Oprah dedicates puppy-mills show to her dog

Her cocker spaniel, Sophie, died last month from kidney failure

Evan Agostini / AP	Oprah Winfrey plans to dedicate a show investigating abuses at puppy mills to her cocker spaniel, Sophie, who died last month from kidney failure at the age of 13.

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updated 9:32 p.m. ET April 1, 2008

CHICAGO - Oprah Winfrey plans to dedicate a show investigating abuses at puppy mills to her cocker spaniel, Sophie, who died last month from kidney failure.

“Sophie gave me 13 years of unconditional love. She was a true love in my life,” Winfrey says on the broadcast scheduled to air Friday. (Advance remarks from the show were released Tuesday by Harpo Productions.)

The show features special correspondent Lisa Ling investigating puppy mills, which Ling calls “horrific” and “haunting.”

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Winfrey says the show is “for anybody anywhere who loves a dog, has ever loved a dog, or just cares about their basic right to humane treatment.”

While Sophie was not a product of a puppy mill, and Winfrey’s three current dogs were adopted from breeders, Winfrey says in the future she would look to adopt from an animal shelter.

“I would never, ever adopt another pet now without going to a shelter to do it. I am a changed woman after seeing this show,” she says.