BY KAREN BOSSICK

A pet parade. A silly photobooth.

If you love dogs and cats, bark! Or, better yet, mark your calendar for the Dog Days of Summer benefit gala.

The annual benefit for the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday, July 28, at the Trail Creek Pavilion in Sun Valley.

This year’s live auction items include a London adventure, California coast wine tour, luxury photographic African safari, Middle Fork raft trip and a 40-by-40-inch oil painting titled “Five Friends Painting,” as in five Golden Retrievers and other dogs framed against the aspen, by Francis E. Livingston.

The silent auction, as always, will feature unique birdhouses lovingly crafted by local fans of the shelter.

For tickets call 208-788-4351 or go online at www.animalshelterwrv.org.

Since its opening in 1982, the Animal Shelter has adopted out nearly 13,000 dogs and cats. In addition to engaging the community in its weekly Hiking Buddies program, which lets hikers take dogs out on the trails for a few hours, it offers educational programs, teaching people how to care for new puppies and more.

The shelter broke ground on what it’s calling its new animal welfare campus a month ago. The 30,000-square foot facility will house homeless animals, and provide a spay/neuter center and education hub.

The shelter has raised 75 percent of the gifts and pledges needed to finish the facility and plan a community campaign later this year.

According to an economic impact study conducted by the Sun Valley Economic Development Corporation, the Animal Shelter infused the local economy with $4.4 million in 2015—nearly three times its operating budget that year.