A Doggone Good Time

The Westminster Kennel Club closes its annual competition at Madison Square Garden with the Best in Show presentation, and New York Insider was there to watch all of the barking good action. For our slide show, click here.

For the Dogs

Tonight was to have been one of animal activist Wendy Diamond's biggest and best Howlaween celebrations to date. The annual event is regarded as a must-attend party by dog-lovers and Halloween revelers alike, attracting a celebrity crowd that is beautiful, fun and of course, canine friendly.

This year's venue, brand-new danceteria District 36, on West 36th Street, is one of the fall's most-buzzed-about openings. And yet, the nightclub preview that guests expected to have this evening was simply not to be. Instead, thanks to a negative ruling by the NYC Board of Health concerning dogs and food occupying the same space, guests arrived at District 36 to closed doors plastered with signs redirecting them 20 blocks south, to 14th Street. It was there that another new spot, Snap, owned by Matthew Isaacs, had generously come to the rescue. Coincidentally, Snap was celebrating a low-key friends and family preview before its own opening next week and agreed to host the party at the 11th hour. But no sooner than you could say "Oh, snap," the redirected guests told that here, too, dogs would not be allowed inside. Thank you, New York City Health Department.

With a "show must go on" attitude that only a dynamo like Diamond could muster, she and her longtime friends Sandra DeFeo and Anne-Marie Karash from the Humane Society of New York decided to hold the dog costume contest and judging right on the sidewalk. (Much to the chagrin of the NYPD.) In front of a hastily arranged step and repeat affixed to a plywood construction barricade, celebrity judges Dylan Lauren (daughter of Ralph and founder of the delightful Candy Bar); high-society gal Tinsley Mortimer (in pigtails); and ubiquitous TV personality Sara Gore, looking glam and Gatsbyesque, presided over a contest that included purebreds and mutts dressed as everthing from Cleopatra to a centipede.

It was most certainly not the sort of night anyone had imagined it would be, and yet, tempers remained calm as the good dog people in attendance mixed and mingled just as they would have in a nightclub. (Albeit sans cocktails and thumping house music.)

Despite the circumstances, every dog did indeed have his day, with multiple prizes awarded before the group went home with tales (and tails!) to tell to loved ones of a crazy New York night.

Want to see who won? Watch for the top dog and his owner to appear with Diamond on the Today show this Friday.

Diamond in the Ruff (Party 2)

Last night, animal lovers, royalty and other friends of author, animal activist and philanthropist Wendy Diamond gathered to toast her on her birthday at a private residence in Millennium Towers, overlooking Central Park. Guests included Prince Waldemar ZuSchaumburg-Lippe Nachod of Denmark and Animal Planet stars Victoria Stilwell (host of It’s Me or The Dog, seen with Diamond at left) and Lincoln O’Barry, whose three-part series, Blood Dolphins, premieres August 27. A special toast was given to Lincoln's father, Ric O’Barry, who starred in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.

Other guests included Scott Delman, Nunu Deng, Alex Goldberg, Melissa Breitbart Sohn, Robin Cofer, author Anisha Lakhani, Anita Sarko, Heidi Kelso, and United Nations Executive Director of Partnerships Amir Dossal, along with his wife, Tas, and son, Zecki. Last but certainluy not least was Diamond's Maltese rescue, Lucky, who had plenty of company thanks to the other four-legged friends who made it to the event.

For slideshow, click here.

Why Should Tots Have All the Fun?

Dogs like toys, too, and for that reason (but also because every dog deserves a good loving home), Animal Fair's Wendy Diamond held a benefit party last night at Cipriani Wall Street in support of the Humane Society of New York. With their dogs in tow, spirited city dwellers turned out to sample a bit of holiday cheer while letting their pets get to know each other a little better. A very svelte Santa even showed up for the festivities, as you'll see in the photo album here.

Gone to the Dogs

We've all seen them on the streets of New York....hapless canines dressed in "cute" outfits by their owners. "Get me out of here," the dogs' eyes seem to plead, as the biped holding the leash grins from ear to ear about how adorable the ensemble looks on his or her pet.

