Many of you have written to me (thank you!) to make sure that we all know that Oprah is doing a show on puppy mills this Friday, April 4. Woohoo!
Wayne Pacelle's blog (http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/) says, "Oprah taped an entire hour-long program last week on puppy mills and the related issues of shelter adoptions, spay and neuter, and euthanasia."

The Oprah promo page says:
"Oprah is asking animal lovers to unite. Find out why it's important to know where a puppy really comes from before you take it home. Tune In Friday!
Lisa Ling exposes inhumane treatment of animals. Check back for what you can do to fight back."

You can read more and watch the video promo on line at
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200804/tows_past_20080404.jhtml?promocode=HP51
Or here is a shorter link to the same page in case the link above breaks:
http://tinyurl.com/2cvs6g

The promo gives the impression that the show is going to be wonderful. So does the tone of the Associated Press piece which you can read on line at http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/04/02/oprah.dog.ap/index.html
In it, Oprah says, "I would never, ever adopt another pet now without going to a shelter to do it. I am a changed woman after seeing this show."

Those who don't watch Oprah regularly can find out where she is on in your area, at
http://www.oprah.com/tows/program/tows_prog_whenwhere.jhtml

Before passing this alert on to all of your friends -- particularly any who have ever bought a dog from a pet store -- please take just a moment to thank Oprah for the coverage. She does not have that much of a history of strong animal friendly coverage, so we need to do everything we can to encourage more of it from her, as she reaches millions of people every day. Please thank her wholeheartedly for this show -- and make whatever suggestions you wish for more animal themed Oprah shows.
Send your thanks at
http://www2.oprah.com/email/reach/email_reach_fromu.jhtml

You can also post comments on the discussion board at the bottom of the promo page I have linked to above. Please make sure Oprah gets all the positive feedback she deserves.

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)

Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read advance reviews of Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals” and watch the fun celebrity studded promo video.