Robin Williams, An Animal Lover, Was honored by The San Francisco Zoo Before His Death

Beyond his incredible acting and comedic skills, Robin Williams was known for being an animal lover.

The late actor made one of his last public appearances at the San Francisco Zoo on June 6 when they honored Williams by naming one of their Howler Monkeys after him.

In one of his last posts on Instagram, he wrote about his day at the zoo: “Feeding ‘Robin Williams’ @sanfranciscozoo. He’s their newest [Howler] Monkey, named after me!”

Williams’ love for animals began long before social media, but he made it apparent by posting snapshots with his pets and animals he met on set.

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His dog Leonard was one of Williams’ close companions: “Worth a repeat. My dinner with Leonard. Miss him when I’m on location.”

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Taken just a few short weeks before his death, Williams spent time with his “Night at the Museum 3″ costar: “Happy Birthday to me! A visit from one of my favorite leading ladies, Crystal.”

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He made his affection toward all animals clear when he posted this tribute: “RIP Miss Verna Pearl. She was my assistant’s dog but my road dog, my trailer dog. Suddenly and without warning. We will miss her when we go back to work today on #thecrazyones. Adopted from the @sfspca #adoptandrescue”

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And he once got into a tickle fight with Koko, a famous gorilla.


Less than a month after his trip to the San Francisco Zoo, Williams checked into the Hazelden, an addiction treatment center in Minnesota for continued sobriety. The 63-year-old was found dead of apparent suicide in his home on Monday.


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Robin Williams, Known for His Big Heart, Rescued a Pug Who He Re-Christened Leonard, in 2010

Something not everyone may know is that Robin Williams was an animal lover.

Lovely, sweet and kind are just some of the adjectives friends have used to describe the incomparable Robin Williams. And, if they could find the words, it's likely his furry friends would describe the late actor in much the same way.

Williams's Instagram feed is filled with adorable shots of him kicking back with many an animal friend, including his road dog Verna Pearl, whose unexpected passing last year left him deeply saddened.

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Happiness overruled though when the dog lover was in the company of the canine kind – like that time Verna Pearl bared her cleavage at the The Crazy Ones premiere.






Here are more adorable moments:

"Good to be back at work," Williams wrote of this Instagram pic of himself and Verna Pearl catching some Zzz's on a couch.

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The cutest costar Williams ever had? It's quite possibly this baby duck that he held in his hands on the set of The Crazy Ones.

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He even made monkeys smile! Crystal the capuchin says cheese as she sits in the lap of the comedian, who reprised his role of Theodore Roosevelt in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, due later this year.

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A horse photobombed this sweet shot Williams took for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital with a 6-year-old cancer patient, Darcy, whom he described as "lovely."

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"Miss Verna Pearl watching me shoot promos," Williams wrote of this Instagram shot of the dog lending a paw on the set of The Crazy Ones.

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Bone appétit! Williams does his best impression of dog Leonard, his BFF and dinner date.

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In the second-to-last photo he posted on Instagram, Williams reunited with a familiar face, writing, "Happy Birthday to me! A visit from one of my favorite leading ladies, Crystal."

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"I also have a gay rescue Pug called Leonard, who I take for walks because I am very secure in my sexuality. He has a boyfriend and they are planning to adopt a Siamese kitten together. We're very modern," Williams says in a interview with the Telegraph.

He also included thoughts about dogs and cats in his stand-up routine. Please be aware it's for mature audiences.



Robin Williams is one of the most well known funny men in the world and has an impressive and varied career spanning more than 30 years. He soared to stardom with hilarious and iconic roles like Mrs.Doubtfire and Jumanji, then proved his acting chops with roles in Good Will Hunting and Insomnia. More recently you can see him in the Night at the Museum films and his new TV show The Crazy Ones with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

While being well known for his funny side, Robin Williams is also known for his big heart and in 2010 he opened his heart to a rescue pug who he rechristened Leonard.

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Leonard, originally called Flannery, was born in to care at Curly Tail Pug Rescue Home and was the only survivor of a litter of pups born to his mum, Clementine, who was rescued from an awful puppy mill. Leonard was not a healthy pup at his birth and required constant care for the first two months of his life, which the rescue happily provided, nursing him to full health.

Leonard grew in to a happy, loveable, playful puppy and Robin worked with the rescue centre for months in order to secure his adoption of little Leonard and eventually gave him a forever home in March 2010. What an awesome ending for an awesome little pug; I don’t think any dog could wish for a more caring and fun-loving home. Robin seems besotted by Leonard, frequently posting photos of him on Twitter and Instagram. He even takes him on the set of his new show.

