On October 6, Joe Camp and other members of “team Benji” were visiting an adoption event at a Gulfport PetSmart to take a look at what they considered to be the only local contender for the roll, a pup named "Jodi," when suddenly and unbeknownst to the group, Eric Aschaffenburg, interim director of the south Mississippi shelter, "sprung" his new find on Joe. Camp immediately fell in love and the floppy-eared mutt was then fostered by the manager of PetSmart Grooming, Melissa Schroeder, while Camp flew to Los Angeles to meet yet another candidate. The next week, “Gulfport’s” foster mom took her to the vet for a complete checkup and discovered that a persistent cough turned out to be heartworms.

Dr. Lee Spears of the Gulfport Veterinary Hospital began treatment for the disease immediately. “It was a light case,” says Spears, “and we were lucky to have caught it early.” After the five-week treatment, the soon-to-be canine superstar was pronounced clear of all heartworms and given a clean bill of health by Dr. Spears. She was adopted by Joe and Kathleen Camp on November 15, 2001. Being the conscientious pet owners that they are, they had her promptly spayed on November 27, 2001.

“This is the most amazing dog I’ve ever met,” says Camp. “She absolutely possesses every trait we were looking for. Obviously, Benji must look like Benji… and she does. Benji must be very self-assured, confident, able to adapt immediately to virtually any situation and say ‘Okay… what now?’… and this dog is all of that. Thirty minutes after we adopted her, she was on a local television talk show, sitting on the desk, with cameras, lights and people all around, just taking it all in, checking it out, and interacting with the folks. Not a care in the world! It was amazing. “Benji, of course, must be bright,” Camp continues, “and this dog is as bright a dog as I’ve ever seen. She learns quickly and doesn’t forget. Benji must have great eyes, because all the Benji movies are told from within the heart and soul of the dog. The eyes are the conduit to the audience. That’s where the dialog is… and just look at those eyes. I’ve never seen better. I’m amazed that anyone would abandon any dog, but just astounded that someone abandoned this one.”

The first and second runners-up came from Los Angeles County’s Carson Shelter and City of Chicago’s Animal Care and Control Center, both, in effect, city pounds. The three finalists have been attending what Camp’s wife Kathleen jokingly refers to as “Benji Boot Camp,” a period of training and evaluatio n. First, the three dogs spent a week and a half in the Camp household with the Camps’ three other dogs, four birds, and three children. Next, the trio spent a week with a trainer for professional training and evaluation. Then the decision was made, all reported on network television by ABC’s Primetime Thursday and Good Morning America.

Camp’s search for a new Benji in animal shelters across America began in Chicago on August 12, 2001, because The American Humane Association had reported that the original Benji having been rescued from an animal shelter caused more than one million dogs to be adopted across the country. Joe Camp wanted this to happen again. “Mission accomplished,” says Camp. “Now every time someone looks into the new Benji’s face they will see the kind of loving, caring companion they too can find at their local animal shelter. And this time around,” Camp adds, “we’re going for way more than a million adoptions.”

After Chicago, the search moved on to animal shelters in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Atlanta, Anniston (Alabama), Los Angeles, and finally Phoenix before the first finalist was found. Then, the Phoenix Benji died while in foster care from distemper contracted before he entered the animal care and control shelter there. A Benji Wellness Fund was set up by Camp in Phoenix, to provide money to educate people about the importance of inoculations for pets, to help those who can’t afford to give their pets shots, and to encourage people to volunteer as foster parents. “A dog fostered,” says Camp, “rarely goes back to the shelter. They stay healthier, happier, and more socialized, and thus more adoptable. They don’t go back to ‘death-row.’ ”

All three Benji finalists were placed in foster homes until Camp could return to their respective cities to adopt them. The first runner-up, the pup from Los Angeles, will live with Margaret Loesch, who is producing Benji's new film with Camp, and the pup will be a stand-in, and back-up. “There has never been more than one Benji at a time,” Camp said, “because the face, eyes, and attitude are so important to a Benji movie. But it’s always nice to know that, in an emergency, there’s another dog that could step in, or make a distant run to save the energy of the ‘star.’ ”

The second runner up, from the Chicago City Pound, in effect wrote himself into the new movie as Benji's comic relief, an unwanted sidekick who turns everything he touches into chaos. Camp was looking for ways to bring more fun into the film, which revolves around abuse in a backyard puppy mill. He and Kathleen were watching a TV crew film the three dogs working with a trainer when Camp's wife Kathleen whispered to him, "If you want comic relief, write Shaggy into the script." And so it was. Shaggy, whose personality turned out to be the polar opposite of a Benji personality, a whacko fun-loving dufus, was written in. His screen name: Lizard Tongue, because Camp says he has the longest tongue he's ever seen on a dog.

Since the effort began on August 12th, the search for the new Benji and Camp's campaign for pet adoption has reached no less than 200 million people, appearing on network television plus over 150 network affiliate local television stations, and radio stations and newspapers all across the country. The story has appeared on ABC’s Primetime Thursday, Good Morning America (twice), CNN, AP wire news, Copley News Service, Entertainment Weekly Daily News, E! Entertainment and has been covered by syndicated radio shows such as Radio Disney, Westwood One, Pet Talk America and Animal Planet.

More than 71,000,000 people have watched Benji movies in theaters, over half of them adults. Three Benji movies have grossed within the top 10% of box office grosses for their year of release, and more than one billion people have watched Benji movies and programs on television. Two of the twenty-one titles in Benji’s Video Library have been awarded platinum, two are golden, and all have been digitized, re-mastered with fully stereo tracks, and re-released. Two of Benji's primetime specials were nominated for Emmys.