Saturday, August 16, 2014
Friday, August 15, 2014
Mt. Pleasant, SC - A Charlston, Doctor Who Left 9 Dogs in a Car, Has Been Charged with Animal Cruelty - His Bond Has Been Set at $90,000
His bond was set at $90,000, but Bickerstaff bonded out sometime Wednesday evening.
According to a Mt. Pleasant police report, officers were called to the Mt. Pleasant Emergency Hospital for a report of animal cruelty.
Staff members told police that a man had come in with six dead Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, crated in the back of his Ford Explorer. Staff members told police the man said he thought the dogs had passed out.
“This is a medical doctor. This is not acceptable,” said the woman who called 911 from Mount Pleasant Emergency Vet. “He had asked, ‘So, leaving the windows open is not adequate?' No. Not when they're in kennels and they have full coats, and you have them two by two in each kennel.”
According to the report, staff members saw that the dogs were deceased and rigor mortis had set in. They also told officers that the dogs showed signs of disseminated intravascular coogulosathy (DIC).
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, DIC is a "condition in which blood clots form throughout the body's small blood vessels" that can block blood flow to organs.
Police were given a description of the man and were told that he claimed to be a doctor at East Cooper Hospital. Investigators identified the suspect as 64-year-old Charles Allen Bickerstaff.
The 911 caller at Mount Pleasant Emergency Vet said Bickerstaff told her he had to stop by the hospital to check on a patient.
According to an affidavit, investigators met with him on Monday and he confessed to putting his 8- or 9-year-old spaniel, Butler, along with eight other dogs into five crates in the back of his SUV.
Court documents identified the other dogs as Money, Lucinda, Drayton, Madeline, Shelby, Katie, Freddie, and Willis. Their ages ranged from 5 months to 9 years, documents show.
Bickerstaff told police he left the dogs in the vehicle while he performed his duties at East Cooper Hospital. The affidavit notes that temperatures that day ranged from 73.4 degrees to 82.4 degrees with a heat index of 90.9 degrees.
The affidavit also states the air conditioner was not on and the windows of the Explorer were not open. Another release from police notes that the dogs did not have food or water and that they were caged for over three hours.
Bickerstaff was charged Wednesday with nine counts of ill treatment to animals.
According to the U.S. News and World Report, Dr. Charles Bickerstaff is a gastroenterologist and is affiliated with several hospitals including Bon Secours St. Francis Xavier Hospital and East Cooper Medical Center.
The Charleston Animal Society released a statement Wednesday afternoon, highlighting the dangers of leaving pets in cars for any amount of time.
“The temperature inside of a car during spring and summer and early fall in South Carolina will rise so much, that for a dog, seconds can cost them their life,” said Dr. Sarah Boyd, director of shelter health and wellness at the Charleston Animal Society.
Boyd says it's a deadly misconception that dogs can handle heat. In fact, some are more sensitive than others.
“It doesn't take very long, minutes, for their internal temperature to rise enough that they don't just begin to pant but, their body will start having organ failure and their brain reaches such a high temperature that they will have a heat stroke,” said Dr. Boyd.
Dr. Boyd says the lesson in this tragedy is simple: if you decide to allow your pet to travel with you, they must be with you at all times.
“Even if you think you can just run in and run out, it happens and it could be you and it could be your dog,” Boyd said.
WCIV-TV | ABC News 4 - Charleston News, Sports, Weather
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Thursday, August 14, 2014
A Medical Doctor Leaves 9 Dogs In Hot Car, All Die While He Makes Rounds At Hospital
Dr. Charles Allen Bickerstaff was making rounds at one of the hospitals he works for when his dogs died. All nine were crammed into five crates altogether in the back of Bickerstaff’s Ford Explorer. When he returned to his SUV, he noticed the dogs were unresponsive so he took them to Mt. Pleasant Emergency Hospital.
A staff member at the vet’s office called 911 after she saw the animals.
She said:
“This is a medical doctor. This is not acceptable. He had asked, ‘So, leaving the windows open is not adequate?’ No. Not when they’re in kennels and they have full coats, and you have them two by two in each kennel.”
