Local Pet Businesses Team Up to Feed Rescue Animals This Weekend

Two Coachella Valley pet businesses are joining forces this weekend to help feed rescue animals across the desert. Kaylarie Gallerie, a Palm Desert pet photography studio, and K9 Parent Training are hosting "Dog Days of Summer," a pet portrait fundraiser benefiting Desert Paws Sanctuary, on Sunday, August 2, in Palm Desert.

Getting in costs $35 plus one unopened 30-pound bag of dog food, and every dollar and bag goes straight to the sanctuary. In return, pet parents get a 15-minute professional portrait session with their dog and a printed 5x7 photo. Extra prints and products will be available to buy, and clients of K9 Parent Training get a free print upgrade. Organizers say appointments are required and spots are limited.

"Dog Days of Summer is about more than creating beautiful portraits. It's an opportunity for our community to come together and directly support an organization making a difference for animals in need,” said Kayla Cowburn, owner of Kaylarie Gallerie. 

Desert Paws Sanctuary rescues, rehabilitates and rehomes abandoned animals throughout the desert's rural communities, and also helps low-income families cover medical care for their pets so they can stay in loving homes. The nonprofit goes through about 30,000 pounds of pet food every year. In 2025 alone, it rescued 155 dogs and 206 cats, found forever homes for 108 dogs and 126 cats, and completed 149 trap-neuter-return procedures, a method of spaying or neutering stray animals and returning them to their community to control the population humanely.

Manny Guerra, who founded K9 Parent Training in 2018, said the event is about building community as much as it is about food donations. "Helping families build stronger relationships with their dogs extends beyond training," Guerra said. "Events like this strengthen our entire pet community."

Reservations are required and space is limited. Pet owners can sign up at kaylariegallerie.com/dogdaysofsummer.