Wendy Diamond

Wendy Diamond is a cause-related entrepreneur, author of two best-selling cookbooks, founder and editor of Animal Fair magazine, and frequent media personality. Wendy is often seen with her dog Lucky Diamond, a Maltese adopted in 1999. She is also the creator of "Paws For Style", the first ever pet fashion show, as well as "Yappy Your", a nationwide tour that hosts parties for singles and their dogs

Early career

Diamond's philanthropic work began with her work for the Coalition for the Homeless where she met Peter Jennings while delivering food to the homeless from the back of a van. While working with the homeless, Diamond launched two best-selling cookbooks which raised several hundred thousand dollars for homeless charities. The first, "A Musical Feast", features the recipes of musical artists such as Madonna and Steven Tyler. The second was called an "An All-Star Feast", which features the favorite meals of various athletes, including Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter.

Diamond saw homeless animals as confidants to homeless people and wanted to help. She adopted her Russian Blue cat Pasha from The Animal Care and Control facility in New York City. She later adopted her Maltese, Lucky. Soon after that, she conceived, created and founded "Animal Fair", [ [http://www.animalfair.com/ Animal Fair - Home Page ] ] the first ever pet lifestyle magazine.

Animal Fair magazine

The magazine is the first lifestyle magazine for animal lovers in support of animal rescue. Each issue of "Animal Fair " is dedicated to highlighting non-profit animal organizations, giving them the opportunity to tell their inspirational stories and to provide contact information so that readers can become involved. When "Animal Fair" launched in 1999, 11 million animals were euthanized in shelters. In 2007 the number has decreased to 6 million, although there is no evidence that Wendy Diamond or Animal Fair has had anything to do with this reduction. Renée Zellweger graced the cover of the premiere issue in 1999, and since then celebrities including Beyoncé Knowles, Halle Berry, Regis Philbin, Charlize Theron, Pamela Anderson, Shania Twain, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Serena Williams, Kim Cattrall, Matt Leinart, Hilary Duff, Eric McCormack, Kristen Bell, Bo Derek, Diane Lane, Alicia Silverstone, Hayden Panettiere and LeAnn Rimes have all graced the cover with their pets.

In 2003 The magazine teamed up with [http://www.cesar.com Cesar Canine Cuisine] to introduce the Cesar Five Dog Bones Awards, an annual awards competition that recognizes the roles that pets play in people's lives and the establishments that cater to them. Winners are selected based upon their excellence in pet-friendly travel and product services and voted by " [http://www.animalfair.com Animal Fair] " readers each year. The awards are broken down into seven pet-friendly categories: Destination, Airline, Automobile, Hotel, Product, Resort, and Shelter. Past winners have included Continental Airlines, New York City, Volvoand [http://www.humanela.org/ The Humane Society of Louisiana] , which doesn't operate a real shelter.

Television career

Diamond has done numerous television series including "Single in the City" on the network, "Lucky Travels" on Animal Planet and "Relationship Rehab" on the Style Network. She has made over a dozen appearances on Today (NBC program), frequently contributes to Fox News Channel, CNN, Good Morning America and has appeared on countless other media outlets worldwide, including" The View, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Extra (TV series)," Forbes, The New York Times, People (magazine), Vogue (magazine), MTV, VH1, and E!. She has been dubbed by The New Yorker as "the Martha Stewart of the Milk and Bone dish" and Forbes calls her the "Canine Queen."

In late April 2008, Diamond was named as one of the judges of the summer CBS series "Greatest American Dog" alongside Victoria Stilwell and American Kennel Club board member, Allan Reznick.

Other venues

Diamond's production company Lucky Diamond Productions are Executive Producers and Creator of the of the pilot for NBC "Mutt Makeover", Executive Producer and Host of "Paws for Style Special" on Fox. Lucky Diamond Production's latest project is "In Search Of Puppy Love", a docucomedy that premiered at the Boston Film Festival and also played at the Cancun International Film Festival. The film is based on Wendy's Yappy Hour Rescue Tour that raised over $200,000 for animal rescue and features celebrity appearances and interviews with Warren Beatty, Hugh Hefner, Jeremy Piven, Paula Abdul, Kathy Griffin, Hilary and Haylie Duff, Betty White, Fred Willard, Delta Burke, Moby, Aaron Pike, and many others. Wendy and Lucky just wrapped their first acting role in the upcoming independent film, "Goyband", [ [http://www.goyband.com/inthenews/ Goyband - A gefilte fish out of water film that's fun for the whole mishpucheh! ] ] directed by Christopher Grimm.

Diamond is also the author of two pet-themed relationship books, "How to Understand Men Through Their Dogs" and "How to Understand Women Through Their Cats".

References

* http://members.forbes.com/global/2007/0917/155.html
* http://petsmartbebettertogether.com/lifestyle/bio
* http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0402/11/lt.07.html
*http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23918736/