The nine dogs left in the hot vehicle were Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. According to court documents, the dogs are identified as Money, Lucinda, Drayton, Madeline, Shelby, Katie, Freddie, and Willis. Their ages ranged from 5 months to 9 years, the document reveals. The doctor left the dogs inside the vehicle for three hours.
Police used records from the vet’s office to get information on Dr. Bickeroff. He’s a gastroenterologist and is a physician for several hospitals that include Bon Secours St. Francis Xavier Hospital and East Cooper Medical Center, according to ABC 4 Charleston. The allegedly negligent doctor was questioned by police Monday night and arrested on Wednesday.
When Dr. Sarah Boyd, director of shelter health and wellness at Charleston Animal Society, learned of the animals’ terrible fate, she explained how hard it is for dogs to be inside hot cars.
Dr. Boyd said:
“The temperature inside of a car during spring and summer and early fall in South Carolina will rise so much, that for a dog, seconds can cost them their life.”
News 2 mentions that the affidavit says during the time Dr. Bickeroff was at the hospital, the temperatures outside went from 73 degrees to 82 degrees; the heat index was around 91 degrees.
Another tragedy of multiple dogs in a hot car occurred when four pit bulls were left in the back of a man’s car in Sacramento. As reported on The Inquisitr, all four dogs died from heat exposure. One pit bull was rescued alive, but died the next day due to severe injuries to her internal organs.
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Arin Greenwood, Animal Welfare Editor, The Huffington Post - 10 Stereotypes About Pit Bulls That Are Just Dead Wrong
To read her article, click here: 10 Stereotypes About Pit Bulls That Are Just. Dead. Wrong
Puppy Saves 3-Year-Old Girl Who Was Lost in Siberia for 11 Days
Eventually, after nine days in which the girl survived on river water and berries, the dog left her in a protective hole amid long grass and found its way home to summon help. The loyal and loving mongrel is known as Kyrachaan to locals, meaning 'little one' in the Yakutian language.
Remarkably, Karina, aged three years and seven months, suffered minimal injuries - but as our picture shows, she was badly bitten by mosquitoes.
There are more pictures of Karina's dramatic rescue but also the revelation that her family is under investigation for neglect in letting her disappear into the wild.
The truth emerged yesterday of a nightmare confusion between the parents and the child's grandmother over her whereabouts, which meant that long days passed before anyone realised little Karina was missing from her home in Olom village in Olyokminsky district.
The parents were haymaking in a distant field and were absent for a few days while Karina was being looked after by her grandmother.
Huge wild fires in Siberia meant that her father Rodion was summoned on July 29th to work in a volunteer team to combat the flames engulfing the region.
The grandmother saw the father leave the family home - and, she claims, thought Karina was going with him. The father says he had no idea that the grandmother thought he had taken the child. When mother Aitalina returned from the fields, she was surprised to learn that her husband had taken Karina.
It took several days for him to reach her by phone - and all the time little Karina was cuddling up to the dog out in the open, some six kilometres from home, but unable to get back.
"When she reach him by phone on August 2nd, he said Karina was not with him and should be with the grandmother," said Stanislav Platonov, head of the press service of the republics Interior Ministry.
Aitalina called to police. The first team of police and rescuers appeared on the scene on August 3rd and immediately began the search. Later they got more equipment and specialists and luckily found the girl in the end'.
The dog came home after nine days evidently seeking help to rescue Karina.
Here accounts differ: TV reports say that the dog led the rescuers to the girl. Another version is that by returning home, the dog let the rescuers know that Karina was not far away. The republican Investigative Committee, said it was considering whether the family had been negligent and should face legal action.
Investigators are still working on this case. "We need to decide whether to close the criminal case, or was some crime committed, like negligence for example," said spokeswoman Nadezhda Dvoretskaya.
"Why did they let child go to the forest alone? Why she was without adult supervision?"
The mother explained that she did not know that the young child was missing because she was at the hayfield with her husband, before he then left to help with fire-fighting.
