Denise Richards & A Call To Action

It all started with a Facebook status update. I had left my Facebook page open on our office computer Saturday afternoon, and my husband sat down to check the daily sports stats online. “Come quick” he said, “You have to see this.” He then pointed to one of the status updates in my account. “Look at this 7 month old puppy Golden doodle. He is going to be killed in a shelter on Monday if they can’t find him a home.”

This was the tiny picture posted with the message.

OMG, I thought. Always a dog lover and one to lend a hand if I can, I immediately wanted to help.

So, I took to Twitter. What better way I thought, right? Post the ad with the number and the picture, and see if anyone bites in time before he’s euthanized.

So, I posted it. NOTHING. No bites. My husband looked at me and said, “Should we rescue him? Look at that poor puppy that’s been abandoned and is going to die on Monday if no one takes him.” I thought about it. And then said, “No. We aren’t ready for a dog in this house now.” So, despite wanting to help, I did nothing. Maybe hypocritical. Maybe fearful. But I went about my day thinking about this poor doggie that would die, but still not getting off the fence to take any action.

But luckily, some woman who happened to be visiting Montreal did. She’s beautiful. She’s an actress. And she’s no woman on the fence… Denise Richards. We all know her as Charlie Sheen’s first wife, and a mommy to two beautiful little girls. I remembered her as a gorgeous bond girl in James Bond, The World Is Not Enough. My husband and I also watched her on her TV Show It’s Complicated… it was one of our guilty pleasures, kinda like The Bachelor. And what I remember of that show, was while watching it, my husband kept saying… “She’s sooo damn hot.” But I also know of her as a close friend to another woman who has become a great long distance friend of mine, Brooke Burke. And because I follow Denise on Twitter, I know of her as an animal activist.

So when I tweeted her the link, I didn’t think I’d hear back. I obviously underestimated her love of animals. Not only did I hear back, I heard back IMMEDIATELY. She was ready to help. And not only was she ready to help, she was ready to rescue him herself, “If you can’t find it a home, I will fly it home with me. We have to get this dog out. We’re running out of time.”

After I hung up the phone with Denise last night, I actually felt sort of small. I had said to her, “You are ready to fly this puppy home with you and I am right here, and I won’t rescue it. You must think I’m pretty shitty.” To which she replied, “Don’t be crazy. Not at all. We all do what we can.”

So what started out as a quest to find this little puppy a home, became a social media blitz. I truly witnessed the incredible effects of social media first hand last night while at a wedding. SOCIAL MEDIA SAVED A LIFE LAST NIGHT. And that is no over-exaggeration or words of drama. It’s the simple truth. I saw the goodness of so many strangers last night. Such kindness. People from around the world coming together. Shannon Tweed (lifetime partner of Gene Simmons of Kiss), Marc Malkin (of E! Online), and tons of others, kept tweeting, and re-tweeting the urgent message and sending me their words of concern. I received messages… “Can you send him to New York? If you can, I’ll take him.” or “Can I bring him to Australia? I am a single mom with one child and we have tons of room!” Everyone was doing their part. It was powerful. It was infectious.

And then, near 10PM, merely a few hours before this puppy was going to be killed… an adopter! The tweets started pouring in again, “YAY, I couldn’t see that little face killed,” or “Amazing work, you guys. You did it!” It felt incredible. Denise found the puppy a home. And yet this was only one of the many dogs she’s pulled from shelters before they’re killed. It’s all part of her dedicated work. Every other Monday, she brings friends along to a shelter and they take many dogs out (usually 30) that are going to be euthanized.

When I got home from the wedding, as I lay in bed, my hubby next to me (of course waiting for some action), I really felt alive. It reminded me why I volunteer. It reminded me why I always speak in my Blog about unlocking your passion and jumping into something feet-first. It reminded me that in this world, there are talkers, and there are doers. It reminded me that everyone has to give back… and that doesn’t only mean to give of your money. It means to give of your time. To give of your thoughts and ideas. To make a difference.

So after all these thoughts raced through my head, I rolled over and went to bed. But not before fulfilling my wifely duties.