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A Bowie Animal Rights Group is Howling After the City Unveiled the New, More Expensive Estimate of a Proposed Animal Control Room

Bowie, Maryland - Supporters howl over Bowie animal holding room price tag Renovated area would hold three dogs, eight cats and cost about $113,500

Bowie Citizens for Local Animal Welfare is reconsidering its initial pledge of $30,000 to create an overnight animal control facility, one it has been advocating for the city staff moved into the new city hall in 2011. The city put a temporary holding facility in the new building, but CLAW pushed for a more complete project that allowed animals to be kept overnight. They currently go to the Prince George's County shelter in Upper Marlboro at day's end.

The City Council approved the overnight holding room expansion in December 2013 and later the cost was estimated to be about $27,000, said Tara Kelley-Baker, CLAW's president and Bowie resident.

But the final estimate is more than four times the initial number Kelley-Baker cited – it will cost taxpayers $113,500 to hold three dogs and eight cats. CLAW members weren't aware of the rising costs until the final estimate was released, Kelley-Baker said. The organization had initially raised $100,000 to build a free-standing facility in the city, but couldn't get council support on the project.

"We would have appreciated understanding the situation better," Kelley-Baker said. "We are a little surprised at the additional cost. We still want to work with the city to make this happen."

Bowie city officials said the increased cost is due to renovating a storage space to hold the cats. That room represents a bulk of the cost — about $83,800, said Lawrence Pierce, Bowie community services director.

The renovated rooms will allow animal control to hold animals overnight while they look for their owners. Currently staff members who pick up strays drive around the neighborhood to find the animal's owner. If the owner can't be located they hold the animal until the end of the day. The animal is then taken to the county shelter.

The city brought in county animal experts to insure the room would safely house the animals and that gets expensive when you consider plumbing, ventilation, heating and cooling, he said.

Pierce said the size of the room should serve the city's needs as they don't get much traffic. There hasn't been a dog in the room for two weeks, he said.

"This is a new area for all of us," Pierce said. "This was originally designed to be a storage closet for ground maintenance needs."

CLAW's board members will be discussing whether they still want to give the city the $30,000 on the project now that they know it costs so much, Kelley-Baker said. The thought was the money would cover the whole project, but members haven't had much chance to discuss the increased cost, Kelley-Baker said.

City Councilman At-large Dennis Brady said the animal holding room is a compromise between a free standing facility and the current temporary holding room.

"I'm a little disappointed that we didn't have a free-standing facility … We could have gotten the high school kids to do community service hours there," Brady said. "It is a step in the right direction. It would be nice coming out of college to go out and buy your Ferrari, but this is an incremental approach."

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Washington Humane Society - This Past Weekend American University Radio Continued Their Series with Our Animal Care and Control on The Animal House - Highlighting the Need for Our Emergency Response Vehicles to be Equipped with Lights and Sirens

Washington, DC - This past weekend, WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio continued their series with WHS Animal Care and Control on The Animal House, once more highlighting the need for our emergency response vehicles to be equipped with lights and sirens.

City Councilmember Mary Cheh's bill to equip our emergency vehicles will help us to provide timely and effective service and save more lives with quicker response times.



Click here to listen: The State of Emergency Status For Animal Control Officers


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Raymond Noll, Director of Animal Control Field Services for the Washington Humane Society, answering an emergency call to capture a roof hoping pea fowl in Southeast Washington, D.C.

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Did You Miss The Pet Show with Dr. Katy on August 9, 2014? Dr. Katy and Her Guests Discuss A Recent Article that is Stirring Up Debate Over Rescue Animals. - "Why I’d Never Adopt a Shelter Dog Again"

On July 17th, there was an article in The Washington Post, under their (PostEverything Section). The article, "Why I’d Never Adopt a Shelter Dog Again", was written by Erin Auerbach, a writer living in Los Angeles. She has written for Salon, the Los Angeles Times, and the Los Angeles Daily News.

This article is stirrup up debate over rescue animals. Please listen as Dr. Katy, The Pet Show, and her guest, Debra Klaser, a Veterinary Internal Medicine Specialist; Dr. Steve Escobar, a Veterinary Theriogenologist and Lisa Lafontaine, President & CEO of The Washington Humane Society, Washington, DC., discuss this article.

The Pet Show - Aug. 9, 2014



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Port St. Lucie, Florida - Officers Caught a 12-Foot Python Friday that Neighbors Said Had Been Eating the Area's Cats

Officers caught a 12-foot python Friday that neighbors said had been eating the area's cats.

Sgt. John Holman arrived on the scene at about 7:20 a.m. and found a dead cat in an empty lot, police said. Holman walked through waist-high brush and spotted a Burmese python.

