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Humane Animal Partners holds summer fundraiser

Lawmakers support bill to ban dog and cat sales
Look at those eyes. Donna is looking for her forever home at HAP’s Rehoboth Beach shelter. BILL SHULL PHOTOS
Bill Shull
June 14, 2025

The sky cleared, the sun came out and the dogs were ready to play.

Humane Animal Partners held its annual Wags, Whiskers and Wine fundraiser at Honey Bee Barn near Milton June 6. The event aims to bring attention to HAP’s mission to place dogs and cats in forever homes.

Some of those dogs were brought over from the Rehoboth Beach adoption center to enjoy an evening out. HAP’s goal was to raise $14,000 for the center.

Bill Johnston and his HAP rescue, Ella, were there to support the cause.

“I said their bandanas should say, ‘HAP success story,’ not alumni,” Johnston said.

Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall, D-Rehoboth Beach, Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes, and Sen. Dan Cruce, D-Wilmington, brought their support for House Bill 131.

Cruce is HAP’s board chair emeritus and a co-sponsor of the bill along with Snyder-Hall. The measure would ban retail pet stores from selling dogs and cats in Delaware. It would encourage pet stores to link up with adoption agencies like HAP.

Snyder-Hall said one of the goals is to stop puppy mills.

“Puppy mills are very cruel to dogs, and to get a bill that encourages adoption [is good] because there are so many cats and dogs in need of forever homes,” Snyder-Hall said.

If the bill passes, she said, it could lead to more funding for animal welfare organizations.

As of June 9, HB 131 was listed as out of committee and on the ready list for consideration. 

 

Bill Johnston and his HAP rescue, Ella, support the fundraiser.
Wags, Whiskers and Wine was a dog’s night out, but also a fundraiser for HAP’s Rehoboth Beach shelter.
Lawmakers attend Wags, Whiskers and Wine to show support for House Bill 131, which would ban pet store sales of dogs and cats in Delaware. The measure would encourage stores to link up with adoption organizations like HAP. Shown are (l-r) Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes; Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall, D-Rehoboth Beach; Patrick Carroll, HAP CEO; Sen. Dan Cruce, D-Wilmington; and Leigh McKinley, HAP Sussex County director.
Humane Animal Partners held its annual Wags, Whiskers and Wine fundraiser at Honey Bee Barn near Milton June 6. The event is a night out for people, their pets and dogs looking for their forever homes at HAP’s Rehoboth Beach shelter. Letting the pooches play are (l-r) Kevin McDonald, Kelly Turner, Jenn Costello, Carolee Botts and Ellen Hudson.
Dana MacElrevey holds Marshall, one of the puppies at HAP’s Rehoboth Beach shelter currently looking for a forever home.
Tim McGee, left, and Bob Sabolcik, HAP volunteers, with their dog, Emerald, at the event.
HAP staff check people in for Wags, Whiskers and Wine at Honey Bee Barn near Milton.
Leigh McKinley, director of HAP’s Sussex County pet adoption center, left, and Tom Protack, who consults with local nonprofits, take a minute for a photo at the event.
The Dover Pros provide the entertainment.

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Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.

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