Morris Animal Refuge is teaming up with local drag performers for an upcoming fundraising calendar.
“Fierce & Fabulous” will feature 12 months of local drag stars, including Brittany Lynn, along with rescue dogs. Proceeds will benefit Morris, an area nonprofit rescue that provides a full range of preventive, protective and adoption services for abused and abandoned animals as well as quality care for cats, dogs and other small animals.
“They wanted to do something a little bit off the norm: drag queens and their dogs,” said Ian Morrison, Brittany Lynn’s alter ego. “There were two of us that had their own dogs but they really wanted focus on adoptable animals that are available there at Morris.”
The photoshoot took place over a full day recently at Tabu.
“They were bringing in dogs in shifts with their volunteer handlers and I gathered all the girls from the ’hood,” Morrison said. “We tried to each pick our birthday month or a month that had special meaning to us. It was a ton of fun for everybody. The dogs were pretty cool. They didn’t seem to be bugged out or anything.”
Morrison said the local queens are used to committing their time and talent to the cause of animal rescue.
“All of us do some kind of charity work with either Morris Animal Refuge or PAWS [Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society],” he said. “A lot of us work on fundraisers for them throughout the year. As soon it was brought up that we could do this for Morris, we jumped at the chance. Our goal is to not only get these dogs adopted but also create awareness for Morris throughout the year because they do such great work in making sure these dogs and cats get adopted all year-round.”
For the most part, the calendar will feature the queens with smaller dogs like pugs and yorkies, but Morrison said his dog isn’t a lap dog by any stretch of the imagination.
“I’m 6-foot-5 out of drag,” he said. “So once I’m in drag I’m close to 7- or 8-feet tall. I have a half-German shepherd, half-Bernese mountain dog mix that’s 5-foot-11 and 120 pounds. To me he’s tiny but to everybody else he might as well be Godzilla. Mistress Ann has a small dog that is known throughout the Gayborhood because she brings him everywhere she goes. So it’s a cool aspect to not only show the love we have for adoptable dogs but for our own dogs as well.”
Fierce & Fabulous will be available in early December, with a launch party for the calendar at Tabu, 200 S. 12th St. For more information, visit www.morrisanimalrefuge.org.