A good cause for purrs and paws
Max Weinberg's family to host fundraiser for Monmouth County SPCA
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer
Becky Weinberg has a mission. The wife of E Street Band drummer and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" show bandleader Max Weinberg is dedicated to furthering the cause of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MCSPCA).

Becky Weinberg, of Middletown, shows some love to Maggie, one of the more than 250 cats being temporarily housed at the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in Eatontown.

The Weinbergs will host "Kick Up Your Paws," a fundraiser Oct. 13 for the MCSPCA at their Middletown home. While the money raised that night will help renovate the MCSPCA's Eatontown shelter, Becky also wants the evening to be a jumping off point for other MCSPCA endeavors.

She and her son, Jay, 17, are active volunteers at the shelter and would like to see the MCSPCA offer programs in local schools, form high school clubs and encourage young people to volunteer at the shelter as part of community-service projects.

When asked how the idea for "Kick Up Your Paws" came about, Becky said she and her friend, Stacee Seiler Samuels, had attended an informational wine and cheese party about the MCSPCA renovations and realized that the shelter needs a lot of help in order to achieve its goals.

While the MCSPCA has already raised

2 million for shelter renovations, it must raise a total of $3.5 million to be able to complete necessary work there.

The shelter needs reconstruction because in 1999 the MCSPCA decided it would no longer euthanize adoptable animals. In order to succeed in this mission, the pets' stays in the shelter cannot cause the animals to become sick or aggressive. The conditions in the shelter today, however, "fall woefully short of that responsibility," as the facility was built as temporary housing for animals and has not been thoroughly renovated in more than 30 years.

"This is too affluent an area to have a shelter in this kind of condition," Becky said. "A million animals have been through there."

Becky noted that the MCSPCA's shelter was built when she was a child - when the county's human and pet populations were far smaller than they are now. She said the shelter needs the renovations to keep going.

"People tell me it's too depressing and they can't volunteer [there]," she said. "[Renovation] will make it so much nicer."

Becky said she approached her husband about holding the fundraiser because "Max is a very kind-hearted guy." The former Rebecca "Becky" Schick grew up in Tinton Falls and met Max through a mutual friend. The couple has been married since 1981.

The festivities during their fundraiser will include entertainment by the Max Weinberg 7 and Tim McLoone and the Shirleys. Weinberg and Samuels are the cochairs of the event.

The evening is dedicated to the late Terry Magovern, a longtime assistant to Bruce Springsteen who passed away in July. Becky described Magovern as a great animal lover who had been looking forward to attending the event.

Members of the Weinberg family, including the couple's daughter, Ali, 20, who attends New York University, also share a passion for animals.

Although Max and Jay are "horrendously" allergic to cats, the family has three felines in its menagerie. Tiger, Louie and Theo live comfortable lives in the family's barn, since "even seeing a picture of a cat" will set off her husband's and her son's allergies, according to Becky.

She shared a story about Theo, whom the family adopted from the shelter. At the time of the kitty's adoption, the Weinbergs were very much into ice hockey and named him "Theo Furry" after ice hockey star Theo Fleury.

The Weinberg canine contingent consists of pugs Frank and Natasha, who are halfsiblings, and Henry. Becky had dachshunds while growing up. Although Max's family had a dog, Jay had to wear his dad down to get a pooch of his own, according to Becky.

"Max wasn't sure about getting a dog," she said. "He was always traveling."

A fan of the film "Men in Black" which featured a pug named "Frank," Jay chose that name for his dog when he was finally allowed to have one.

Henry came into the family's life last year when Becky and Max were dining at Manhattan's Tribeca Grill and saw a man across the street with a pug puppy. Becky went over to see the dog and the man told her he had more puppies in his apartment.

"Henry completes the package," she said. "How did I have a life without Henry?"

Now, when Max takes a late Sunday morning snooze on the sofa, he's not alone.

"They all nestle into the crook of his legs and nap with him, and it's adorable," she said.

Becky recently gave up horseback riding, but horses were a part of her life for many years. She learned to ride at the Congo Jones School of Horsemanship on Route 520, which is now the Lincroft Farms Estates.

Max's cousin, Shelly Casciato, is also an equine enthusiast who has world-class cutting horses. She has sponsored two days of lessons by a top, Texas-cutting horse trainer as one of the auction items for "Kick Up Your Paws."

For more information about "Kick Up Your Paws" call (732) 542-2030.

For information about donating to or volunteering with the MCSCPA call (732) 542-0040 or visit the Internet Web site www.monmouthcountyspca.org.