Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Billionaire gives it all to Dogs


Whoever said "its was a dogs life" had no clue about Leona Helmsley and her billions.

She is the billionaire New York hotelier and real estate magnate and she left millions to her beloved dog, Trouble, not only that, she left billions for the care of dogs in general.

Helmsley left instructions that an entire charitable trust valued at close to $8 billion and amounting to virtually all of her estate, be used for the care and welfare of dogs.

She had two goals set in her will when she made it in 2003. The two goals set in her will were to help indigent people and the to provide for the care and welfare of dogs. But a year later, she deleted the first goal. Don't you wish you were a dog rather than destitute.

Helmsley, was known as "the Queen of Mean" because of the way she dealt with her employees, but she had a soft spot for her dog. But a New York court last month lowered the dog's inheritance to $2 million from $12 million on grounds that Helmsley was mentally unfit when she made her will.

Helmsley died in August 2007 at age 87. She amassed a fortune in real estate and hotels with her husband, Harry Helmsley, who died in 1997.

Famously quoted as having said "only the little people pay taxes," Helmsley spent 18 months in federal prison for evading $1.7 million in taxes in 1989. Now taxes are used for human welfare and she was a dog person.

I think we will have to change the quote from "its a dogs life" "to its a destitute's life".

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