Ben Racusin, Mica Piro, Bailey Blocker, Brian Reynolds
CITIZENS FOR ANIMAL Protection (CAP) brought out the big dogs for its annual Celebrity Paws gala, which this year adopted a theme of Mission: Pawsible. Event chairs Jody Merritt and Christine Johnson accomplished a fantastic mission of raising $875,000, and are pledging to round up the final amount to a million dollars, all going toward CAP's shelter, rescue and adoption efforts.
The highlight of the evening, as always, was the rocking runway show, where local notables and the night's honorees strutted their stuff alongside their prized pets. This year's models included Carson Brown, John Cangelosi and Natasha Minor, Angela Hernandez, Daniel Irion and Kirk Kveton, Brigitte Kalai, Sharron Melton, Sarah Pepper, Roxy Riefkohl, Kenny Webster, and Rebecca and Anthony Yanez. Other awards distributed at the gala were the Social Influencer for Animals award, which went to Madeline Garis Smith, and the Melcher Humanitarian of the Year accolade, which was given to Nicolette St. Angel.
The Mission: Pawsible party, attended by a whopping 800 supporters, also included an exciting raffle for a 2024 Subaru Outback, donated by famously animal-loving West Houston Subaru. Emcee Owen Conflenti and auctioneer Johnny Bravo conducted the live auction, which contributed to the total till.
Amy Stengel, Nicolette St Angel
Angela Hernandez and Buckley winner of 2023 Celebrity Pet of the Year
Tony Ackerman and Sandi Mercado
Brigitte and Bashar Kalai with Max
Suzanne Klein and Edna Meyer-Nelson
Caron Brown and Pepper
Steve and Christine Johnson
Charlie and Janice Hall
Clark Whitty and Mary Kenner
Sharron Melton with Omorede and Idrissa
Clint and Meghan Conroy
Daniel Irion and Kirk Kveton with Biscuit
Ross and Bryn Talkington
Debra Laws, Beth Wolff, Anna Kaplan
Roxy Riefkohl and Olive Marie and Ruby Rose
Odilia and Owen Conflenti
Frank Billingsley and Kevin Gilliard
Greg Brown, Brandy Minick
Pamela Srpouse and Gregory Miller
Hallie Vanderhider and Bobby Dees
Rebecca and Anthony Yanez with Harvey and Houston
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Itai and Lin Ben Eli 
