Black-tie–clad animal lovers—many with pets in tow—couldn’t wait to step “In the Dog House,” this year’s annual Bergh Ball, benefiting the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) at the Plaza. The gala dinner dance is named after diplomat/philanthropist Henry Bergh, who founded the ASPCA in 1866 to help prevent inhumane treatment of animals nationwide.

The event featured an auction of one-of-a-kind dog-houses created by renowned designers Isaac Mizrahi, Oscar de la Renta, Betsey Johnson, Zac Posen, and Lilly Pulitzer, among others. All of the clever abodes, created for the cozy comfort of our furry four-legged friends, were previewed in the windows at Bergdorf Goodman. The auction fetched $19,000, with chairs James Nederlander and Margo MacNabb netting Posen’s quirky beehive design for an impressive $5,000—the auction’s highest bid!

Among the two-legged: ASPCA President Edwin Sayres and his wife, Michele; co-chairs Jonathan Farkas and Somers White; vice chairs Ellen and Chuck Scarborough (with their pooch, Oliver) and Jill Rappaport; committee members Chappy Morris and Denise and Larry Wohl; junior chair Allison Aston; junior committee member Ashley Stark; Melissa Stanley; Amy Fine Collins; Patty Raines; Cynthia and Dan Lufkin; Lisa Arliss; Douglas Hannant; Cynthia and Tony Maltese; Elaine Sargent; Hunt Slonem; Marty Richards; Sharon Handler; and Sale Johnson.

With the Plaza poised to be converted into condominiums (150 condos and 350 hotel rooms—down from the current 800), the irony of the “dog-eat-dog” world of profit triumphing over tradition weighed heavy on the minds of many revelers at one of the last parties to be held in the historic ballroom before renovations begin. But thanks to a plan brokered by Mayor Mike (with the new owners and the hotel workers union), the Palm Court, the Oak Bar and Oak Room, and the gilded Grand Ballroom will remain intact. That’s news worth barking about!