Host Beth Ostrosky Stern and a friend are interviewed on the red carpet. (Owen Hoffmann/PatrickMcMullan.com)

At great personal peril, last night The Observer headed to cavernous Gotham Hall t­­o raise a glass at the Bideawee 2012 Gala. It is a rare occasion that your humble reporter has to be mindful of a melee of dog leashes around our pumps, or the all-too-real possibility of squashing a dachshund. But, being gonzo reporters in the tradition of Hunter S. Thompson, we were ready to rub elbows with whatever the Bideawee Board of Directors could throw at us.

The New York-based humane organization has existed for over a century, and Monday’s gala celebrated a hundred years at Bideawee’s 38^th Street headquarters. For still obscure reasons, host Adrian Grenier dropped out at the last moment leaving animal lover Beth Ostrosky Stern to present in his stead—a move that upset her husband Howard Stern, who took to the airwaves this morning to excoriate the Entourage actor.

Pet attendance was de rigeur. Owners and their animals enjoyed wine and dog biscuits, both served from silver trays. Browsing the silent auction, guests could bid on items—ranging from a wine refrigerator to Colbert Report passes—using specially outfitted iPods. Whoever won those Neil Diamond tickets, we hope you’ll be in touch.

“If I were young and single, I would want to be here. I like being with dog lovers,” we heard one grey-haired gentleman note.

Bideawee board member Pam Laudenslager and cockapoo Lucy both seemed to be enjoying the fracas of guests furry and slightly-less-furry. Of Lucy, who was sporting an LED light on her collar, Ms. Laudenslager told us, “She’s definitely a party girl.” We only wondered if Lucy might say the same for Ms. Laudenslager.

We were pondering a second adult beverage when our gaze was caught by a vision in white, a heady confection of sequins and brocade. It was Bogie, a 10-month-old chihuahua sporting a striking cape and matching top hat. Bogie was accompanied by Anthony Rubio, animal activist and creator of Bandit Rubio pet couture. “I design all his clothing. He just learned how to wear the hats. See the Velcro? And there’s Velcro here.” Mr. Rubio directed our gaze to the back of Bogie’s collar and top hat. “I usually attach the hats to the collars as an illusion. But today he wore the hat.” For the past three years, Mr. Rubio has designed bespoke clothing for the well-heeled, four-legged set. “It’s not something you buy on a rack, it’s all made to measure,” he told us. And what does the face of the pet couture market look like these days? “Anybody and everybody. For weddings, special occasions. That’s another one of my designs, on Sadie.” The spaniel on the receiving end of Mr. Rubio’s gesture was wearing a gown equal parts Dynasty and Edwardian madame.

Stacy McCosky, Sadie’s owner, told us about the gown’s inception. “I let Anthony design it 100% percent, because he is amazing and every time I say, ‘Go for it,’ he comes out with a spectacular design!”

Our only regret of the evening? We had to head to the Q train before—as promised by our press release—a human/animal dance to the tune of “Who Let the Dogs Out.” Or should we say, ‘whom?’

Push Girls: Mia Schaikewitz, Tiphany Adams, Angela Rockwood and Auti Angel. (Amanda Schwab/Starpix)

During yesterday's rainy afternoon, guests trundled (damp, but stoic) into elevators and up to Robert, the Museum of Arts and Design’s in-house bistro. The restaurant, a pink pop-modernist confection on the ninth floor, was playing host to a luncheon fête for the Sundance Channel’s latest, Push Girls, which premiered last night. The docu-series, which airs Mondays at 10:00 PM, tells the stories of four paralyzed women—with professional glories amongst them ranging from competitive swimming, to professional dancing, to a bit part in The Fast and the Furious—and their lives in Hollywood.