Later she came home and asked, "where is the child?" The granny told her that she lay down to sleep and when she woke up, there was no Karina. The granny was sure that Karina was with her father, that he took the girl with him. The mother talked to the father, as soon as she could, due to the bad phone connection and it turned out that girl was not with him.
It is a very remote region, with very difficult phone connections, so there is the possibility that mother really could not connect with her mother, and with her husband in time and learn that Karina is missing.
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China's Latest Craze - Dyeing Pets to Look Like Other Wild Animals
Dyeing pets has been a trend in pet pampering for quite some time. At last summer's Pets Show Taipei, there was a fierce dog-dyeing competition. Check out photos.
But dyeing your pets to look like other wild animals is a more recent development.
The trend demonstrates how quickly and dramatically attitudes toward pets — particularly dogs — have changed in many parts of Asia.
In Taiwan, for example, just 10 years ago, dogs were still eaten in public restaurants and raised on farms for that purpose. Traditional Chinese medicine held that so-called "fragrant meat" from dogs could fortify one's health. Now, eating dog is viewed by many as an embarrassing reminder of a poorer time.
Elsewhere, in mainland China, dog meat is still very much on the menu. In fact, it's more expensive than pork or beef.
So, while more people may be eating dog as the country gets richer, newly wealthy Chinese have embraced dog-owning culture with a vengeance.
Dogs are brought into restaurants, fussed over in public, dressed up in ridiculous outfits and dyed to look like ferocious tigers.
Panda or chow chow? Tiger or retriever? You be the judge:
These dogs were put on show after being transferred to Zhenghou from southwest China's Sichuan province
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These chow chow dogs have been styled to look like pandas in Xi’an, Shaanxi province on June 18, 2011.
And here's another bizarre transformation, courtesy of the Daily Mail: a pet retriever in China has been dyed to look like tiger.
Click images to enlarge
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China Denounces Pet Dogs as Filthy Imports From the West
Pet dogs, in the eyes of China’s Communist Party, are a modern-day menace. And the Chinese urbanites who’ve grown infatuated with Spot and Rover are acting out a “crude and ludicrous imitation ... of a Western lifestyle.”
So goes a recent op-ed in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official news outlet.
The op-ed decries a “dog infestation” in China’s cities. Its urgent message to selfish dog owners: scoop those land mines - or else.
And yet the writer concedes that pet ownership is proof of China’s economic ascent. After all, starving peasants can’t afford to pamper Shih Tzus.
The ranks of people who can afford dog chow is rising fast. By 2030, according to the United Nations, China’s middle class will be four times the size of America’s middle class. Many Chinese can now seek out what Western consumers have long enjoyed: cars, flat-screen TVs and, yes, pet poodles. In Beijing, the number of registered dogs hit 1 million in 2012.
The doggie denouncement coincides with a revived effort to stamp out certain Western beliefs and behaviors taking root in 21st-century China. Officials are taking aim at bigger perils to social harmony, including democracy, an obsession with “individual rights” and the “free flow of information on the internet.”
“During Mao’s cultural revolution, dog ownership was condemned as elitist.”
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A Chinese man who supplements his income by walking dogs around the Houhai Lake area of Beijing on December 11, 2012. Dog ownership is popular amongst China?s elderly and the growing middle class but Beijing owners cannot keep dogs taller than 36 centimeters.
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This picture taken on March 18, 2014 shows an unidentified man posing for a photo with two Tibetan mastiffs after they were sold at a "luxury pet" fair in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang province. One of the Tibetan mastiff puppies (L) was sold in China for almost two million USD, a report said on March 19, in what could be the most expensive dog sale ever.
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An old man and his Pekingese dog in an ancient street of Beijing, China.
Officials in Shanghai have experimented with an even stricter edict: If dog owners can’t convince neighbors to approve of their dogs, the animal is confiscated by the state.
Dogs who aren’t up to code can be yanked out of owners’ arms. That was the fate of one white pooch, confiscated by cops in this cell phone video that went viral in China.
All of these rules on dog ownership, however, are increasingly flouted.
