Dale's Tails: Diane Keaton on Adoption

Somebody's Gotta Be More Giving

According to Diane Keaton laughter and adoption are the best medicine

by Steve Dale

Thousands of perfectly wonderful animals are desperate to find a good home. Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton thinks that with your help, they can. “Every person who loves animals can make a difference,” Keaton says. “The animal you adopt will return the favor, and make a huge difference in your life.” She even guarantees it.

“Well, sure,” she says, laughing. “I can honestly tell you every dog I’ve ever had has taught me something.” She even credits a dog for her decision to adopt children later in life. “Look what I gained from my old dog Jonesy. I was given [her] as a gift. No, she was not the dog I had in mind. But I fell in love with [her]. I learned a lot about my capacity for love...”

“All these pets are just sitting there waiting for someone to give them a home,” says the actress, who is positively ebullient about the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, California, where she is a spokeswoman for its ongoing adoption
campaign, Iams’ Have A Heart: Home 4 The Holidays. Originally a local effort (started in 1999), Home 4 the Holidays is now a sweeping national campaign, thanks in part to Keaton’s participation. Nearly 2,000 shelters around the country participate and have been responsible for the adoption of more than 1 million animals.

“Isn’t that marvelous? It shows we can all matter. I’m all for people adopting around the holidays if they do it for the right reasons. But there are pets needing homes year-round, of course,” she says. “Shelters are for me. There are so many unwanted animals it breaks my heart. Try taking an animal back to a pet store if there’s a problem. No, that’s not going to happen. So, if people have a problem with the pet, they just dump him somewhere or throw him into the pound.”

In fact, Keaton’s pet Red was a dumped dog. She was working on the movie “The Only Thrill” (with Diane Lane and Sam Shepard) in 1997 when she found Red. The movie was being made in Austin, Texas, and Keaton was walking down the street when Red ambled up to her.

“I thought, ‘I’ve gotta get rid of this dog.’ I had another dog at the time…Jonesy, who had been with me about 12 years. I tried to get somebody else to take Red. I offered incentives to people on the set, like you know, money, cash. I said, ‘Hey, anyone want this dog? I have money…money!’ Still, no one took Red. I’m so glad they never did. I love Red dearly; and he was just the found dog no one wanted. Not even for money. And in return,
look at that love I get. Worth more than money, right? I think so.”

Red is likely a Shepherd-Corgi mix, and according to Keaton, one ugly pup. “Okay, he’s a horrible-looking dog,” she says with her signature giggle. “I know that. He has the body of a Shepherd
and the legs of a Corgi.”

Keaton says she has a special place in her heart for older dogs in particular. “They’re least likely to find a home, and frankly I love them. These are dogs who frequently have been at homes; they’ve done nothing wrong—their [guardians] have maybe passed on or moved and not taken the dog. It breaks my heart to think they’ve been passed over.”

Now 60, Keaton understands ageism in our society only too well, especially as an actress in Hollywood.

“In life, there are young people and there are older people. I don’t have to be the star, but I’m moving on to playing older people. Well, I feel I do not go gently into the dark night. I mean, you have to fight all the way in your life for things that matter. Stay active and never concede. I fear this idea of ageism is too rampant in every aspect of our life. An older dog has as much to give—no, I think an older dog has more to give than a younger one. Certainly, that older dog or cat might more appreciate that you’re giving them a second chance, and a home. It’s a wonderful thing to do.”

Some people say animals really do appreciate when you adopt them from a shelter, and at some level understand their life has been saved. “Are you kidding?” she says, sounding a bit like Annie Hall. “Of course they know. I know. They know a lot more than we think they know. They have a heart, a soul—and love, more love to give than some of us can even deal with. It’s about love isn’t it? And if you want to learn how to love, just get a dog.”