Improbably early arrivals, we grabbed a glass of pinot grigio and staked out a spot by one of Robert’s enormous windows. From across the room we spotted Beth Ostrosky-Stern looking preternaturally summery in a fitted peach Dolce & Gabbana dress and cream Louboutins. Had Mrs. Shock Jock herself seen the pilot of Push Girls yet? “No! I’m a little disappointed, I thought they were going to be screening it today. I guess I’ll have to wait ‘til tonight.” Feeling more than a little as though we might be depriving the far corners of the room of Ms. Ostrosky-Stern’s brand of bronzed, leggy radiance, The Observer thanked her and moved along. In one such corner was goddess of gossip Liz Smith herself, presiding over a view of Columbus Circle that Cynthia McFadden very accurately described as seeming “astride the colossus.”

After a moment of sartorial envy in the face of Ms. Smith’s red-fringed bandana and matching leather jacket, we took the seat she had kindly offered us. Juju Chang and her Nightline executive producer Jeanmarie Condon soon stopped by, bringing the table’s media wattage to a humbling high. “The only model I can think of who ever posed nude that was really shocking was Burt Reynolds when I was the entertainment editor for Cosmopolitan,” Ms. Smith told Ms. Condon laughingly when discussion turned to models. “We had him on the couch, just covering his privates. People were so shocked!”

But all good and racy things must come to an end, and soon we were shepherded to our respective tables for lunch. Guests nibbled at mushroom ravioli with parmesan foam as Sundance’s general manger/executive VP Sarah Barnett introduced Push Girls with a teaser. As second courses were ferried around the room, Alexandra Reeve Givens spoke on behalf of her famed father’s charity, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, and shared an anecdote of the vivid green ‘eject’ button glued to the arm of his wheelchair. “There’s an entire generation of reporters out there who have been emotionally scarred from sitting through an interview with my dad, trying to figure out why he might have an eject button! But the reason that he loved it was because it was a visible reminder that the wheelchair was just a piece of equipment, like anything else. That he was a regular person sitting in it, the same as he always had been.”

The four Push Girls themselves (Angela Rockwood, Auti Angel, Tiphany Adams, and Mia Schaikewitz) made their way to the front of the room for a Q&A session. They fielded questions about the show’s origins, their injuries, and their friendship asked by audience members in between bites of chicken paillard. Ms. Schaikewitz talked about sacrificing some of life’s normalcy in the face of a camera crew: “I’m a really private person, so when the opportunity came up and we were talking about doing a reality show, it was like ‘Oh my gosh, my friends are going to know what’s going on in my life now!’ It felt really daunting, but on the other hand, this work is so important. What we’re doing collectively and how we’re changing society with this show—of course I’m going to trade that for that!”

“Are you prepared for fame?” inquired one woman.

“Were we prepared for paralysis?” Ms. Rockwood quipped.

In what might be his most adorably manipulative move yet, Cinema Society’s Andrew Saffir brought in a pack of highly adoptable furry friends from the North Shore Animal League to cohost a screening of “Darling Companion” successfully hitting everyone’s AUGGGHHHHHWWWWWW button in exactly the right way.

Co-host and animal hero Beth Ostrosky Stern was on hand to work the carpet, spending a fair amount of time on the floor engaged in full embrace with Kasey, the canine star of the flick (read: not adoptable) whose handler admitted to us that the Collie mutt commanded an impressive salary.

Time ticked on, and before we knew it we were standing face to face with Dianne Wiest who revealed her co-star Kevin Kline’s biting sense of humor without breaking her signature smile: “Yeah, Kevin just told me I’m really bad in the movie, he said to tell you guys to ready for a snoozer!” She leered playfully at Mr. Kline cradling a spotty bundle of fur.

While on the subject of pups, Dianne revealed she had one of her own:

“Oh he’s this big old German Shepherd, such a sweetheart,” waxed Wiest

“Did you lobby hard to get him in the film?” we asked

“God no, I doubt he could cut the hours—they really work those dogs. Kasey was a true professional.”

“He certainly appears to be – would you be surprised to hear that he’s not a SAG member?”

“HAH! Look at the sweetheart..”

We looked at the sweetheart.

Stocking up on popcorn and some complicated cocktails, we snagged a seat in the screening room for what promised to be a dog lover's delight.

Click through the gallery for a bite of the evening.