A documentary titled “Oversized Dogs” focuses entirely on Chinese citizens defying dog laws. Its director calls this trend “an important part of Chinese dissent.”
Meanwhile, the Communist Party’s media arm keeps cranking out editorials about dogs.
Just one month ago, the People’s Daily published another piece urging animal rights activists to stop berating fellow Chinese who view dogs as a culinary delicacy.
The op-ed first revives the elitist legacy of pet dogs in China: “Over China’s long history, they have only recently become pets except in the imperial court where Pekingese were kept exclusively for the royals.”
Another group suspiciously fond of canines? That’s right — foreigners. Though Westerners call dogs “man’s best friend,” the People’s Daily states, “Chinese people have only ever kept watchdogs or hunting dogs — along with those to be eaten.”
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Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Owners, Vets Reporting Even More Deaths Suspected to be Connected to Trifexis
Since Strickland first reported data collected by the Food and Drug Administration eight months ago, the number of death complaints is up nearly 40 percent, now coming in at a rate greater than one dog per day.
The FDA cautions there is no solid evidence linking Trifexis to any dog's death. The reports are simply complaints from owners and vets in which the pill is suspected.
"It's just horrendous to watch an animal die such a horrible, painful, excruciating death," said Acworth resident Anita Bergen.
Bergen's case is included in the FDA data.
Her Scottie named Fergus was 10 years old when she tried Trifexis.
"The initial reaction from taking that one pill was horrible," Bergen said.
"One pill?" asked Strickland.
"One Trifexis pill was all he ever had."
Bergen says the dog lost all muscle control, lost his thirst and suffered liver failure. She euthanized him two months after giving him the pill.
"I do feel deceived. I do not feel there was full disclosure," Bergen said.
Trifexis is a once-a-month pill to kill fleas, control parasites and prevent heartworm. TV commercials list side effects like vomiting and lethargy, but not death.
Strickland learned through the Freedom of Information Act that the FDA lists 965 complaints of dog deaths blamed on Trifexis.
That's an increase of 38 percent in the last eight months, and close to the total of 1,000 deaths linked to Chinese-made chicken jerky pet treats.
Drug maker Elanco maintains it can find no link between the pill and any dog fatalities.
"I see that as a cause for investigation, and as they're looking at those causes. I feel confident the FDA will follow through, but from our experience, we haven't seen it," said Cobb County veterinarian Toby Carmichael.
Carmichael says he and his partners have prescribed 75,000 doses of Trifexis with no adverse complications.
"My dogs have been on Trifexis since it came out and haven't had an issue once,” Carmichael said.
Physician Rochelle LePor has given her 7-year-old rescue dog Cooper nearly 40 pills over three years.
"I can only speak of my experience. For me, it’s like a wonder drug," she said.
"The FDA is not going to allow a product on the market that's going to hurt animals," added Carmichael.
Reports to Elanco's customer hotline have had an impact. There are now nearly 1,500 complaints of lost muscle control; a condition called ataxia.
Elanco added ataxia to its list of side effects two years ago.
Elanco also added seizures, the malady that hit a prize bulldog named Foxy, owned by 50-year veteran breeder Nancy Harrison.
The dog developed additional symptoms beyond her veterinarian's control.
"So you were forced to euthanize her?" Strickland asked.
"Yeah, if you saw it, you wouldn't want to live with it either. And never in 52 years had I had one before,” Harrison said.
Harrison stopped using the drug, even though her other dogs handled it without issue.
"It's hard to lose a dog. They're my children," said Harrison.
The mystery of their dogs’ deaths eats at her and Bergen.
"All the tests that are done, they're all inconclusive. No one can ever say this death is absolutely the result of administering this particular medication. But all the owners, all the pet caregivers know," said Bergen.
The FDA says it's continuing to monitor reports, and considers the product label a living document. To date, there are no plans to list death as even a rare but potential side effect.
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Among the Millions Mourning the Death of Robin Williams on Monday was Koko, a Gorilla who Communicates in Sign Language
“Years later (on Aug. 11, 2014), Koko overheard Penny (Dr. Penny Patterson, Koko’s mentor and surrogate mother) talking on the phone about Robin, who had just passed away,” The Gorilla Foundation stated on its website. “She became extremely sad.”
