TV chat show queen Oprah Winfrey is to investigate puppy farms / puppy mills on her wildly successful show.

The star will dedicate the entire show to her late cocker spaniel, Sophie, who died in February from kidney failure.

“Sophie gave me 13 years of unconditional love. She was a true love in my life,” Winfrey says on the broadcast scheduled to air Friday.

(this show is) “for anybody anywhere who loves a dog, has ever loved a dog, or just cares about their basic right to humane treatment.”

While Oprah’s own dog, Sophie was not a product of a puppy mill, her three current dogs were adopted from breeders, Winfrey says in the future she would look to adopt from a dog rescue shelter.

“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”

LINKS:

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Unlike some of the characters she has played in the movies such as the infamous ‘bunny boiler’ in the thriller ‘Fatal Attraction’, actress Glenn Close is a life-long animal lover who enjoys a passionate relationship with her dogs Jake and Bill.

Her friend Martha Stewart, who lives with horses, miniature donkeys, cats and 200 chickens, also has a love affair with her three dogs — Paw Paw, Francesca and Sharkey — who she describes as “so loyal and such marvelous company” that “I would rather be with them than almost anyone.”

So it’s not surprising that Stewart has joined Close’s charitable shopping program on FetchDog.com (http://www.fetchdog.com/Shop ) to benefit animal welfare organizations. FetchDog is a shopping, education and networking resource for dog lovers.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is the beneficiary of the recently-opened Martha Stewart Charitable Shop (http://www.fetchdog.com/Shop?dsp=marthastewart ). The shop features more than 20 products personally selected by Stewart — ranging from a design-award-winning dog feeder to a doggy deck chair of sunlight-resistant fabric. When shoppers make a purchase starting on Stewart’s page, a percent of everything they spend on FetchDog.com is donated to the ASPCA.

“We’re very pleased to have been selected as a beneficiary of FetchDog’s charitable shopping program,” says Jo Sullivan, ASPCA Senior Vice President “This is the best of both worlds for dog lovers: they can something good for animals in need while shopping for great products for their own pet.”

Stewart recently previewed the charitable shopping program on the Martha Stewart Show (http://www.marthastewart.com/show/st-patricks-day-show-with-glenn-close ) with the help of Close and her husband David Shaw, one of FetchDog’s founders and Executive Chair of Ikaria — a critical care pharmaceutical company.

Glenn Close launched the Charitable Shops earlier this year as a companion to her FetchDog blog Lively Licks: Profiles of Dogs and their People (http://www.fetchdog.com/blogs/livelylicks ), which features interviews with her dog-owning friends. The blog gives readers a glimpse into just how deeply her interview subjects care about their pets. Among the famous dog-lovers featured in the blog are Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, whose Charitable Shop benefits Little Angels Pug Rescue, and Debra Messing and Dan Melman, whose beneficiary is Animal Rescue New Orleans. Upcoming interviews are scheduled with Sam Waterson and Bernadette Peters.

“We are very excited about the potential for Charitable Shops to benefit these animal charities,” says Peter Troast of FetchDog. “This is truly socially responsible shopping: you choose from a great assortment of high-quality, hand-selected products, and your purchases support a worthwhile cause.”

“And, as one reader commented about Glenn’s latest blog: ‘What connects us — the famous and the not — is our love for our animals.’”

An exhibit dedicated to the memory of Oprah Winfrey’s late dogs opens in Manhattan’s west village, helping to promote pet safety awareness. A life-size monument depicts “puppy versions” of Oprah’s Cocker Spaniel Sophie and Golden Labrador Gracie atop the head of the talk show icon by controversial sculptor Daniel Edwards. The Puppies’ Memorial will be exhibited at Leo Kesting Gallery on May 22nd.

“Memories of Sophie and Gracie: A Puppies’ Memorial” is inspired by the Oprah press releases that announced the passing of Gracie, who choked on a ball last year, and the passing of Sophie, who died in March.

“To represent Sophie and Gracie together, joined in Oprah’s memory as they were in life and in Oprah’s heart, the artist depicted them as conjoined at the hip and sharing a common tail,” says co-director John Leo. The dogs are shown standing on the flowing-maned golden likeness of Oprah’s head, in reference to how the dogs’ deaths may be weighing heavily on Winfrey’s mind. “Losing two beloved pets within a year is likely to take its toll on anybody.”

Last month, Oprah dedicated a show investigating abuses at puppy mills to Sophie, who died from kidney failure. “Sophie gave me 13 years of unconditional love,” Winfrey said on her show.

The Puppies’ Memorial also highlights the overlooked threat of accidental pet fatality by common household products.

“Given the natures of the demise of Oprah’s dogs, we feel the horrors of a puppy mill could be inconsequential compared to the poison hazards pets face in the home. Leaving a puppy mill for a nice home could be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire for some pets,” says gallery co-director David Kesting. “According to the APCC (Animal Poison Control Center), the anti-freeze commonly leaked on garage floors, for example, is sweet smelling and tasting to pets, but it causes kidney failure and death.”

“The memories of Oprah’s pets could serve as a reminder to all pet lovers that this may be a good time to thoroughly ‘puppy-proof’ their pet’s habitats,” says Daniel Edwards.

“Sophie’s kidney failure may have resulted from natural causes, but we hope the Puppies’ Memorial will remind everyone that Gracie’s choking could have been prevented,” says Kesting.

Edwards’s other works include a pro-euthanasia monument to Kentucky Derby winning racehorse Barbaro, The Paris Hilton Autopsy featuring her forlorn pet Chihuahua Tinkerbell, and a nude Britney Spears giving birth on a bearskin rug.

Reception for the PRESS, May 21st at 11:00 a.m. Public reception is May 22nd, 6:00 p.m. at Leo Kesting Gallery, 812 Washington St. Contact David Kesting at 917-650-3760 or John Leo at 917-292-8865 or http://www.leokesting.com/