Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Basset Hound Rescue of Alabama Lovers! Wow, I just saw this come over the basset hound breaking news wires….Howl cool is this?
Veronica Kennedy — The Birmingham News
Minnie Pearl will attend tonight’s book-signing with Rachael Ray at the Books-A-Million in Colonial Brookwood Village.
Miss Pearl is a Basset hound dumped by her puppy mill owners after she stopped producing litters. She will benefit from the $7,500 donation the TV chef and cookbook author is making to Basset Hound Rescue of Alabama on her stop in Birmingham to promote her latest book, “Look+Cook.”
“Minnie Pearl was almost literally bred to death,” said Trudy Phillips, treasurer and spokeswoman for the Basset rescue based in Birmingham. When she was taken in, the dog was malnourished and in general poor health. She was given lots of love in a foster home and gained some weight. Soon after she was spayed, she had a cancerous tumor removed from her head.
She has recovered, and is looking for her forever human. She will be one of about five Basset hounds at the event, along with volunteers from the rescue group.
Ray is visiting Birmingham because of her large fan base here. It will be her second trip to the Magic City.
“We love Birmingham because Birmingham loves us,” Ray said during a telephone interview. “We pull in Oprah-like numbers in Birmingham.”
Ray has two charities she funds through the sale of her branded products:
> Yum-O, created in 2006, focuses on helping families develop healthy relationships with food and cooking through education as well as scholarships and other financial assistance. The sale of items ranging from T-shirts to cookware funds the organization.
> Rachael’s Rescue focuses on animal shelters and animal rights groups throughout the country. Profits from the sale of Nutrish pet foods and Just 6 pet treats are donated to national groups such as North Shore Animal League, Bad Rap, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and America’s VetDogs as well as smaller local animal rescues.
Ray is known for her enthusiasm for cooking on The Food Network as well as her weekday syndicated talk show, which airs in Birmingham on Fox6.
She is just as enthusiastic about animals; in fact, her choice of dog breed is political to her.
Isaboo, Ray’s personal pet, is a rednose pit bull. She said she has owned at least one pit bull for the past 20 years.
“It is my breed for life,” she said. “There is no such thing as an evil animal; there are just evil people.”
Ray loves to mince veggies on her TV shows, but she doesn’t mince any words when it comes to her feelings about pro football player Michael Vick, who served 21 months in prison after being convicted of interstate dog fighting.
“I held his bait dog in my lap,” she said of Vick. “He should be given an allowance and forced to give the rest of the money he earns to animal shelters. Anyone who tortures animals or small children is evil.”
Ray has put her money where her mouth is. Since founding Rachael’s Rescue in 2008, she has raised — and donated — $1.4 million. On this current book tour, where she is setting up what she calls “pop-up adoptions,” she is handing out $775,000 to rescue groups in the dozen or so cities she plans to visit.
“We’re still pinching ourselves,” Basset rescue’s Phillips said. “Two weeks ago, when we found out we were going to be featured at the book-signing, I almost fell out of my chair. And then, when we found out how much we were getting, I almost fell out of my chair again.
“This is awesome.”
Phillips said the money will be put in the rescue’s medical account.
End of article!
Ahhhhhhhhh……..Take some time to read more about the beautiful Minnie Pearl on the Basset Hound Rescue of Alabama’s website
MINNIE PEARL’S STORY
Congratulations on your win Alabama! We are so proud of you. Tell Rachel hi from basset hound town!
More good holiday news later….Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma
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