“When you remember Robin Williams, remember that he is not only one of the world’s most beloved entertainers, he is also one of the world’s most powerful ambassadors for great ape conservation,” the organization said.
For his part, Williams called his conversations with Koko a “mind-altering experience.”
The encounter with Koko was just one of many efforts Williams made over the years on behalf of wildlife. In 2011, the actor appeared with other celebrities in a TakePart video to call attention to the annual slaughter of dolphins at the cove in Taiji, Japan, where the few survivors are sold to zoos and water parks.
“My friend doesn’t belong in captivity,” Williams says in the video. “The others are brutally killed.”
“Years later (on Aug. 11, 2014), Koko overheard Penny (Dr. Penny Patterson, Koko’s mentor and surrogate mother) talking on the phone about Robin, who had just passed away,” The Gorilla Foundation stated on its website. “She became extremely sad.”
“When you remember Robin Williams, remember that he is not only one of the world’s most beloved entertainers, he is also one of the world’s most powerful ambassadors for great ape conservation,” the organization said.
For his part, Williams called his conversations with Koko a “mind-altering experience.”
The encounter with Koko was just one of many efforts Williams made over the years on behalf of wildlife. In 2011, the actor appeared with other celebrities in a TakePart video to call attention to the annual slaughter of dolphins at the cove in Taiji, Japan, where the few survivors are sold to zoos and water parks.
“My friend doesn’t belong in captivity,” Williams says in the video. “The others are brutally killed.”
In 1995, the comedian narrated and starred in the PBS documentary In the Wild—Dolphins With Robin Williams. He followed the work of marine biologists and swam with Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Caribbean.
In the Wake of Robin Williams' Death, Will We Finally Start Taking Depression Seriously?
As with Koko, he attempted to communicate with his newfound dolphin friends.
“What’s up, my main mammal?” he asked a spotted dolphin.
Closer to his Marin County, Calif., home, Williams once made an impromptu appearance at a fund-raiser for the local humane society, jumping onstage to riff with another comedian.
“The Marin Humane Society is very sad to hear about the passing of Robin Williams,” the group said on its Facebook page on Monday. “In 2009, we were honored when he gave a surprise performance at our Woofstock benefit concert.”
Click on images below to enlarge.
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Washington Humane Society - Many Thanks! To a Group of Very Special Kids Who Raised $223.75 for WHS from Their Lemonade Stand! - Help Us Thank These Amazing Animal Advocates
Kyle, Ella, Ally, Leah, Sylvia, Eleanor and Frances stopped by to visit us to personally deliver their donation. Eleanor and Frances (8 and 10 years old) are world class travelers who host bake sales and lemonade stands wherever they dock their family boat, and always find the local animal shelter and help wherever they are. We are thrilled that they chose to help DC animals during their three week visit.
Will you help us thank these amazing animal advocates?
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What You Should Know About Online Pet Medication Scams
Last year, Americans spent nearly $56 billion on their pets — an all-time high — and are expected to spend $60 billion this year . Plenty of that went to veterinary care, which includes prescription medication, as well as over-the-counter meds. In aggregate, Americans spend more than $14 billion a year at the vet and more than $13 billion on supplies and over-the-counter medication. This means that some pet owners must shell out hundreds, even thousands, for medications for their pets each year.
Thanks in part to these high costs, more pet owners are turning online for their pet’s medication. “Consumers realize that pets often require medicine that is absurdly expensive when compared to the human drug equivalent, because of the veterinary markup over wholesale and dispensing fees charged at many vet offices,” says Laura Nativo, pet expert from Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” show. “With the growing number of Internet pharmacies, savvy pet parents realize that shopping online can amount to lower prices, added convenience.”
But that convenience and cost savings can come with a serious downside: the risk of scams. SiteJabber , a website where customers can review online businesses, has seen a 60% year-over-year increase in the number of consumer complaints over businesses selling pet medications online. “It’s one of the fastest-growing areas of complaints on the site,” says Jeremy Gin, the founder of SiteJabber.
