As filed – without editing – last week for yesterday’s edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Dan Soskin, the owner of Pinot, a wine and accessories store in Old City, wants you to give a home to needy animals.
“I have four pets of my own,” he said. “With the exception of the iguana, they were all adoptees.”
Using the visibility of First Friday on April 4, Soskin, who also has a dog and two cats, partnered with the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society to promote pet adoptions.
“Some say ‘What does wine have to do with that?” Soskin said. “Well, people who appreciate wine and good wine accessories have a heart… They appreciate the good things in life. I think pets are good things in life.”
Pinot pledged 10 percent of the night’s sales, as much as $500, to PAWS, which also found homes for a handful of animals on the night.
“I think at least one kitten,” he said. “It is kitten season now, you know.”
“We have been here a year and a half, so we wanted to do something good,” he said. “I know about the homeless population of animals in Philadelphia. It is a serious problem.”
More than 200 people came through Pinot, and at least as many visited PAWS, Soskin said.
Dogs were mingling with passersby on the sidewalk.
“They had ‘Adopt Me’ vests right in front of the store. It was a magnet.” he said. “Come in, we can talk about wine, we can talk about pets, we can talk about wine accessories.”
It was a success that may happen again, Soskin said.
“The volunteers at PAWS are great, Their whole operation, they get a lot of homes for animals,” he said. “We’re already talking about doing the same thing… It was very exciting to have the partnership go so well at the get go. I look forward for future projects.”
Photo courtesy of Pinot. Dan Soskin, owner of Pinot, and Tara Derby, CEO of PAWS, raise a glass to Snowy and some of the other dogs available for adoption at “Wines, Canines, and Felines” April 4 at PINOT’s 227 Market Street location and PAWS’ adoption center at 100 N. 2nd Street. Also pictured are PAWS volunteers Carla Schultes and Garrett Elwood, with pooches Mackey and Vegas.
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I would like to congratulate these people on doing wonderful work for animals. I would love to do something like this for animals in the UK. I really don’t know why animals are so often treated so badly by humans, they can’t speak for themselves and having been domesticted by humans it is out job to look after them. Animals don’t maim and kill for reasons that are hard to understand, they are innocents in a crual world.