'The Office' star Rainn Wilson held a Zoom call with 900 pets to raise money for animal shelters amid the pandemic

Rainn Wilson
Wilson and his rescue pitbull, Poe, hosted a Zoom conference with 900 fans and their pets.

Freshpet/YouTube

  • "The Office" star Rainn Wilson hosted a Zoom call with 900 fans and their pets to kick off a charity initiative in which fans can vote for shelters in each region of the US to receive a $10,000 donation.

  • The actor, who has six rescue pets of his own, decided to get involved in hopes that people would support their local animal shelters and educate themselves about pet rescue and care.

  • Wilson says that his pets have been an important source of stress relief during quarantine.

  • The actor added that his "Office" character, Dwight Schrute, might be reacting differently to the pandemic.

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From live-tweeting the movie "Cats" to growing quarantine beards, celebrities have been finding new ways to entertain themselves during an unprecedented period of self-isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Rainn Wilson is using the newfound free time to encourage his fans to support their local animal shelters.

The "Office" star held a Zoom call with 900 fans and their pets in connection with Freshpet's "Fresh Start" annual charity initiative — a contest in which participants can vote for animal shelters in each region of the United States to receive a $10,000 donation.

This year's contest, a Freshpet spokesperson said, was set to take place in September but was moved up to meet animal shelters' growing financial needs amid the pandemic.

Joined by his rescue pit bull, Poe, Wilson answered fan questions and interacted with a variety of dogs, cats, snakes, lizards, birds, and goats.

 

"The call was an amazing experience and really opened my eyes to the miracle of domestic animals," he said. "I'd been reading about how much dogs and pets can reduce stress and how people who have animals live longer, but it was pretty miraculous to see hundreds and hundreds of people with their pets. There was an incredible amount of love on that screen."

Wilson, who owns what he describes as a "preposterous" number of animals, became an advocate for rescue organizations and got involved with the charity initiative after rescuing his own pets from various animal shelters in the Los Angeles area. The actor and his wife, Holiday, have adopted two guinea pigs, two pit bulls, and two pot-bellied pigs.

"Ultimately, I'm hoping more people will get their pets from rescue organizations and that they'll support rescue organizations financially," he said of his involvement with the charity project. "And that they'll educate themselves and their kids about pet care."

Wilson's pets, he said, have been a source of comfort during quarantine.

The actor says the period of self-isolation has allowed him to spend more time with his pups, Diamond and Poe, and given him the opportunity to reconnect with nature.

"When I look back on this [time in quarantine], what I'm going to remember is two months of early dog walks with my wife where we take our time, we talk, we relax, we laugh," he said. "It's really helped me through this time and [the dogs] been incredibly helpful and supportive through this patch."

The "Fresh Start" voting period closed over the weekend — and 20 animal shelters will be receiving financial support from the initiative.

Grand prize winners included the Hearts Alive Village in Las Vegas, Nevada; Second Chance Farm in Granbury, Texas; Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue in Rolla, North Dakota; Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue in Stephens City, Virginia; and Speranza Animal Rescue in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

The two runners-up in each region received $2000 donations each, and Freshpet selected an additional five "Wunderdog" winners — shelters that didn't receive the most votes but offered compelling stories.

While the actor has been finding comfort in his pets and participating in charity initiatives, his character on "The Office," he says, might be faring differently amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

"He'd be capitalizing on [the pandemic] in some way, shape, or form," Wilson said. "So Dwight would probably be in the mask-making business and maybe formulating his own hydrogen peroxide or something like that."

Naturally, Wilson explained, Dwight would be mobilizing for other looming global disasters.

"I think he'd be preparing himself for the inevitable zombie apocalypse," the actor said. "So stockpiling a lot of cans, beans, and weapons — various kinds of weapons, especially of the Japanese variety, like throwing stars and katana swords."

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