Photo: CAI Animal Project
Dancing With the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba makes newbie dancers feel good about trying difficult steps and routines, and she makes newbie, or veteran, pet adopters feel pretty darn good as well. Her charity, launched this year, The CAI Animal Project gives grants/financial assistance to existing programs doing great work with animals in shelters and adoption programs, and her original program effort, It All Starts Here, works to make fantastic animal advocates out of young people. 
We know cruelty to animals is a learned behavior, so educating children about the special nature of human-animal bonding and pet responsibility can interrupt the bad cycle of a kid learning to harm. It All Starts Here goes into schools to teach about rescue and responsibility, and inspires young people to get involved. Her two-pronged approach, financially assisting those who are doing rescue work right and making kids into agents of positive animal change, should be effective on its own…but add her considerable appeal to young audiences based on the TV show, and Carrie Ann has the ears, and hearts, of a big chunk of young people. Find out more about her work, and click here to support.
Change by Doing 