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Lisa Vanderpump Opens Up About Animal Rights and Her New Foundation: ''My Life Has Literally Gone to the Dogs''

Vanderpump Rules star spills about upcoming doggy gala and the Vanderpump Dog Foundation

By Jennifer Dill Oct 31, 2016 8:41 PMTags
Watch: Why Lisa Vanderpump Started 'Vanderpump Dogs' Rescue

Lisa Vanderpump is set on helping the world, one dog at a time.

The Vanderpump Rules star and devoted dog-lover recently sat down with E! News' Carissa Culiner to discuss her latest business venture, The Vanderpump Dog Foundation, and shared why she feels so strongly about animal rights activism.

"When we started Vanderpump Pets I thought, I'd really love to go into the pet business," Lisa explained. "But until recently I was naive about the atrocities that are being done against these wonderful creatures.[And it was] through [Vanderpump Pets] that my attention was drawn to some of those new atrocities."

From there, the restaurateur and Real Housewife created the idea of starting her own foundation to help abandoned animals, and The Vanderpump Dog Foundation was born.

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Stars Who Adopted Pets

With four current campaigns, including two international and two domestic, the foundation is still in its early stages. However, they have already accomplished a variety of missions, including the 13 Dog Campaign, in which the foundation rescued 13 different dogs after their owners were evicted from their homes.

And that is not all. The foundation also has started fundraising for a transport van that will be equipped with kennels, medical equipment and air conditioning for dogs that need immediate rescuing from dangerous situations, as well as a 10 For 10 program that will provide care and homes for 10 different shelter dogs.

Phoenix / AKM-GSI

But Lisa isn't alone in her fight. The proud dog-mother is joined by her husband, Ken Todd, in her efforts.

"I've had dogs ever since we've been married, which is about  35 years now, and I've always loved them," Lisa said, fawning over her dog Puffy, who joined her in the interview.

And the couple are now taking their life-long passion a step further.

"I'm opening a dog shelter in West Hollywood," the star excitedly told us. "My life has literally gone to the dogs."

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Lions and Tigers and Pigs, Oh My! Most Unusual Celebrity Pets

In honor of the foundation officially getting its footing, the family is also hosting the first Vanderpump Dog Foundation Gala this Thursday.

"We're going to be having a doggy gala! And it's going to be a fun night," she beamed. "It's going to be a very pretty night but also a little bit of education talking about what Vanderpump Dog Foundation has achieved so far and what we endeavor to do."

The guest list is under wraps for now, but we recognize plenty of the names Vanderpump mentioned as being supporters of the cause.

"Diane Warren has really helped my cause, and Leona Lewis," she said. "Lance bass is [also] a huge dog supporter and a great friend."

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Celebrity Pets on Instagram

And don't fret- we also asked Lisa about her own pets, which includes a miniature horse, swans and, of course, her eight dogs.

"Well, Gig is the easiest [to take care of], of course I have to maintain him, but he's very good. But the big retrievers are naughty boys, and Schnook, he's a nightmare!" she joked.

But even if her dogs are a handful, Lisa makes sure she gives them as much attention as she can, and even gave us some tips on how to show our dogs how much they mean to us.

"Love them, really let them know. Spend certain part of the day spending time with them and talking to them," she suggested. "They understand a lot more than you know, so really communicating with them breeds a great relationship."

You can buy tickets for the Vanderpump Dog Foundation Gala, which will be held Nov. 3, on the organization's website, and check out this page for more information about their plans for a shelter and how to get involved.