It’s a love story between celebrities and their pets. Such is the way From the Pound to the Penthouse show creator and portrait photographer, Susan Rubin, describes the series, a Cinderella-like tale of down-on-their-luck dogs and cats, and the larger-than-life stars who rescue and pamper them.

“It’s about second chances, because a lot of the celebrities featured have had second chances just like the pets,” Rubin explains. “I think for that reason, people can really relate. The underdog to top dog really hits home for a lot of people, because we all want a second chance.”

And, by the end of the show, people are left with, who really rescued who? In these very personal accounts from the celebs themselves, it becomes clear that line is quite blurred.

The list of celebrities who dote on rescued pets is long. Ryan Gosling and Reynolds, Miley Cyrus, Blake Lively and Miranda Lambert are all proud parents of shelter animals. Seth MacFarlane co-founded one of the largest no-kill cat sanctuaries in the US, Lambert started her own foundation and Oprah Winfrey has committed to bringing only rescued animals into her home.

Some will go to great lengths to be chosen. In an interview, George Clooney relayed how he was so smitten by one pooch, he rubbed meat on his shoes to guarantee a gleeful first meeting. It worked!

 

Their stories…

For others, these best friends have saved their lives. Real Housewives of New Jersey, Danielle Staub, talks about how she was sexually abused by her stepfather, starting when she was a little girl. She had a rescued Chihuahua Terrier mix, and her dog would lie under the bed when these assaults were happening and would lick her hand, letting her know she wasn’t alone. “If it weren’t for that dog,” she said, “I’d be dead, because I would’ve killed myself. I owe my life to that dog.”

And, tough guy Mickey Rourke, who found one of his significant other pups in the basement of a horder house of severely neglected pets, is shown snuggling and kissing his two Chihuahuas, Jaws and Loki. Rourke shares the reason he prefers the little ones. “When you hold them, you can feel their heart beat,” he says. He can hold them so their heart is near his heart.

NCIS’s Pauley Perrette credits her dogs with getting her through a harrowing time with her ex-husband, who’d been stalking her for years. At one point, the judge allowed him to live in her house that they’d once shared. Unable to cope, Pauley moved out with one bag of clothes, her dogs and her laptop. She doesn’t know how she’d have been able to get through, if it weren’t for her dogs. They were her comfort and her protection, not just physically, but emotionally. “It will always be the best relationship you ever have!” she exclaims.

These stars join Ed Asner, Eric Roberts, the late The Simpsons creator Sam Simon, Devious Maids‘ Judy Reyes, Georgina Bloomberg, Emmylou Harris and Jivamukti creator, Sharon Gannon, to wax poetic about their pets.

 

Getting the idea…

How did Rubin get the idea for the show? “I adopted a dog from a high kill shelter, who had been bounced around and was about to be euthanized,” she explains. “She was this funny-looking, skinny dog, and had all kinds of issues from neglect. And, she was extraordinary. I called her Mother Theresa in a fur suit! If someone was sick, she would lay next to them. If she saw an elderly person, she would pull me over to them. She was amazing with children; they could poke and pull at her and she just wagged her tail; she knew they were children. And, I kept thinking, this is a dog that could’ve easily been killed.”

That led to Susan rescuing more pets and learning the overwhelming truth about the millions looking for homes. She also saw how many amazing animals were available.

 

Enlisting celebrities to help spread the message was a no brainer. “When you see someone who has Golden Globes, a beautiful wife, house and all the trappings we say goes with success and happiness in America, and they’re saying what means the most to them, changed their lives the most and brings them the greatest joy is a three-legged mutt, that affects people,” Rubin describes. “What people have mentioned is most touching and what connects them the most with my show, is that they haven’t ever seen these actors, especially the tough guys like Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts and Ed Asner so vulnerable, so genuine. Actors don’t often let their guard down. They’ve created a persona that tends to be open, but then there’s a wall. In these interviews, they are vulnerable and open, because they’re talking about what’s closest to their heart.

“As devoted as animals are, there’s a level of devotion that you get from an animal you’ve rescued, that you really can’t imagine unless you’ve done that,” Rubin shares. “In fact, Eric Roberts in his interview even said, ‘They know that you’ve saved them, and they are forever grateful.’  That’s how powerful having a rescued animal in your life is.”