Written by Julie Murray, Staff Writer

Most of the time, celebrities are in the news for their latest feuds, spending ridiculous amounts of money on a wedding that lasts 3 months or getting in trouble and buying their way out. Normally I would say celeb behavior is not something to emulate - unless you’re talking about the people I’m going to tell you about here! These people aren’t afraid of having an “imperfect” dog or standing up for a misunderstood breed.

Arbuckle the Cattle Dog had a rough start to life. He was found abandoned in a field and could barely walk. Because of an untreated thyroid disorder, he weighed 130 pounds when he should have weighed around 50 pounds. (!!) Thankfully, a local rescue saved him but he still had a long way to go and the journey to health was not going to be easy. Even after he lost the weight, he was going to need surgery for the pressure sores on his belly and would need daily medication for his thyroid disorder. Lucky for Arbuckle, comedian Jane Lynch saw him on social media and instantly knew she had to help him in spite of the hurdles she knew he would face in his journey to health. Arby now lives with Jane, her partner and their other rescues and is getting better by the day. When he first came to live with her, Arbuckle could barely walk three steps and was so depressed. Slowly, he began to lose weight due to a careful diet and controlled exercise. Now he is down almost 40 pounds, is happier than ever and can *almost* run like the wind! You can follow him on Instagram at @allaboutarbucle to see his magical new life with his wonderful family.

Another celeb who is known for her love of animals and rescuing is Kaley Cuoco from the Big Bang Theory. Kaley got seriously involved in animal rescue about 10 years ago when she found out that pit bulls were suffering from the dangerous stereotypes being spread by the media and uneducated members of the public. She realized how amazing pit bull type dogs were and shortly after that, advocating for them became one of her passions. When other celebrities were buying $4000 “designer” dogs, Kaley was adopting two pit bull mixes named Norman and Shirley, followed shortly after by a scruffy mutt named Ruby. She is putting her $1 million per episode salary to good use by supporting local rescues, giving homes to many “discarded” animals and donating to animal welfare organizations. Last Christmas, she donated $200 for each animal that was adopted from a network of local shelters during the holiday season and partnered with Bark Box to promote her campaign. In a culture where marriages, designer clothes and commitments are disposable, Kaley is a shining example of using her celebrity for good and promoting loyalty, tolerance and giving to animals who would otherwise be overlooked for being old, imperfect or undesirable.

While researching this article, I surprisingly found out that many celebrities take animal welfare in the movies very seriously as well. Betty White actually turned down a movie role one time when she found out there was going to be a scene where a puppy was tossed down a laundry chute. When footage was released showing a terrified German Shepherd being forced into water during the filming of A Dog’s Purpose, many celebs publicly voiced their opinions condemning cruelty to animals. And we’ve all seen those ads from PETA where movie and tv stars say they would rather go naked than wear fur. It may take a bit more digging around to find these kind of stories but it’s worth it - hearing about celebrities using their popularity to promote love and kindness to animals makes me believe there’s hope for our reality TV, pop culture obsessed society.

Read this article and more in our August 2018 Issue