About a block away from ITG HQ, there's Animal Haven, and every so often, someone will stop by during lunch and email a photo around of a supremely adoptable dog. But after the squeals settle and the overload of cuteness abates (OK, no it doesn't, but let's pretend that it does), a harsh realization sets in: Dogs are hard in New York. Aside from the fact that a good deal of us live in shoebox apartments sans backyards (no place for a dog) word on the internet says that having a dog in the city can cost more than having a baby. No joke.

We can't all be saints, but that's why Ava Smith is here. Beyond being gorgeous, the former-Chicagoan, current-Brooklynite is a champion of dog fostering. She told us about it:

'It started because my roommate at the time wanted a dog—we were living in New York, and she'd never had one growing up. My family was always around dogs, so I knew it was a lot more involved than just going out and buying a dog, so I convinced her to foster one first. She immediately decided after the first foster that she didn’t want a dog, but I realized I really enjoyed it. You have a dog, you take care of it, and then you see the dog go off to a happy home. The family is happy, the dog is happy, and it’s just a really amazing moment. I was really taken by it, so I fostered another dog and another one—I've fostered about 12 at this point. I’ve talked with my agency here, Wilhelmina, about bringing some models to a shelter I work with in Puerto Rico and getting a bunch of photos and videos with, say, 10 male models, because that would bring great attention—who doesn’t love hot guys and puppies? [Laughs]'

The one drawback, if you'd call it that, is sometimes you don't know what you're getting, but that just means proper precaution should be taken. “We don’t have any rugs,” she said. “Anytime we have a new dog, we roll them all up. We recently moved, so we haven’t put them down yet—except one. There will be times when we put the doggie wee-wee pads down, and my boyfriend will tape them together like a jigsaw puzzle. Or sometimes they'll chew things up like electronics and stuff. Then there was this one dog—I almost adopted him because he was so amazing—but he had this problem where he would pee in my drawers. It was my fault for leaving them open, but one time he peed in a bottom drawer where all my makeup brushes were. It was terrible because I had all these specific ones that they don't make anymore...I had to throw them all away. That was sort of a bummer,”

Still, total saint material. And perfectly fitted for some gilded makeup. The CK One Color Limited Edition Summer Eye Shadow Collection in Sand goes on easy and doesn't take much expertise. Plus the packaging is pretty rough-and-tumble, so no worries if it drops off the counter or gets inadvertently mistaken for a dog toy. It'll stand up.

Ava Smith (Wilhelmina) photographed by Tom Newton. Ava works with Animal Lighthouse Rescue. Check them out here.

See Kelly Mittendorf in red blush and Maria Borges in pink lipstick as well as other models in makeup right here.