Not so the dogs at Howlaween last night, an event benefitting the Humane Society of New York and sponsored by Wendy Diamond and Animal Fair magazine. Dressed as characters from the Big Bad Wolf to Shrek's Princess Fiona, Jackie O to hero pilot "Sully" Sullenberger, these pooches loved every minute of being in Halloween costume. Parading on a runway at M2 Ultralounge, in Chelsea, the dogs (and their costumed caretakers) delighted a standing-room-only crowd that came out to enjoy the kind of creativity that was truly something to bark about.

Celebrity judges for the night included the cast of National Geographic's Rescue Ink,  Real Housewives of New York's Ramona Bass and Miss Teen USA, Stormi Bree Henley. For more pictures of man's best friends lapping it up on the runway, click here.

Let it Snow!

Three snow leopards have taken their place in Central Park. Raised at the Bronx Zoo, these three cats (two females and a male) now enjoy a specially designed habitat at the Central Park Zoo, half a world away from their natural breeding grounds, in Central Asia. But here in the Big Apple, they've got all of the amenities of home and then some.

To celebrate their arrival, the Wildlife Conservation Society last night threw its annual gala, which of course brought out some of the city's most prominent social types. Sipping cocktails by the sea-lion pool, party guests moved into tropical tents decorated with arrangements created by master florist Preston Bailey. In accordance with the Society's eco-oriented mission, all items on the night's menu were sourced locally, with no ingredient coming from anywhere more than 100 miles outside New York.

Be sure to stop by to see the snow leopards yourself. But just don't expect to hear them roar. Unlike other ferocious felines, snow leopards are unable to make that frightening sound.

Getting Crabby in Grand Central

From the subterranean caverns of Grand Central Terminal has emerged a creature we're all quite pleased to see: soft-shell crab. Fresh from Florida, the first-catch crustaceans made their seasonal debut today at the iconic Grand Central Oyster Bar. The scrumptious offering costs $31.95, which will net you (sorry, couldn't resist) two large soft-shells crabs, sautéed with garlic herb butter. “The soft shells usually arrive earlier in March," says executive chef Sandy Ingber, "but it’s been a little colder than usual." We've noticed. Fortunately, certain things are worth the wait.

A Kangaroo Storms the Waldorf

Honey-glazed cockroaches, crunchy crickets and yes, even maggots suspended in beet gelée. These appetizers signal only one thing: the annual dinner of the Explorer's Club. This eclectic gathering of astronauts, ocean explorers, mountain climbers and other lovers of the unknown was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Saturday and though the night was a long one (not breaking up until about a half hour before midnight), the program was kept lively by a retinue of owls, primates and even a boxing kangaroo, all of whom took their turn on stage in the Grand Ballroom. Emcee Josh Bernstein (pictured), host of the Discovery Channel's Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein, nimbly segued between human honorees and those with tails, as venerable explorer after explorer took the dais to accept well-deserved honors. The night was a celebration of biodiversity. And though Manhattan may not be considered uncharted territory, we think it's entirely appropriate that New York serves as headquarters of the Explorer's Club. Can you name another other metropolis more varied and worth exploring?

Paws... for a Cause

The fur was flying at Arena last night, at the ninth annual Paws for Style fashion show, held to benefit the Humane Society of New York. Gotham celebrities and dog-lovers alike gathered on the (ahem) catwalk to showcase an array of matching fashions for canines and humans. Among the designers unleashed for the event were Nanette Lepore, Rebecca Taylor, Tory Burch, Marc Jacobs, Badgley Mischka and Maggie Norris. Assorted canine-loving celebrities included the evening's emcee, the never without his sunglasses style guru Robert Verdi, Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky, actress Alison Becker, Miss Teen USA Hilary Cruz, journalist Jo Piazza, Social Life magazine editor Devorah Rose, WABC reporter Lauren Glassberg, Law & Order SVU's Richard Belzer, animal activist and philanthropist Frances Hayward and socialite and author Cornelia Guest. Lauren Conrad, star of The Hills, made an appearance, but vexingly for many in attendance, bolted before taking her turn on the runway. Not that any of the purebreeds and mutts in attendance took any notice. In fact, they seemed okay with the fact that the starlet had headed for, well, the hills. After all, it was the dogs themselves were the true stars of the night.