animals

Designer Peter Alexander cares about more than dressing the hottest young celebrities in his fabulous fashions — he’s also an avid animal advocate, so for the grand opening of his L.A. store last week, he decided to help out his favorite cause.

The event drew celebrities like Katherine Heigle, Mandy Moore, and Alicia Silverstone, and benefited animal rescue shelters Hearts United for Rescue and Kinder4Rescue. Additionally, he launched his new PJ line, which will raise funds for the animal shelters.

Heigl was familiar with Alexander’s devotion to the cause, telling ET Online, “Peter Alexander is an animal advocate and big on animal rescue. He approached me about this line to make it not only about his designs and who he is as a designer, but also who he is as an animal rescuer and advocate.” She continued to gush about the philanthropic designer, explaining that all the proceeds from the new line of pajamas will go towards shelters with which she is very familiar.

Silverstone has long been one of the more vocal animal rights advocates in Hollywood, and recently joined a campaign to create an enormous sanctuary in the northern San Fernando Valley for the elephants in the Los Angeles Zoo. And so, it’s no suprise she was impressed by his efforts. All of her dogs are rescued, so she’s fully appreciative of the energy and money Alexander is donating.

Photo courtesy of popsugar.com

Be honest — when you think of David Spade, you picture him playing a snotty assistant-type character, or the immature, self-serving buddy, right? I used to, but I have a whole new perception of the actor now — he donated $10,000 to the animal shelter in his hometown of Lakeside, Arizona, to keep it in the business of saving innocent lives.

David’s mom still lives in the town, and apparently the shelter was falling apart and was going to be forced to shut down. The generous donation more than covered the cost of the necessary repairs. The facility focuses on rescuing animals abandoned in the woods and mountains surrounding it — some people assume that if they leave an animal in the wild, it will automatically be able to fend for itself, and that’s not at all the truth. It shelters and tries to find homes for approximately 3500 animals each year.

It should be noted that David made his donation under the radar — he didn’t have any photographers follow him, and he didn’t hold a press conference. He did it out of the goodness of his heart, and he should feel great knowing that this donation is saving the lives of thousands of animals.

Photo courtesy of celebritywonder.com

Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters originally started Broadway Barks as a way to promote the adoption of shelter animals in the New York City area. It has now grown into something more, facilitating communication between shelters and rescue groups so each can benefit from the marketing and promotion of all. And, on July 12th of this year, the 10th annual Broadway Barks event will be held and is sure to attract thousands — last year’s event drew over 6000 attendees.

This year will include an afternoon of fun, an auction of memorabilia signed by celebrities, the finding of forever homes for numerous shelter animals, as well as a book signing. Bernadette will sign copies of her children’s book, aptly titled Broadway Barks. Proceeds of the auction and the book go toward the Broadway Barks organization and toward the plight of homeless animals.

Not only are Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters involved, but celebrities such as Glenn Close and Mario Lopez, plus many other Broadway performers will be there.

If you’re interested in helping but unable to adopt an adorable critter of your own or attend the event, you can still make a donation here.

Photo courtesy of bernadettepeters.com

Musical artist Mya is lending a paw, er, a hand to the North Shore Animal League for their 2008 Tour For Life. The North Shore Animal League is the nation’s largest no-kill shelter, and this is the 8th annual Tour.

The goal of Tour For Life is to “help find homes for hundreds of orphaned dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens and to raise public awareness concerning the plights of all shelter pets. … Tour For Life has been promoting the importance of adopting shelter dogs and cats as a life-saving measure.”

Mya was on hand to kick it off the Tour, which will stop in 22 cities throughout 15 over the next few weeks. It will all end with a grand finale at FAO Schwartz on Fifth Avenue, which will be hosted by the Grammy winning singer herself.

Want to see if the Tour will be coming anywhere near you with one of their mobile adoption units? Check out North Shore’s website, where they have all dates and locations listed. And remember, the next time you’re looking to adopt an animal, be sure to check out the shelters and rescues. I know here in Florida, the trendiest breed around is a mixed breed — we call them the Florida Black Dog. Check the shelter and get your own!

Photo courtesy of ecorazzi.com

Bob Barker, former host of The Price is Right, recently donated $1 million to his alma mater, Drury University, to establish an undergraduate animal ethics program. You might remember hearing Barker encourage his audience to remember to spay and neuter at the end of every show, and now that he’s retired he is devoting himself even more heartily to the cause of animal ethics and rights.

Before he retired, Barker had already given millions of dollars to top law schools throughout the country to help them create animal-ethics curricula, hoping that this would encourage those with a future in law to consider animal rights as a career path. He also founded the DJ&T Foundation in 1995, which is “devoted to the support of low cost Spay/Neuter Clinics and voucher programs “all across the country.”

Barker hopes to do more for animal rights in the coming years, and he stays busy with his charity work, saying, “I’m so busy, I don’t know how I ever had time to do The Price is Right.” But, we’re all glad he did, not only because it was a great show, but it gave him the opportunity to bring attention and donate a lot of money to a very worthy cause.

Photo courtesy of Robert Hanashiro of USA Today (usatoday.com)