Chiquita’s Friends—the nonprofit animal rescue organization founded several years ago by Malibu restaurateur Geraldine Gilliland—is expanding to a second location and recently held a fundraiser to make that dream a reality. Gilliland purchased an old ranch near Cornell Road in Agoura, which has been christened Chiquita’s Friends–Cornell Sanctuary. The new location will allow the group to rescue many more animals and different types of animals, including farm animals, than it can now.
The ranch buildings and grounds need a lot of work before they can be used to house animals, so Chiquita’s Friends held its very first fundraising party there last Saturday night, called “Welcome to the Dog House!”
The party featured a “Dia de los Muertos” or Day of the Dead altar dedicated to animal friends “who have crossed the rainbow bridge” (passed on). Guests were encouraged to honor a beloved pet by bringing a photo to place on the memorial altar.
Many of the currently rescued dogs were on hand at the party, on leashes being handled by volunteers, mingling with guests throughout the reception, silent auction, raffle, passed hors d’oeuvres, food stations, wine tasting, Lula signature margaritas, video program, and the music of Lenny Goldsmith and the New Old.
Gilliland introduced the new animal sanctuary at Cornell in a program explaining her plans for the future. “We accept neglected pets and give them another chance at life and love,” she said. “The ranch is a special place–restorative and healing. At the ranch, we’ll show dogs how happy they can be.
“We need to get this ranch fixed up with new fencing and secure dog house,” Gilliland added. “We want to make a quarantine area out of the old chicken house, and everything needs to be spruced up and cleaned up.” She has also applied to shelter rescued horses and donkeys, and needs to build enclosures for them, as well as for the goats, pigs and rabbits she hopes to take in. She said the farm animals would not only be rescued from natural disasters like floods, but also from slaughterhouses and labs.
