia Collister; Gleaner columnist Dawn Ritch; Harold Brady; Mrs. Janet Panton; Ian Garbutt and companion AJ Betty; Al Niazi; Mrs. Valerie Juggan-Brown; John and Marlene Fulford; Dr. Lorna Simmonds and her children; Nicola Crosswell-Mair; Robin and Mo Morris; Aubyn Hill and his wife, Mrs. Tamara Hill; Claude Clements; the lovely Karlene MaxBrown; the charming Dawn Young; R. Christene King; Opposition MP James Robertson; his political colleague Garnett Reid, also out; Rajiv Bakshi and companion, the charmingly lovely Dorothea Gordon-Smith, and her daughters Taquise and Luciano Gordon-Smith.
