By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS
Mickey Rourke came back from virtual obscurity to win Best Actor at the Golden Globe Awards.
And it's all because of a dog.
Rourke, the recently down-and-out star of "The Wrestler," attended the film's red-carpet premiere with 17-year-old Loki by his side.
In his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes last week he thanked the Chihuahua and his other dogs -- past and present -- for getting him through the hard times.
"It's been a very, very long road back for me," said Rourke, who last year revealed he had contemplated suicide but changed his mind after looking into his dog's eyes. "Several years ago I was almost out of this business ... Sometimes, when a man's alone, that's all you've got is your dog."
He didn't have to convince animal lovers. They know dogs have been saving people -- literally and figuratively -- for as long as people have had canine companions.
It's a lesson Michael Vick must have skipped. Otherwise, he'd never have participated in the torture and execution -- by gunshot, electrocution, hanging, drowning or being repeatedly slammed against the ground -- of countless dogs at his Virginia dogfighting operation.
Now at least four of the 51 animals seized from the former NFL quarterback's Bad Newz Kennels are therapy dogs, working with cancer patients, troubled teens and children who have difficulty reading aloud.
Two others are therapists-in-training.
Ironically, Vick might have qualified for a little canine therapy himself if he were serving his sentence for something other than running a dogfighting ring.
Since the first prison dog programs were established in the 1980s, thousands of inmates across the country have been rehabilitated by training rescued dogs to become companions for the elderly and disabled, gaining respect for themselves through the love and trust of a dog.
Now I'm thinking there's someone else who could use a dog to help get him through the hard times. He takes office tomorrow as the president of the United States.
Last week Barack Obama told political news analyst George Stephanopoulos that the soon-to-be first family's search for a dog is nearly over, with two "breeds" -- a Portuguese water dog and a labradoodle (a cross between a Labrador and a poodle) -- leading the pack.
Whichever they choose, I hope they do it soon.
As Obama shoulders the burden of this country, I can't help but think it would be lighter with a dog by his side.
Reach staff writer Marta Hepler Drahos at mdrahos@record-eagle.com
