Gloria Estefan Adopts Pair Of Little Shelter Pups
/By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com
Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan, second from left, and members of her staff adopt four puppies from Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center in Huntington. Photo courtesy of Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center
While Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan was co-hosting the 18th annual Broadway Barks in Manhattan on July 30, a pair of puppies caught her eye.
The dogs, which were Maltese-Chihuahua mixes, hailed from the Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center in Huntington. Estefan, a Grammy Award-winning Latin pop star who rose to fame in the ‘80s, visited Little Shelter at 33 Warner Road to finalize the adoption on Aug. 3.
The adoption event, which was originated by actresses Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore, was hosted by the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals. The gathering of Broadway stars and rescue groups promoted adoptions of both dogs and cats. Little Shelter was one of 30 rescue organizations that attended the event.
The two puppies were part of a litter of four that were brought in through the shelter’s Animal Soup Kitchen, a program that provides medical care and food for pet owners who have fallen on hard times, said David Ceely, executive director of Little Shelter.
Actress Bernadette Peters, left, and singer Gloria Estefan advocate for animal adoption through the annual Broadway Barks event and adopting from shelters. Photo courtesy of Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center
“It’s always exciting when a celebrity like Gloria will join in the fight to help promote shelter pet adoptions over purchasing from pet stores that are provided with puppies from puppy mills,” Ceely said. “It’s a big coup for us to get someone like her to help us advocate for that purpose.”
The dogs are set to join Estefan in her Miami home.
The two remaining puppies of the litter were adopted by two members of Estefan’s staff, Ceely said.
“The significance of adoption is that it helps out with the 8 million animals that are euthanized every year,” Ceely said. “When you adopt an animal from a shelter, you actually save two lives. You save the lives of the animal you adopted, and then it makes more room for us to save another animal.”
Estefan couldn’t be reached for comment before deadline Wednesday, but she made a post to her Twitter page last week in which she said her new pups will stay together and that she plans to take “good care of them."
