Well its still incorrect, the syntax should be:
PHP Code:
$gender = $mysidia -> db -> select ("owned_adoptables", array("gender"), "aid='{$adopt->aid}' and owner ='{$item->owner}'") -> fetchColumn();
Use fetchColumn() if you only want the gender info, but if you wish to pull a collection of information such as type, name, owner and other things out, you can use fetchObject().