TulsaPets Magazine March 2021

26 TulsaPets • March/April 2021 A ndolini’s Pizzeria has long been a staple in the area since its first location opened in 2005 in Owasso. Now, it has expand- ed to include locations in Tulsa, Broken Arrow and Jenks, along with a food truck. The Jenks Riverwalk location is where my family found itself for our first dog-friendly patio review. We had just completed our quarantine after a bout of COVID-19 ran through our household only to find ourselves snowed in and home from school for an additional week. After 10 days spent below freezing with almost no sight of the sun, lunch on a patio in February with a high of 40 degrees and sunshine felt like a tropical get- away despite the piles of snow surrounding us. Since our family pooch is older and a bit of a curmudgeon, we decided to treat a rescue dog, in need of a home, to lunch. Angela Hanson, president and adoption coordinator for Com- passionate Animal Rescue Efforts (CARE), was kind enough to meet us along with Eleanor, a 2-year-old Rottweiler Doberman Pinscher mix. When we arrived at the restaurant there were two patio areas available, either on the riverfront side of the restaurant or seating next to the main entrance. We opted for the sunnier of the two choices. Manager Willie Fitzgerald was attentive, setting us up with a table and a server. Eleanor was quickly presented with her own bowl of wa- ter and an order of garlic knots sans the butter and garlic. We ordered our own buttery, garlic version with a side of marinara for the humans to indulge in. Andolini’s menu features hand-tossed pizzas, which can also be ordered with gluten-free crust. They were also accommodating to some of our family member’s dairy sensitivity. Salads and pasta round out the menu, and it’s impossible to leave without trying the gelato. The drink menu features a mix of local and national craft beers, both draught and bottled. Over our custom pizzas and chicken fettucci- ni Alfredo, Hanson and I discussed the impact of the pandemic and recent severe weather on CARE, as well as Eleanor’s hopes for a forever home. CARE was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2016 and has focused its mission on giving a voice to overlooked homeless dogs. “The biggest need was the dogs that weren’t being picked up by the breed-specific rescues,” Hanson explained. “There are some rescues that focus more on puppies, so we wanted to help those dogs that were getting left out.” Like many other rescues, when the first stay- at-home orders were issued, CARE experienced an influx of adoptions and fosters. “When it first started, so many people were home. People were fostering and adopting. … that lasted for a few months. We haven’t really had a return issue. We had quite a few adop- tions; we did get some new fosters, but now that’s waned. “Because of COVID, it shut down everything including spay and neuter, and now we have puppies and kittens.” A year later, CARE is really feeling the impact of these additional animals in the community. February’s winter weather has only compounded the difficulties of a rescue that was already at capacity. “When [the winter weather] hit, this has been awful because of the dogs being left out in the weather. We are overloaded right now just because of the dogs we have taken in; we didn’t really have room,” Hanson added. “We just took Written By: Lauren Cavagnolo Pet-Friendly Review: Patio 5 Paw Review! A N D O L I N I ’ S P I Z Z E R I A Continued on p. 28