Monaco’s dog-loving elite gathered for the glittering launch of It’s a Dog’s Life Monaco, earlier this week...
The book is a 383-page photographic tome celebrating the Principality’s four-legged residents and benefiting the Société Protectrice des Animaux (S.P.A.) Monaco. Hosted on the terrace of Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s easyGroup headquarters – with his easyPet brand as title sponsor – the invitation-only cocktail drew some 300 guests, including Camille Gottlieb, Minister of State Christophe Mirmand, Olympic gold medallist Antoine Zeghdar and model-entrepreneur Victoria Silvstedt. The book’s author and photographer Jessica Fry presented the first copy to guest of honour H.S.H. Princess Charlene, President of the S.P.A. Monaco, who wrote the foreword and toured the stands of supporting sponsors during the evening.
The luxury hardcover blends candid portraits of pampered pooches – many rescues – with stories of their owners, from cobblestone alleys to grand apartments, as well as rare images of the Princely family’s dogs spanning generations. Priced at €150, all proceeds from sales go directly to the S.P.A. Monaco’s modern refuge in Peille, opened last year in the presence of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, which provides state-of-the-art care, sterilisation and rehabilitation for abandoned animals.
Guests enjoyed champagne and an oyster bar by Le Quai des Artistes, a “Hair of the Dog Negroni” mixed by Monaco’s l’Orangerie distillery, and could visit easyPet vans and other sponsor displays including La Petite Clinique, Jaas Monaco and Cooka’s Cookies. In her remarks, Jessica Fry thanked attendees for demonstrating how Monaco can unite for the greater good. The evening not only celebrated a beautiful book but also championed the “Adopt, Don’t Shop” movement, reinforcing Princess Charlene’s mission to place animal welfare at the heart of the Principality’s philanthropy.
