By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Once known for saving the lives of beach goers on the mid-1990s television drama Baywatch, actress Pamela Anderson was in the St. John the Baptist Parish area Monday as part of an initiative giving new life to pets abandoned at local animal shelters following the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Acting as a representative for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Anderson visited several parish animal shelters in the New Orleans area picking up dogs left behind by people who have lost their jobs or left the area. Of the more than 50 animals taken during the initiative, 24 were taken from the St. John Parish Animal Shelter.

Amanda Schinke, a spokeswoman for PETA, said the dogs were taken to the Virginia Beach SPCA, where they were placed on an emergency adopt-a-thon list. Schinke said as of Wednesday all of the dogs had been adopted by Virginia Beach area residents.

“Pamela paid all local adoption, spay-and-neuter and flea treatment costs for the dogs,” Schinke said. “She also joined PETA volunteers and shelter representatives in walking the dogs before the journey north.”

St. John Parish Animal Shelter Director Linda Allen, who was on hand during Anderson’s dog walk in New Orleans City Park Monday, said Anderson had cornered her during the event with a special request.

“She became smitten with two of the dogs from our shelter and one in particular that had been on our truck to be euthanized,” Allen said. “She asked if I would be OK with her taking the two dogs, both Chihuahua mixes, for herself to bring home to Malibu. I said as long as they are going to a place where they will be cared for like family, I have no problem.”

According to a release from PETA, several southeastern Louisiana animal shelters have reported a spike in the number of animals brought in since the April 20 drilling rig explosion that sent millions of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf. In coastal St. Bernard Parish, one of the parishes represented Monday, an official reported that 117 animals were given up in June, up by 100 from the 17 reported in June 2009.

“The oil catastrophe has made things worse for many animals, but our shelter, like shelters everywhere, is always full and will be until people spay and neuter,” Allen said. “Animal welfare is not the first thing that comes to mind in a disaster, but these animals need companionship and a loving home just as much as people do.”

Schinke said in addition to St. John, shelters in Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Terrebonne and Jefferson parishes were also represented. Following Monday’s event, another 100 dogs were taken from area shelters to an animal welfare center in New Jersey as part of a Louisiana SPCA initiative to help combat overcrowding.