Actress, Lea Thompson, has played many roles on stage, screen and television. From the box office hit, Back to the Future, to her own successful television series, Caroline in the City, to her current role as the star of the Broadway hit musical, Cabaret, Thompson has played to all audiences.
Her current role, however, brings her celebrity to a new public – animal lovers. Thompson is the spokesperson for Kal Kan’s new campaign, “Homeward Bound”, which encourages shelters nationwide, through funding, to place as many animals as possible in homes and to educate the public about being responsible pet parents.
“Any charity that tries to save animals and place them in loving homes is most excellent,” says Thompson of the Homeward Bound project. “Animals are so great. It is terrible that they should suffer or go unloved.”
Thompson knows a bit about the animal world, with two cats, two dogs, seven horses and countless fish at home. “My animals have given me such joy,” she says. Thompson understands that most people find happiness and companionship with their four legged pals, but she assures us all that fish are fabulous friends as well. “Coifish really are great pets,” she asserts. “They get excited when you come in the room!”
Thompson’s fish live in a pond she built in her backyard and in a large aquarium in her home. Two of her seven horses, Buster and Mac, reside at her house, and she claims that the older of the two has developed a small “love affair” with one of her dogs.
Thompson designed her Los Angeles home with her pets in mind. “I have the coolest doggie door,” she says. “I put it in the wall.”
What does she do to keep her home looking great with four pets prancing around every day? “I have a lot of window seats, and they are the dog’s favorite place to be,” Thompson says. “I have special beds for the dogs, but the puppy just likes to eat them up. I bought a lot of comforters and put them in the window seats. Upholstery would have been a disaster! This way, I can just wash them when I need to.”
For the most part, Thompson lives easily with her animals, not worrying too much about the consequences to her d?cor. “If you’re a pet parent, you can’t be too compulsive about your stuff,” she says. “That’s the great thing about pet owners – I always feel more comfortable in their homes.”
Of utmost importance to Thompson is the role her animals play in the lives of her children, Madelyn, 9, and Zoey, 5 ?. “The kids have a sense of responsibility and a friend when they are lonely,” says Thompson of her pets. “The kind of training my children get from the animals can’t be taught with words.”
By Rebecca Sugar
