Linda Blair is an American icon, a household name since her performance as a child possessed by the devil in "The Exorcist." But in real life, Blair is an angel to homeless dogs - and like another actress famed for her philanthropy, Doris Day, she has dedicated her life to dog rescue with a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation, Linda Blair Worldheart.
"I did not change my whole life to start this non-profit because I thought it was fun," Blair says. "I got involved with rescuing animals because I saw how many were being turned in to shelters and not coming out. When I was young, an animal shelter was where you went to adopt a pet, or get reunited with a pet that had gotten lost; it was the place where strays got a second chance. Sadly, it’s now the place where people discard unwanted animals because they ’don’t have time’."
Blair began by pulling dogs from high-kill urban animal shelters, and using her celebrity status to help educate others - via PSAs and a documentary she has in the works - about such vital issues as breed discrimination, the plight of chained dogs, and the millions of healthy, adoptable animals killed every year at shelters across this country just for lack of cage space.
Blair puts her time, money, and effort wherever animals need her. When the haunting images of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation took over our television screens, she immediately flew to New Orleans to save as many dogs as she could. "That was like going through a nuclear war," she recalls. "New Orleans changed me forever."
Today, this petite woman with the energy of ten - fueled by a strict vegan diet! - oversees her foundation’s sanctuary in Acton, California. It’s a happy halfway house for some 34 dogs, where the residents live in "canine cottages" and undergo careful training and socialization until they’re ready to be adopted out.
Blair could use our help, because like every other animal-rescue group in this country, hers must cope with the tidal wave of abandoned "foreclosure dogs" displaced by the mortgage crisis. What can we do? If you’re located in California, consider adopting one of Linda’s gorgeous dogs. If you’re located elsewhere, be mindful of homeless dogs across the country, and act locally to help put an end to the crisis of abandoned dogs. By doing so, you’ll be doing your part to help solve the nationwide problem of homelessness, which afflicts dogs as well as people in these economic tough times.
"Please," Blair says, "I’m begging you, volunteer and adopt locally. If you help the dogs in your own community, you’re helping me."
