Posted: September 24, 2008, 5 a.m. EDT
Life-sized fiberglass dogs painted by celebrities including Richard Gere, Billy Joel, and Rachael Ray will decorate the streets of New York City starting next month.
“Celebrity Dogs Unleashed” benefits Green Chimneys, a 60-year-old nonprofit organization that operates a special-education school, a residential treatment center for children, and a farm and wildlife rehabilitation center in Brewster, N.Y.
The celebrity dogs will be set loose on Oct. 5 at Cathedral of St. John the Divine for the Blessing of the Animals, Oct. 13 marching in the famous Columbus Day Parade, and Oct. 13 through 31 at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle.
Celebrities contributing painted dogs include pop group Menudo, actors Chevy Chase, Glenn Close, Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon, primatologist Jane Goodall, Cyndi Lauper, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, MSNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo, film star Jane Powell, actor Jay O. Sanders, band leader Paul Shaffer, Judith "Judge Judy" Sheindlin, actor Stanley Tucci, comedian Joe Piscopo, and Annemarie Lucas of “Animal Precinct.”
There will also be a dog constructed from Legos, the colorful children’s building bricks, and an Art Deco dog painted by artists from the Jumeirah Essex House.
The dogs will be auctioned online during October at CharityFolks.com, and all the proceeds will benefit the children and animals at Green Chimneys.