She wanted a friendly dog for her co-star. A dog with lots of personality. A dog with enough energy to go hiking. A cuddly dog that would be happy at doggy day care while T.R. Knight was busy being cuddly George
CINDY LANGE-KUBICK / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, April 3, 2007 7:00 pm
She wanted a friendly dog for her co-star.
A dog with lots of personality. A dog with enough energy to go hiking.
A cuddly dog that would be happy at doggy day care while T.R. Knight was busy being cuddly George O’Malley in the ER.
So Katherine Heigl, aka Izzy Stevens, the lingerie model turned intern on “Grey’s Anatomy” — sizzling sex and surgery on ABC every Thursday — called an animal shelter in Nebraska.
The actress and her parents are big supporters of Hearts United for Animals north of Auburn, said Carol Wheeler, one of the shelter’s directors.
Heigl’s dad adopted a schnauzer named Boris from Hearts United a few months ago, and Heigl and her mom both send donations to help support “sanctuary sweethearts,” dogs who live at the shelter but cannot be adopted because of health problems or past abuse.
So when the dog lover from TV-land called two weeks ago, the shelter e-mailed her photos and bios of a dozen canine candidates.
An older lab mix. A German shorthair. A collie mix.
And a puppy named Ebony, a skinny girl with floppy ears standing at attention.
She just got here from the streets of Lincoln. We’d estimate 6 to 7 months and 20 lbs. From the looks of her feet, she’s going to be a good sized girl.
She’s lanky right now but oh, SO pretty. She’s the typical good-natured lab pup. No end of energy, but she can be controlled well. She wants to please.
And before you could say “George looks so adorable in those scrubs,” the dog found wandering the streets near Antelope Park was Hollywood bound.
Ebony flew to L.A. on a Tuesday morning flight — spayed, vaccinated, microchipped, manicured.
She didn’t sport sunglasses, but she was wearing a “very ladylike pink collar,” Wheeler said.
The shelter director is too busy tending to more than 200 dogs to watch much television, so she was unaware Izzy and George had recently slept together on prime time.
In the real world, however, she knows they are good friends.
“I believe she wanted to surprise him for his birthday,” she said.
“I think it’s a very good choice.”
Reach Cindy Lange-Kubick at 473-7218 or clangekubick@journalstar.com.