Holman called for backup officers to help him get the snake, which weighed about 120 pounds, out of the brush.

Holman, who recognized that this python was banned in Florida, found someone with a Florida Fish and Wildlife license to house the snake.

Pythons are an invasive species in Florida, where researchers think they are eating their way through populations of native mammals in the Everglades.

Florida now prohibits owning or selling pythons for use as pets, and federal law bans importation and interstate sale of the species.

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Did You Know That The Vast Majority of Calico Cats Are Female?, And That Calico is A Color and Not a Breed?

Many people are surprised to hear that the vast majority of calico cats are female. Why is this? Is it possible for a calico cat to ever be male?

First off, what is a calico cat? A calico cat is not a breed of cat, it is a color pattern. To be called "calico", three colors must be present: black, white and orange. Variations of these colors include gray, cream and ginger. A "true" calico cat has large blocks of these three colors, a "tortoise shell" or "tortie" cat has a mix of these three colors (blended/swirled together more than distinct blocks of color).

Now that a calico cat has been defined as a cat with three colors, the question is: why are they nearly always female? The answer is in genetics. Coat color in cats is a sex-linked trait, a physical characteristic (coat color) related to gender. Female animals have two X chromosomes (XX), males have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome (XY). The genetic coding for displaying black or orange color is found on the X chromosome. The coding for white is a completely separate gene.

Since females have two X chromosomes, they are able to "display" two colors (orange and black, or variations thereof) and white; creating the 3-color calico mix. Since males have only one X chromosome, they can only be orange OR black. It is more complicated than simply having the color genes -- it is a complex process of dominant and non-dominate genes interacting on the X chromosomes, but that is the basis for coat color in calico cats.

Can a calico cat ever be male? Yes, in rare instances. In this situation, the cat has two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome (XXY). Cats with this chromosomal configuration are usually sterile (not able to breed). This is similar to a condition in humans called Klinefelter's syndrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klinefelter_syndrome, or XXY Syndrome.

Interesting calico cat fact: on October 1, 2001, the calico cat became the official cat of the state of Maryland in the United States.

The coat pattern of calico cats does not define any breed, but occurs incidentally in cats that express a range of color patterns; accordingly the effect has no definitive historical background. However, the existence of patches in calico cats was traced to a certain degree by Neil Todd in a study determining the migration of domesticated cats along trade routes in Europe and Northern Africa.[5] The proportion of cats having the orange mutant gene found in calicoes was traced to the port cities along the Mediterranean in Greece, France, Spain and Italy, originating from Egypt.

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BarkBuddy - New App that Matches You with Adoptable Dogs in Your Area

Tails are wagging at Bark & Co, as we officially welcome a new paw-duct to the pack. BarkBuddy is the app that matches you with the fluffiest singles in your area.

Some of you may remember the Pup Up Shop adoption events we had in NYC and LA last summer. Our idea was pretty simple: bring cool people to a place where they want to hang out, insert puppies and the rest would take care of itself.

The crazy thing is that our idea worked. We learned that if we presented these pups in a way that showed their true value we could vastly increase the chance they’d get adopted. We also learned that running adoption events is hard work (lots of pee), so we gained a LOT more respect for of the amazing rescue organizations that spend their lives wrangling pups.

Then we did some math. 80 dogs adopted in four days, that’s 20 dogs a day. So even if we had a Pup Up every day for an entire year we’d only get 7,300 dogs out of shelters. Compare that to the over 2 million in shelters in the US alone and you start to get an idea of the size of the problem these rescues are facing.

So we went back to the drawing board and came up with something completely new. BarkBuddy is an app that turns your puppy-pic browsing obsession into a force for good. Now you can swipe through thousands of adoptable pup profiles in your area and let BarkBuddy play matchmaker.

Once you sniff out a perfect new pack member, BarkBuddy helps you get the tennis ball rolling by easily allowing you to contact rescue organization. Even if you’re not looking for a new buddy you can play matchmaker yourself by sharing adoptable pups with friends and family on Facebook.

Once you sniff out a perfect new pack member, BarkBuddy helps you get the tennis ball rolling by easily allowing you to contact rescue organization. Even if you’re not looking for a new buddy you can play matchmaker yourself by sharing adoptable pups with friends and family on Facebook.

Right now there are over 300,000 adoptable dogs on BarkBuddy and we’ve already had 8 million swipes in the week it’s been live. (!!!) We also want to give a huge and humbled thanks to Apple for choosing BarkBuddy as one of the top new apps. It’s incredible to feel any support when it comes to rescuing pups. So get the app https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id875026451 and get swiping to save some dogs!

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