{"id":58454,"date":"2025-12-11T22:52:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T22:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/58454\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T22:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T22:52:08","slug":"1400-dogs-compete-in-allentown-show-supporting-domestic-violence-shelters-that-accept-pets-allentown-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/58454\/","title":{"rendered":"1,400 dogs compete in Allentown show, supporting domestic violence shelters that accept pets | Allentown Area"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ALLENTOWN, Pa. &#8211; One of the most popular dog shows in the country is happening this weekend in Allentown.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lehighvalleykennelclub.org\/star-of-bethlehem-show\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stars of Bethlehem Show<\/a>,&#8221; hosted by the Lehigh Valley and Delaware Water Gap Kennel Clubs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the moments before competition, Patrice readies 20-month old Sheena for judging. It is Patrice&#8217;s calling, but golden retriever Sheena is still learning the ropes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A lot of people are from out of town because there&#8217;s nowhere else to go. It&#8217;s here or Florida, we get people mostly not in our area,&#8221; said Patrice Loves of Middletown.<\/p>\n<p>Sheena&#8217;s mother was a National Dog Show winner in 2023, and this weekend, the best are in Allentown. 1400 dogs, 500 breeds from American Eskimos, to Welsh Springers, all being coiffed, brushed, and fluffed.<\/p>\n<p>The Lehigh Valley and Delaware Water Gap Kennel Clubs are partnering with Purina&#8217;s Purple Leash Project. The initiative supports homeless and domestic violence shelters that accept pets.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And your dog is your companion forever, to have to lose a dog because you&#8217;re battered, and you can&#8217;t take the dog with you, or that someone&#8217;s chasing you, it&#8217;s an awful thought,&#8221; said Elaine Lessig, dog show coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;With helping out these domestic abuse shelters, it allows victims to take their pet and go, and they don&#8217;t feel obligated to stay,&#8221; said Kathy Guerrero, Purina Pro Plan spokesperson.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As for Patrice and Sheena, a fourth place finish. And a new beginning for this Golden Retriever.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s going to hunt ducks. She&#8217;s going into the field,&#8221; said Patrice Loves of Middletown.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fewer than 20% of domestic violence shelters accept pets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As for the dog show, it runs until 6:00 p.m. through Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLENTOWN, Pa. &#8211; One of the most popular dog shows in the country is happening this weekend in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[214,119,121,120,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-58454","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-_homepage_top_stories","9":"tag-allentown","10":"tag-allentown-headlines","11":"tag-allentown-news","12":"tag-allentown-area"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}