PUPSUNITE.ORG | 4 Carries on its Founder’s Legacy Legendary singer/actress/animal welfare advocate Doris Day died in 2019, but her charity is making sure her work lives on. Known for her prolific music career of over 600 recordings, including Academy Award-winning hits “Secret Love” and “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera),” and recognized as the Top Female Box Office Star, appearing in 39 films in the 50’s and 60’s, such as the ever-popular Calamity Jane and Pillow Talk, Day’s heart’s passion was her love for animals. Following her illustrious Hollywood career, which also encompassed her own radio show in the early 50’s and a 5-year run of the hit CBS TV series, The Doris Day Show (19681973), she relocated to Carmel, California in the late 70’s and devoted the second part of her life to her pioneering animal welfare work. Here she also hosted her mid-1980’s Doris Day’s Best Friends cable series, which welcomed celebrity guest stars and focused on animal-related issues. As a founding member and one-time vice president of Actors and Others for Animals, Doris Day was among the first to spread the importance of spay/neuter in the early 70’s, when an estimated 17 million homeless pets were being euthanized in overcrowded shelters. Wanting to do more, she founded her own non-profit Doris Day Pet Foundation in 1978, focusing on finding homes for the many animals that were being destroyed simply because there weren’t enough good homes and continuing to advocate for spaying and neutering. In addition to fostering animals at her house, she was leasing kennel space, providing for veterinary care, and finding loving forever homes, with the help of dedicated volunteers. Over the years, the organization has evolved into today’s Doris Day Animal Foundation, a national grant-giving charity that funds other 501(c)3 animal welfare organizations and programs across the country that directly help animals and the people who love them. Some of DDAF’s ongoing project funding includes spay/neuter, food, medical care, Duffy Day Life Saving Program, the Doris Day/Terry Melcher Scholarship for shelter medicine students, service dogs for veterans, wildlife sanctuaries and disaster emergency relief, among many others. In 2023, DDAF provided funding to local organizations on the frontlines of the devastating Maui fires to help rescue and care for displaced animals until they could be reunited with their families or returned to the wild. Since 2013, DDAF has supported Pets Uniting People Society (PUPS) in their spay/neuter efforts. “With many shelters becoming critically overcrowded again, it’s important now more than ever to keep the homeless pet population down,” said Lea Price, DDAF’s Director of Communications. “PUPS’ lowcost spay/neuter and TNR programs are an integral part of the community, and we are happy to help.” As DDAF begins its 46th year, its longtime staff is dedicated to carrying on Doris Day’s legacy of making this a better world for the animals long into the future.
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