Oprah Hearts Cockers!

If you are an avid Oprah-watcher like me, you witnessed her introducing her new rescued, purebred Cocker Spaniel puppy Sadie to the world. Yes, you read it correctly. From my observations, Sadie appeared to be a purebred American Cocker Spaniel, not much older than 10-12 weeks old. According to reports, Winfrey and her longtime S/O Stedman Graham visited the shelter completely unannounced the previous weekend and adopted the puppy on the spot. But wait, there's more, according to the PAWS Chicago shelter, the puppy was one of a litter of six purebred Cocker Spaniel puppies that were all up for adoption the day Oprah and Stedman came in. Hmmmmmm, okay, I guess this is possible. Unfortunately it's a fact that thousands of purebred dogs end up in shelters every year, but entire litters? And on a day when a high powered celebrity just happens to drop by? I'm really trying to be a believer, but I can't help but feel a little skeptical. When Oprah did her puppy mill expose last year she announced unequivocally that her next dog would come from a shelter. If she'd reneged on that promise, she'd have never lived it down. So it seems more than a coincidence and sheer stroke of luck that she just happened to stumble upon a puppy of her breed of choice (her two original Cockers, Sophie and Solomon, both passed away in 2008) on a random visit to the shelter. But then again, Oprah is no stranger to good fortune! That woman has had good fortune and success written all over her! If anyone is going to be in the right place at the right time, it's her! The Obama family will be bringing home their rescue Portie sometime next month. Despite his health issues, Ted Kennedy got a Portuguese Water Dog puppy back in December. I feel another coincidence coming on.

And why does any of this matter? Truthfully to me it really doesn't. I guess it is interesting to watch the great lengths high profile people are going through in order to avoid the wrath that currently comes with getting a purebred puppy from a breeder. And I could be totally wrong here, which is fine. I'm much more concerned about how these dogs will be cared for when they are in their new homes. Oprah certainly has nothing to prove in my book. She is a wonderful dog lover. So she loves Cockers and wanted a new Cocker puppy, good for her. More power to her for getting the puppy she wanted. Whatever way that litter of Cockers ended up in the shelter, rest assured it wasn't by way of a puppy mill. Puppy mills don't take litters to shelters. They sell them. And the ones they can't sell they use for breeding stock, especially females. No, these puppies had to have come from someone who cared. The puppies were gorgeous and were highly adoptable. I suspect they wouldn't have lasted a day in the shelter even if Oprah hadn't come by. And yet, a week later, there were still several unadopted pups left over who were featured on unarguably the most watched daytime television show ever. Oprah got one, but it is assured other celebrities may follow suit as well. Frequent Oprah show visitor Alexandra Wentworth, wife of George Stephanopoulos, showed great interest in taking one of them home herself. Yes, I'd say this litter has made out quite well. It's a win/win regardless of the circumstances, and I'd say that's really the moral to the story for me. Good for all of them!