SiteJabber analyzed more than 1,000 consumer complaints about online pet medication companies to determine the most-complained about issues. Here are three.
1. Automatic shipments that won’t stop (and you keep paying for)
More than 15% of the customer complaints about online pet medication businesses involved auto-shipments, according to the SiteJabber analysis. Here’s what often happens: A pet owner sets up an auto-shipment of certain medications because her pet has a recurring condition that needs regular medication. But when she tries to cancel the auto-shipments, she finds it nearly impossible to do so — and keeps getting charged for medications she no longer needs.
What consumers can do: Gin recommends that right after consumers call the pet med company to cancel auto-payment of their medications, they also call their credit card company to let them know that they should not authorize any more automatic payments from that company.
2. Shipments that take forever — or never come
One in five pet owners who bought pet medication online complained about pet medication shipments that took far longer than promised or never even came, the SiteJabber data revealed. This may be a particularly acute problem if you order from a company based abroad, as customs may be an issue, he says.
Not only is this annoying, but it can be harmful to your pet’s health if they aren’t getting the medication they need.
What consumers can do: Have a backup pharmacy in town that you know will have the medication (call to make sure they have it in stock) — even if it will cost more, says Gin. That’s because even if you call the company to confirm the delivery date of your medication — or even if they have a guaranteed delivery date — the company may still not get it to you on time. To try to get your money back if they don’t deliver when promised, request it both in writing and verbally; that may not work though, in which case, you may have to go through your credit card company, says Gin.
3. Fake pharmacies that send fake medications
“Many online pharmacies are not safe,” says Amber Anderson, a veterinarian based in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.; and indeed, of the 420 online pet pharmacies reviewed on SiteJabber, more than one in three were identified as non-legitimate pharmacies, meaning that they likely violated laws or regulations around the sale of drugs. These pharmacies may give you medication that isn’t what you asked for (and thus does not help your pet), sugar pills or other fake pills, diluted versions of the medication, medication with additives that may be bad for your pet, and more.
What consumers can do: Consumers need to verify that the pharmacy they are using is legitimate, and because there are so many that aren’t, this isn’t an easy process. The FDA recommends that you only order from a website that is designated Vet-VIPPS, which stands for the Veterinary-Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites; this is given by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy to online pet med pharmacies who comply with NABP’s criteria, including licensing and inspection requirements, quality and validity of prescription orders. Gin says that you should make sure the site is verified by LegitScripts.com, and Nativo recommends looking at online TopConsumerReviews.com as well as searching for the company online and through social media to see what other customers are saying.
Steve McFarland, the president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, says that you should also ask your vet how to get less expensive medication that is safe or ask friends for referrals. And Nativo says she likes sites like PetCareRx.com , DrsFosterSmith.com and even Costco.com .
Finally, “many online pharmacies touting too-good-to-be true advertising such as ‘Discount pet drugs! No RX required!’ are not regulated, but may seem legitimate, which causes unfair confusion for consumers,” says Nativo. “Remember, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is — and saving money is not worth potentially short changing your pet’s wellness.”
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A Pet Owner in Taiwan Has the Uncanny Ability to Tickle Her Adorable Pup in a Way that Makes it Look Like She’s Actually Playing a Musical Instrument - What Are Your Thoughts?
A pet owner in Taiwan has the uncanny ability to tickle her adorable pup in a way that makes it look like she’s actually playing some strings on her. The University of Taiwan student uploaded the video of herself onto Facebook “playing” her dog like an instrument.
Wonder what that would actually sound like! The puppy looks to be game and even kicks her foot to the beat while her owner “strums” her, with the canine looking like one super-cute dog instrument.
The video of owner and pup has since gone viral and has been viewed and shared around the world, catapulting the instrument dog to getting international love! Watch the video below to see the adorable, “music making” pup.
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Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Robin Williams, An Animal Lover, Was honored by The San Francisco Zoo Before His Death
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
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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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.
Click on images to enlarge.
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