Main Line Animal Rescue made a splash a few months back when the Pennsylvania animal rescue group took out a billboard ad near Oprah Winfrey’s Chicago television studio begging Winfrey to run a story about puppy mills.
Now the group has gotten its wish. On Friday, the influential talk show host and longtime dog lover will broadcast “Lisa Ling Investigates the Hidden World of Puppy Mills.”
Ling and Main Line Animal Rescue volunteers went undercover at several Pennsylvania puppy mills, where dogs are forced to live in deplorable conditions, for the investigation. Ling and Main Line Animal Rescue founder Bill Smith appear with Winfrey in the studio during the episode.
An “Oprah” spokesperson says the billboard played a role in the decision to cover the topic, but adds that “Oprah wanted to do the show because of her passion as a pet owner and as a tribute to her recently deceased and much beloved dog Sophie, an American Cocker Spaniel, who passed away March 10.”