The Waldorf went to the dogs for the Top Dog Gala, which raised over $800,000 for the Animal Medical Center (AMC), popularly known as "The Mayo Clinic for Animals."

Philanthropist Richard Fisher (who was honored with his mother, Emily Fisher Landau) entertained the well-groomed crowd with a tale of the first encounter he and his dog, Max, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, had with AMC. Fisher returned home one day to find a gaping hole in a new oil painting where a rabbit (held in the mouth of a dog) had once been. The hunting theme had apparently aroused an innate instinct in Max, who had devoured the entire rabbit from the canvas! The ailing dog was rushed to AMC, where he was successfully treated for lead poisoning and released.

The canine wonder of the evening was Winston, an 8-year-old black Lab and NYPD Bomb Squad Explosive Detection Canine, who was led onstage by Dr. Henry and Nancy Kissinger (Lab owners, themselves). Winston swiftly sniffed out a small quantity of dynamite previously planted onstage and was rewarded with his usual treat-a tennis ball! (Several burly body guards visibly surrounded Dr. Kissinger all evening-due to recent threats he's received, according to the New York Post).

Winston, one half of a renowned cop-canine team, has protected presidents and dignitaries, and secured every event from the United Nations General Assembly to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament.

In the glitzy pack: Wendy Carduner, Wendy Vanderbilt Lehman, Sharon Bush, Eliza and Alex Bolen, Iris Love, Bill and Donna Acquavella, Rodman Drake, Daisy Soros, Emilia and Pepe Fanjul, Jamee and Peter Gregory, Jean Doumanian, Nan Kempner, Topsy Taylor, Cynthia Maltese, Sheldon Landau, Charlotte Ronson, Tinsley and Robert Mortimer, Douglas Hannant, Josh Gruss, Bill and Kathy Rayner, Adrienne and Gianluigi Vittadini, Bill Richardson, and Judge Kimba Wood. Junior co-chairs included: Alexia Hamm Ryan, Cynthia Phipps, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, and Serena Boardman.

The Gala program was the best "treat" of the evening-with its adorable full-page photo ads of family pets of devoted benefactors, including canines Beaji and Chammi Taylor Bradford and Lucky de la Renta. A dog-gone good time was had by all!