The pampered life of pets

With an industry that is now generating billions, Aussie 'pawrents' are showering their fur babies with extravagant gifts, yoga classes, luxury hotel stays and unprecedented adoration in life and in death.

- BEVERLEY HADGRAFT

As bar mitzvahs go it was pretty special. Thirteen-year-old Murray, dressed in the traditional skullcap and tallit shawl, was chauffeured to the Randwick Community Centre in a Tesla, jumped out onto a red carpet, and was blessed by a rabbi watched by 100 people and 35 of his best friends.

“Muzzletoft,” everyone said and, no, you haven’t read that wrong. Murray is a dog, a Groodle to be precise, and this, to be equally precise, was actually a ‘bark mitzvah’.

How did it come about?

“It was a good opportunity for a party,” laugh ‘pawrents’ Gina Solomon and Karen Alpert. “We don’t have kids and while you can’t compare a dog to a child, he’s our child. He’s Jewish, a male and he turned 13, so why not?”

Murray’s doggy-do included a ‘pawtini’ cocktail station with chicken broth in plastic martini glasses, a grazing table with turkey meatballs and other doggy delights, and even a bark mitzvah blue and white cake with a Star of David in the middle.

The dogs played games, including jumping into ball pits to forage for treats, and each went home with a gift box containing biscuits with Murray’s face on them and a toy dog bone imprinted with the word “kosher”.

Meanwhile, the humans had their own fun. “You know how people have flash mobs? We did a fleash mob to Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog wearing Murray masks,” laughs Gina.

The bark mitzvah was organised by Claire Ohannessian and Renee Jernigan. They started their Let’s Pawty business, creating fantastic dog parties, two years ago and are constantly in demand.