Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
▪ Jean- Claude Van Damme has cracked the skulls and bones of bad guys, escaped from prison to find his dying brother and rescued a woman from a gang of thugs onscreen. And this week, the action movie star helped save a puppy in real life. Van Damme barreled into an international kerfuffle over a Chihuahua named Raya, who was in danger of being euthanized because, Norwegian officials said, she had entered the country on a fake Pet Passport. As Van Damme’s puppy crusade became a hit on social media. Animal welfare activists said that Raya’s plight most likely exposed a ring of East European breeders trafficking dogs to Western Europe. The 3-month old puppy’s owner, who bought the dog from a Bulgarian pet dealer in Oslo and who started an online petition to save his dog, contacted an attorney after Raya was seized by Norwegian authorities who said it would be euthanized as an undocumented animal. Somehow, the Belgian-born Van Damme — known as “The Muscles From Brussels” for films like “Missing in Action,” “Kickboxer” and “Hard Target” — became aware of Raya’s story, and stepped in. In a Facebook live video posted Sunday, a bespectacled Van Damme implored his more than 27 million followers — and others on Instagram and Twitter — to sign the petition to save the Chihuahua. “We cannot kill that little Chihuahua. It’s bad luck for the future; it’s bad luck for covid; it’s bad luck for all that stuff,” Van Damme said in the video while clutching his own Chihuahua by its tiny barrel chest. Nearly 200,000 people reacted to the actor’s Facebook video, in which Van Damme offered to pay any fees associated with saving Raya’s life. Shortly afterward, authorities told owner Alexey Iversen that the dog would be returned to Bulgaria.
▪ Glenn Close will receive an honorary AARP award for her work with a charity that brings awareness to mental illness. AARP announced this week that Close, 73, will be the first to receive an honorary Purpose Prize Award during a virtual ceremony on Dec. 3. Close, nominated for 7 Oscars, will be recognized for her work with Bring Change to Mind, an organization that strives to end the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness. Five individuals will be awarded the AARP Purpose Prize, which honors people ages 50 and older who “tap into the power of life.” The award recipients include Hope Harley with the Bronx Children’s Museum, Arturo Noriega with Centro Community Partners, Susan Tachau with Pennsylvania Assistive Technology, Mark Barden with Sandy Hook Promise and Cindy Eggleton with Brilliant Detroit. Each prize winner will receive a $50,000 award for their organization. AARP said 10 Purpose Prize fellows will also be honored. Each of them will receive a $5,000 award to further the mission of their organization.