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On September 28, 2001, the new Benji was on the back streets of Pass Christian, Mississippi, abandoned, lost and alone, wandering aimlessly when she was picked up by Animal Control and taken to the Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport. Shortly thereafter, Camp flew to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to meet another dog in the same shelter. He had been sent photos of of a pup named Jodie who had been picked up in Gulfport. "Very much a Benji look-alike," says Camp. "I needed to see the dog first hand." When Camp arrived at the Gulfport PetSmart where the Humane Society regularly displays pets for adoption, Eric Aschaffenburg, Interim Director of the Society, sprung a surprise on him. Aschaffenburg not only showed him Jodie, the dog he had come to see, but surprised him with yet another pup, and an amazed Camp immediately fell in love. On Sunday, November 18, under the watchful cameras of ABC's Primetime Thursday, Camp adopted that pup and she flew with Camp's wife, Kathleen, to their home in southern California to meet up with two other candidates, one adopted from Chicago's Animal Care and Control shelter, and one from the Carson Shelter near Los Angeles. The three spent a week with Camp and his family, then a week with a trainer. Then a selection was made. The entire search was followed by ABC News and the ultimate selection was announced on ABC's Primetime Thursday and then the new Benji and Camp appeared live on Good Morning America in ABC's New York studios the next morning. "Here was a dog who, as far as we know, had never been out of southern Mississippi, and she took to New York life like she was born there, completely unaffected by the noise, the traffic, or the crowds of the big city. The only thing that seems to bother her is the idea of being left alone," Camp said. "It was as if we ever got out of her sight she was afraid we might not come back. Leftover, most likely, from being abandoned back home." "The mystery to me," Camp said, "is why anyone would ever abandon this dog. We love her so we have trouble letting her go back to Anne's for training." The search through the nation's animal shelters began in August in Chicago and traveled to Minneapolis, St. Paul, Atlanta, Anniston, Alabama, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Jackson and Gulfport, Mississippi. In addition, several national organizations and internet pet adoption services helped spread the search through shelters all across the country and hundreds of photos have been screened. The original Benji was rescued from the Burbank Animal Shelter and the American Humane Association says that fact is directly responsible for the adoption of more than 1,000,000 dogs. That's why Camp wanted to find the new Benji in a shelter. “And we have," Camp says. "We can now say that the new Benji, like his predecessor, was rescued from a shelter. And every time someone looks into those beautiful eyes they'll being seeing what they too can find by adopting a pet from their local shelter. "This time Benji's going for many times that number," Camp says. To be at least partially responsible for so many animals being saved is one terrific feeling.” Since the effort began, the nationwide search, the introduction of the new Benji, and the making of her first film have generated more than a billion exposures on television, radio, and in newspapers for the adoption efforts of shelters and rescue groups everywhere! After adopting the three Benji candidates, they spent a week and a half in Camp's home with his three other dogs and two cats. During this period, Camp was letting the dogs settle into a routine so he could get to know each of them intimately, something impossible to do in a couple of hours at an animal shelter. Two of the three were strays who had been picked up by animal care and control officers and one was dropped off at the shelter because the family no longer wanted it. The dogs from Los Angeles and Chicago are males and the one from Gulfport is female. No one knows how long the two who were abandoned were on the streets alone. "But speculation has evolved into a terrific story for the new movie," says Camp. After a two weeks with the Camp's, all three pups went off with Benji's a trainer for a week of intense training and evaluation on a professional level and ABC's Primetime cameras continued to roll. Then Camp and the trainer compared notes on which pup each felt would be the best new Benji and the decision was announced on Primetime Thursday. The Los Angeles candidate became Benji's understudy and now lives with Margaret Loesch, one of the producers of the new film, and the Chicago candidate's clownish personality has won himself a role in the film as a " goofy, unwanted sidekick," says Camp."Animal shelters are all under financed," says Camp. "The staffs are underpaid, heavily dependent upon volunteers, and have no budgets to remind people about the wonderful pets available for adoption. These are folks out there on the front lines trying to make a difference, trying to do something positive. Something good. Now, more than ever, that's really important! And we're going to do everything we can to help them." Click here to read about Benji's new Benji's Buddies Foundation. Camp’s search began as part of a campaign to introduce Benji to an entirely new generation of kids and parents. “And this time,” Camp says, “Benji is returning on a mission to make a positive difference in the lives of kids and homeless animals.” Furthering that effort, Benji has an association with the Humane society of the United States and Pets911 to work with their outreach programs to more than double adoptions from shelters around the country. Save a Life! |