Pet friendly people know that pets like cats and dogs are not just animals. They are like children and part of our family. Over the holidays in 2011, Playboy founder and philanthropist Hugh Hefner found himself in a huge custody battle with his ex-fiancee Crystal Harris over the celebrity couple’s new puppy. After standing him up at the alter, essentially, the Playboy Bunny who rose to fame using Hef’s star power wisely (albeit abusively in hindsight) decided to rob him of one more love — his beloved pet, the one thing he cherished more than she. Talk about kicking a man in the family jewels while he’s down! Here’s the latest entertainment news story about how the story is developing.
Can the holidays possibly get any more dramatic? If it’s not a holiday break-up, it’s a holiday custody battle. But wait! This isn’t just any custody battle. Oh, no. A life hangs in the balance here. One poor little puppy’s life, to be exact. Crystal Harris, who broke off her engagement to humanitarian celebrity Hugh Hefner earlier this year in June, is demanding to get custody of Charlie, the Cavalier King Charles spaniel the couple shared together before splitting up, People reports. And former official Hefner girlfriends Kendra Wilkinson and Holly Madison are having none of it.
Us Weekly reports the Girls Next Door stars’ reactions:
Hefner’s former girlfriend, Holly Madison, was outraged. She tweeted to Harris, “Why did you voluntarily give the dog to Hef (who loves him too) after you left, only to ask for him back a few months later?”
“That dog loves you so much,” Wilkinson, 26, wrote about the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. “[Crystal] abandoned him and now she wants him back. She’s mean, mean, mean.”
Hugh Hefner, 85, isn’t too pleased either. Hef said that Crystal Harris offered him the puppy because he seemed very happy with Hef. In exchange, Hef generously allowed Harris to keep her engagement ring and the Bentley he gave her. Now she wants the pup back too, without offering any reason why.
But not one to quibble, Hef is being quite amiable in his approach, reports MSNBC:
“We both love the puppy,” Hefner told People.
“I told her if she wants to keep the ring and the Bentley [an ultra-luxury exotic car in trade], then maybe I can keep the puppy. I [hope] we will work it out.”
“The puppy’s valuable, but not $100,000 worth,” Hefner went on [while trying to keep his spirits lively].
In the mind of this author, the puppy is worth far more than $100,000. You can’t put a price tag on a life, even an animal’s life. But it’s heartening to see that pet friendly Hef, who is a strong advocate for free speech as the sole contributor to the charitable Hugh M. Hefner Foundation, is willing to let everyone have a say and try to work out an agreement that will benefit everyone involved, including one little puppy who didn’t do anything wrong.
Don’t be a scrooge, Crystal Harris. Christmas may have come and gone, but it’s still a good time to show your holiday spirit. Give that man his dog back, lady!
On a trivia note, former United States president Ronald Reagan also loved and kept Cavalier King Charles puppies with his wife Nancy Reagan. If you are looking for a companion animal, they are a far more loving breed and loyal breed to keep than Playboy Bunnies.