Posted: September 3, 2009, 5 a.m. EDT
Two Los Angeles pet charities are a bit richer this week thanks to gossip site TMZ.com and musician John Mayer.
Last week, Mayer challenged TMZ founder Harvey Levin on Twitter to dig up an old mug shot from his arrest for driving with a suspended license. The bet: Find the mug shot – taken somewhere in the U.S. – and Mayer would pony up $25,000 to Levin’s favorite charity.
TMZ produced the photo after a public appeal to readers. “If you’ve ever seen a John Mayer mug shot anywhere in your life – tell us where,” the site wrote last week.
After TMZ posted the Mayer photo, from a 2001 arrest in Atlanta (charges were dropped one month later), it urged him to “fork over the dough, pal.”
Mayer agreed, and the animal-loving Levin decided to split the money between two animal rescue groups, Pet Orphans of Southern California and Ace of Hearts.
To prove he paid up, Mayer posted images of the checks on his Twitter page.