Photo: Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Get this: Pop singer Leona Lewis was walking down Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles last week shopping for some fancy duds, when she spotted a homeless man sitting tight with a leashed white bunny. When she asked the man what he was planning on doing with the animal, he replied, "Don't know -- probably eat it."
On the spot, the vegetarian X Factor winner asked how much she could pay him to rescue the bunny, the Sun reports, and after he asked for $20, she generously dropped a Benjamin (that's, er, a $100 dollar bill) into the man's hands before scurrying home with her new friend (whom she's since named Melrose). Leona's new pet will roam her Hollywood Hills garden, likely alongside her Rottweiler, Rome.
This isn't Leona's first animal rights act. Last year she turned down a $1.6 million offer from UK department store Harrods to open their summer sale, because the shop sells furs.
Call us crazy, but considering her gracious act, we're going to take the vegetarian, animal rights activist's smash hit, "Bleeding Love," a tad more literally from now on.
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I currently have an extremely large Husky/Golden mix dogger to go along with my Choc. Lab because I couldn't stand to see the neighbor's children send him to the shelter when his owner passed last Spring. My lab had played with him in the back yard frequently so I knew they would get along in my house. They are now inseparable and he's fit in great. He's now become my husband's pal as well. He's definitely a man's dog since his previous owner was a single guy.
I also frequently take home the neighborhood pets that I see running loose because our subdivision is bordered by 3 four-lane, very busy roads. I just can't stand the thought of one getting hit. It's cruel for the dog and cruel for the person that has to live with hitting it. As well I am famous in my family for finding stray kittens/cats and finding them permanent homes. I refuse to send them to the shelter when I know several people always willing to give them a home and get them neutered. It's my own personal pet rescue. ;o) I like to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Pets ask for so little yet give so much.
Brava, Jerri. Keep doing the right thing for animals who need responsible people to care about them.
Every time I see a dog on the run...without an owner or leash or collar, I do my best to get hold of it and find out where it belongs. Sometimes, it has just left home on its own without a collar and the owner has already called the police or shelters and then comes to my house to pick up his or her pet. Sometimes, I foster for a while, until people I know will take the dog and give it a good home.
I have three dogs...all shelter dogs...and I love them so much. The law in my town is that homeowners are only allowed to have three dogs, so I'm following the rules and wishing I could have more. There is nothing more satisfying than helping an animal in need.
Good for you Jerri!!! I lost a long time pet last year due to a car hitting him. The family was devastated. I thank you so much for your kind ways to the animals you are saving people and the animals from pain and suffering. May God Bless you and send you many resources for your efforts! SWEET
in my house we rescue pets all the time. the 3 cats i hav now r all rescues from our neighborhood and our dog is from north shore animal league bc they dont kill any of their animals. i likd leon lewis b4 but now she's evn cooler.
It would be GREATLY appreciated if you would write properly. It makes it easier to read, and it demonstrates that you are intelligent. Communicating clearly greatly reduces the chance that you will be misunderstood, too.
Elka, not all of us are perfect spellers, and sometimes we like to use internet shorthand. Katie does nice things for animals and instead of commenting on that you choose to pick on her spelling. I understood her perfectly. Thank you Katie for caring about the furbabies. I had a dog from North Shore, too! Elka, perhaps you should go to charm school and learn a thing or two about being gracious.
Elka, perhaps you should pay more attention to what Katie is saying instead of the way in which she was saying it. Thank you Katie for caring about animals. The world needs more people like you.
Elka, there are quite a few versions of "writing properly." Many, if not most, of them include that you should never start a sentence with (or overuse) the word "it". You should rarely, if ever, use the same word in a sentence twice. The word "too" (nor any adverb or preposition) should never be the final word of a sentence.
While I do not propose that I am the clearest writer when it comes to grammar, I am aware that we all make mistakes, even when we are correcting others. Mirrors are wonderful things.
Ha I am up on you, I have 8 cats I have rescued and 1 dog. There is a big problem with people just letting them run or dumping them. I love all my babies very much they all get along and we love watching them play.
Angela,
If you can't understand what she means because of the way it is written, well, then, the way she states her opinion is of the utmost importance. If she can afford a computer, then she can afford to learn to read and write correctly, even if it should take a tutor to do so. Internet "shorthand" is nothing more than ignorance or laziness, depending on the user.
this story made me so happy. we need more people like her.
Leona Lewises intentions are great - - but turning the bunny loose to run in her back hard with her Rottweiller??? I question the intelligence of that!!
my rottie used to play with my rabbit....
It was the author who suggested that, not Ms. Lewis.
She is an idiot to turn down that money.It's funny she stopped to help the rabbit and not the homeless man.That's why i think you animal rights people are the biggest jokes around.I'd rather see a 100 animals killed then one human.
So she's an idiot because she "helped the rabbit and not the homeless man"? He asked for $20 and she gave him $100. She didn't have to. It was way more than she could have bought a rabbit in a shop or from a breeder or farm (assuming it's a standard bunny, not an Angora). Can you not see that as compassion for the man as well as the rabbit? It was a silly, closed-minded, ill-thought-out assumption of yours.
So I guess she should have taken the homeless man home to run around in her garden with her rotweiler?
She doesn't know the guy's story. He might have been given all the help in the world by a loving family, counsellors, rehab, etc., etc. Some people are homeless due to bad breaks. Other people are homeless because they continue to make bad decisions where they are willing to take hand outs, but not hand ups.
aduh 7-30-2009 @ 9:47PM
She is an idiot to turn down that money
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Am I thick headed? Am I missing something? What money did she turn down?
Um, "A-DUHHHH", when you learn to spell, maybe you can post a more educated comment. It's "than", not "then", but more importantly--humans have far more ability to protect themselves from someone that might want to trap them, leash them, skin them alive, and put them on a grill in order to consume their flesh.
Maybe you should be leashed. At least until you learn some decency, respect for your planet, and some spelling skills.
As for the rest of you, she didn't have to help anyone. What have YOU done for a human, an animal, or anything besides yourself? Exactly what I thought.
ADUH the name suits you. How about not killing at all. Why does it have to be one or the other? She could have just given the man $20 like he asked but she gave him $100. She did help him. What more do you want? How many homeless have you taken in and cared for????? Yea none, that's what I though.