Three years ago after losing her beloved Maltese, Mindy, Heeja O’Leary decided rather than focus on the sadness of her loss she would build a memorial to honor Mindy’s life.

Her plan was to build a dog run at PAWS Humane Center on South Street in Calais, ME. That was nearly two years ago. O’Leary raised more than $5,000, and construction began last summer.

Not only did the O’Learys raise money they also did much of the work themselves.  Although Greg O’Leary did receive help he’s a bit modest when it comes to admitting how much of the work he did himself.

However, anyone who watched the project day-by-day often saw O’Leary by himself. For months, armed with a chain saw, O’Leary leveled trees in a wooded area behind the shelter. Rather than strip the land, O’Leary decided to use as much of the natural area as possible, so he laid out an octagonal section.

Last Friday the O’Learys got a tour of the now completed dog run,  which covers over 1,600 square feet.

In the past, the shelter had only a small fenced-in yard with one tree. Most of the time the dogs rooted around outside in the sun.  Now they can romp under the trees, sniff at the roots and occasionally lift a leg.A dog named Yeller jumped up and gave Heeja O’Leary a big kiss on the chin. Heeja O’Leary smiled as she watched the dogs run.

Since the O’ Learys did so much of the work on the dog run they were able to save money on the project.  Last year they donated $1000 to the PAWS shelter to help with the operation.

There is amazing news coming out about the intentions in Leona Helmsley’s (the NY hotel baroness) will and how it will be executed.

On June 16th Manhattan Surrogate Judge Renee Roth reduced Leona’s $12 million bequeath to her Maltese, Trouble, to only $2 million (and assigned the $10 million to grandchildren who had been entirely shut out). It was also reported that will executors are spent $100 thousand in the last year on security detail for Trouble who had received death threats.

Now that all the named and direct beneficiaries of the will have been sorted out, there is the matter of the $5 to $8 billion (BILLION!) in unassigned assets that were dedicated in a two page “mission statement” attached to the will for the health and welfare of dogs. William Josephson, a lawyer who was the chief of the Charities Bureau in the New York State attorney general’s office from 1999 to 2004 stated “The statement is an expression of her wishes that is not necessarily legally binding.” However legal precedence consistently decides upon fulfilling the expressed wishes of the deceased over any other interpretation. So it’s very likely that billions in assets ($2.3 billion of which was liquid at the time of her death) must be spent for the health and care of dogs.

Once I was able to wrap my head about this, this is amazingly wonderful news. It definitely verges on the ridiculous considering the NY Times determined that “$5 billion would equal 10 times as much money spent as all 7,381 animal-related nonprofit groups reporting to the Internal Revenue Service in 2005.” Another way to look at it is that if there are 70 million dogs in the U.S. each could be given $71 towards health care. But it’s seems likely likely that huge amounts of money are going to have to be spent on dog health and welfare.

Reading about this makes me think that while Leona thought of her dog’s welfare, most people make no plans for their pets if their pets outlive them.

Our guest blogger, attorney and dog lover Michael Blackburg, posted a great entry on how to prepare for your pet if you are not able. It’s a great overview and steps every pet owner should review. Michael also helps people create simply and binding trusts for their pets.

After doing some research I found The New York Blogger Mike Nizza picked up on just this same issue and informed me of a non-profits called 2nd Chance 4 Pets. Their mission is to keep pets out of shelters and keep them with families.

2nd Chance 4 Pets is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization staffed by volunteers and located in Los Gatos, California. We work throughout the state and across the nation to provide pet owners with comprehensive information about lifetime care solutions to ensure that their pets will always be cared for.

So, on this note, I’m off to start a $5 billion foundation dedicated to dog health and welfare, but first I’m going to make sure Moxie is taken care of … always.