Best Friend Dog Rescue adds puppy yoga to fundraising calendar

Best Friend Dog Rescue is putting puppy yoga at the center of a busy late-spring fundraising stretch, with its Bend and Beer class set for Sunday, May 31 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 220 Franklin Rd. The format is built for dog people and casual supporters alike: an hour of yoga, puppy cuddles, and rescue visibility in one low-barrier outing that doubles as a social morning out.

The event does not stand alone on the calendar. Best Friend Dog Rescue’s upcoming listings also include a PetSmart Adoption Event on Saturday, May 23 and a Dino’s Deli fundraiser adoption event on Friday, June 5. Taken together, the dates show a rescue using a steady drumbeat of public-facing events rather than waiting for one big adoption fair to carry the load. For anyone keeping tabs on where to find adoptable dogs in Union, that rhythm matters.

Best Friend Dog Rescue says it is a foster-based New Jersey 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in January 2024 as a spin-off of Your New Best Friend Dog Rescue, which it says began in 2020. The rescue says it has rescued and rehomed thousands of dogs and puppies, and its available-dogs page shows puppies currently on hand for adoption. That makes puppy yoga more than a novelty class. It is a chance for attendees to meet the dogs the rescue is actively placing while supporting the foster network that keeps those animals out of shelters and moving toward homes.

The appeal is simple and practical. People who come for the yoga can spend time around puppies in a relaxed setting, and the rescue gets a room full of potential adopters, donors, and return visitors for later events. That is the real utility of a format like Bend and Beer: it blends wellness, animal contact, and fundraising without asking supporters to commit to a full adoption event first.

The need is not small. Shelter Animals Count estimates that 5.8 million cats and dogs entered shelters and rescues in 2025, while the ASPCA says the same number entered shelters and rescues in 2024. In New Jersey, one widely cited report says 1,876 cats and dogs were euthanized in shelters in 2023. Against that backdrop, a puppy yoga class is not just a feel-good morning. It is one more way to move dogs from need to notice, and then from notice to a home.