 You can read elsewhere about Day’s prolific performing career. It began while she was a teenager and included 39 films, many hit songs and a five-year run with the television series bearing her name. But folks here have always thought of her mainly as a lover of animals—a tireless benefactor of causes devoted to their protection.
"You have to step out and stick up for animals," she said, "because they can’t do anything for themselves."
As a teen she was given a small dog named Tiny to comfort her as she recovered from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. But the pet was struck and killed by a car as Day, on crutches, walked him without a leash. She told biographer A.E. Hotchner that she never fully recovered from the trauma. The experience, she said, marked "the start of a lifelong love affair with the dog."
Years later, living in Southern California, she tended to so many strays that she became known as "The Dog Catcher of Beverly Hills." She often discovered abandoned dogs tied to her front gate. She would try to arrange a place for them in caring Hollywood homes.
In 1971, Day co-founded Actors and Others for Animals, along with Angie Dickinson, Lucie Arnaz and other showbiz colleagues. Soon, the task of caring for strays and animals in need of medical care became overwhelming. She was fond of saying, "Maybe I’ll make a movie just to take a rest."
In 1978, her efforts were formalized under the banner of the Doris Day Pet Foundation. It operates today as the Doris Day Animal Foundation.
Day moved to Carmel Valley in 1981. A few years later she formed a partnership with local real-estate investor Denny LeVett to buy what they renamed the Cypress Inn, and made it into one of the nation’s first truly pet-friendly hotels.
Celebrating her 95th birthday two years ago, the relentlessly cheerful Doris Day told friends and fans, "Helping the animals! I can’t thank you enough. But now I want all of you to go and give your babies a big hug and kiss from me. I know you love them as much as I love mine. And for now, I’ll simply say, toot-a-loo."
(c) Peter Funt. This column originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
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