This isn’t work for me. It’s just like inhaling and exhaling. And every minute I’m thinking of different ways to help them.
LM: What have you learned about yourself as a result of your dogs and horses? What have they taught you? JR: I was on the red carpet as the entertainment reporter for first WCBS and then the Today show for 21 years doing entertainment for the first 16 and then when my beloved Jack got bone cancer, I chronicled his story and I was literally receiving emails from all over the world. That story touched a nerve and people were so moved by my beautiful Jack story I literally went to my boss that day and said, “Stars don’t need my help, animals do.” That German shepherd, there he was on three legs, he had to go through chemotherapy and never let the loss of a limb get in the way of living the best life. He taught me about resilience, acceptance, compassion and when he came home after his operation all the other dogs that loved him so much they weren’t like, “Ooh, Jack’s missing a leg.” They were just so happy to see him. If we could learn that message from animals not to judge someone by physical appearance. All animals want is to be loved, pain-free and happy. Isn’t that the message we should be teaching everybody, especially our children? We should all be exuberant so Jack taught me the message of life and he never ever let the loss of that leg – he felt good having that painful leg taken off, it was an amazing lesson for me. LM: What would you say to someone who’s on the fence about getting a pet for the first time? JR: I tell my friends who have kids who are afraid of animals that’s a big mistake. You really should try to get your children surrounded with animals, they will learn about compassion and I’m not a parent of humans, I’m a pet parent, but I see children that are surrounded by pets and I see how loving and giving and compassionate they are. I definitely believe when they’re surrounded by pets at a young age, they learn to take care of because that animal becomes almost their child and it becomes a wonderful lesson just to sensitivity. LM: Let’s talk about Hannah’s Heart (products based on her late horse). How did that come about and what does that mean to you? JR: That’s a line of jewelry I developed for London Jewelers and it was in honor of my beautiful late mare, Hannah. Beautiful charms, horse bits, tassels…
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