A PRINCE AMONG

ANIMALSAND
HUMANKIND

Italian-born, American-bred prince Lorenzo Borghese uses his

clout to rescue and protect mans best friend. Elyse
Glickman speaks with him
Elyse Glickman is US west coast editor of Lucire.

We often refer to some celebrities as Hollywood royalty, and

many of them use their position to draw attention to various
causes. However, there is something to be said for an actual royal
who is using his status and media opportunities to save
thousands of animals a year.
Animal Aid USA was co-founded in 2012 by Lorenzo Borghesean
Italian-born, bona fide prince who resides in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Borghese spends quite a bit of time travelling around the US

saving homeless animals and helping people in low-income

communities spay and neuter their pets.
Anyone familiar with Borgheses regal presence may have first
caught it on The Bachelor in 2006 or Esquire networks reality
show, Lucky Bastards. Abroad, he captured and broke hearts on
Dutch televisions Coming to Holland: Prins Zoekt Vrouw (Prince
Seeks Wife) and the UKs Celebrity Big Brother. Fashionistas,
meanwhile, will recognize his name, given his mother is cosmetics
queen Princess Marcella Borghese.
These days, the prince is more focused on saving homeless dogs.
While some people poke fun at reality television, he stresses it
brought him life experience that has helped him grow as a person
and philanthropist.
These shows gave me a voice to help animals, Borghese says
from his living room. I have made some incredible friends
through these crazy experiences, while overcoming my
stagefright. I was terrified of public speaking ever since I was a
child. Now its not terrifying at all because I realize its simply a
job. Like a job, you need to learn to do it well and if you do it well,
people will listen.
Borgheses life-changing experience to help animals happened
when he walked into Animal Care and Control in NYC and toured
their shelter. It was during this experience that Borghese decided
to make a difference.
There were about ten rows of cages filled with dogs, he explains.
The first row is filled with dogs that are recently impounded, and
the last row is filled with dogs who have only a few hours left to
live. If they arent adopted within hours they are euthanized.
Shortly after that, Borghese experienced another life-changing
moment when he co-hosted a live auction at a charity event. He
was approached by a woman who wanted to introduce him to
Karen Talbot, founder of an animal charity called MOMS.
Karen and I met in New York one week later, he says. She told
me about a programme she started at her sons school to save
dogs. She even wrote a documentary about it. I went back to my
office and watched it, and was blown away.

The film documented Talbot and dozens of volunteers driving from

New Jersey to Georgia and back, emptying out a high-kill animal
shelter. She was performing these caravans monthly and
Borghese decided to go on her next one, which was Thanksgiving
weekend. [Her group] saved over 200 dogs that weekend and I
loved that everyone who was helping was a volunteer. No one was
doing it for money. They were doing it because they wanted to
save animals. After this caravan, I told Karen I wanted to join her,
and thats when we formed Animal Aid USA.
For the last four years, volunteers and supporters, famous and
otherwise, have helped spread the word by either joining Animal
Aid USAs caravan, attending their events, or sharing the
organizations videos and stories. Supporters include board
member Georgina Bloomberg (the former New York mayors
daughter), Amanda Hearst, Sonya Morgan (Real Housewives of
New York), Eric Trump, Katherine Heigl, Priscilla Presley, Sophia
Bush and journalist Meredith Vieira, whose profound experience
was captured on film.
When they join us on these caravans, they are free to be who
they really are and thankfully the majority of them are caring
good people such as Meredith Vieira, he says. When Meredith
joined us she was amazing. She didnt wear make-up, or act
superior. When we were at lunch, no one recognized her until we
got back into our cars and one woman asked her if she was Katie
Couric. That was hilarious. When we took her to a high-kill shelter,
she cried, and like you and me, wanted to save all the animals in
the shelter.
The caravans are planned through a monthly schedule plotted out
a year in advance. Each month, volunteers photograph all dogs in
need of adoption in Georgia. Each dog is named, and their details
and the photographs are sent to receiving rescue groups from
Florida to New York. Once they select which dogs theyd like to
take, we pull them from the shelter, quarantine them, and our
local veterinarian in Georgia spays, neuters and provides us with
health certificates, so by the time the dogs reach the receiving
rescue partner, they are ready for adoption.
The caravan departs southern New Jersey on a Thursday and the
group drives through the night to Hinesville, Ga. Friday is their
day of rest, the volunteers go out for a big dinner and get a good

nights sleep. On Saturday morning, they head to their two

quarantine facilities, walk the dogs and then load them in crates
in the order of their drop-off locations.
We are fully loaded by around 6 p.m. and drive through the night
back to Marlton, NJ, so the dogs will sleep during transport,
Borghese continues. When we arrive in Marlton, other volunteers
are waiting, including many families with children, girl and boy
scouts, and our receiving rescue groups. Dogs are unloaded,
walked, bathed and sent on to their new homes, foster homes or
receiving no-kill rescue groups.
In addition to these efforts, which have saved the lives of over
14,000 to date, Animal Aid USA also has a programme, Animal Aid
Club, to educate children about pet adoption.
We feel its important to teach children to treat animals
humanely, Borghese points out, adding that statistics show that
children who abuse animals are much more likely to create a
felony. It is our goal to educate and empower children so that
when they grow up, they can help make the US a no-kill nation.
Borghese also believes in helping smaller rescue groups with their
efforts. In the LA suburb of Thousand Oaks, for example, he filmed
a video with Shelter Hope Pet Shop founder Kim Sill to promote
pet adoption.
The charity undertakings also dovetail into other business
ventures he developed prior to co-founding Animal Aid USA.
Following in his mothers grooming footsteps, he created Prince
Lorenzos Royal Treatment in 2002.
My dog Belle, a black labrador, had severely dry itchy skin,
scratching constantly and overly shedding, he explains. I took
her to the veterinarian and he asked me how often I was bathing
her. I told him about once a week, and his response shocked me.
He informed me that dogs shouldnt be bathed more than once a
month, as shampoos were bad for their skin.
Borghese went to work using his family connections to create a
formula free of parabens and other harmful ingredients, and
properly pH-balanced for a dogs sensitive skin. This labuor of
love for Belle and other dogs was two years in the works.

I think every dog deserves the Royal Treatment because dogs are
so good to us, he concludes. They love us, forgive us and
understand us. They make the world a better place and it is our
responsibility to make them feel as comfortable and as happy as
possible.

image: http://lucire.com/2016/1015ll3.jpg

image: http://lucire.com/2016/1015ll4.jpg

Top: Getting ready for a rescue-dog caravan in 2013 with Karen Talbot, Animal
Aid USA co-founder. Above: Journalist Meredith Vieira joins a caravan to rescue
dogs.
via: http://lucire.com/2016/1015ll0.shtml