Denise Richards, Former Bond Girl Adopts Puppy to Support Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts in Long Island, NY

During a visit to Long Island, NY to aid and support Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, actress and former Bond Girl Denise Richards ended up adopting an adorable, black lab-mix puppy named Tara at the storm-ravaged North Shore Animal League America shelter. Richards brought daughters Sam, Lola, and Eloise along to the Long Island animal shelter to help spread the word about Sandy relief efforts and to encourage people to adopt abandoned and displaced pets throughout the devastated region. Little, furry Tara was just one of several abandoned canines that found her way to the North Shore shelter, and for Richards, it was "puppy dog love" at first sight.

On November 8, Richards tweeted out this message:

@DENISE_RICHARDS: "Day off tomorrow. Heading to an animal shelter, to help out. Over 600 rescued from the hurricane. My girls are coming to help too."

Along with aiding in the hurricane relief effort, Richards ended up bringing a little furry friend of her own back home! Richards, an avid animal lover, already owns a number of once-homeless dogs - the 41-year-old beauty once told People magazine, "I swear, if there's a dog stranded somewhere, he finds my car, and he finds me. If anyone is looking to get a dog, they ask, 'Can you help me?'"

According to the North Shore Animal League American official Facebook page, "During their visit Denise and her family fell in love with Tara the Labrador Mutt-i-gree puppy and welcomed her into their home!"

In USA Today's "Celebrating 50 Years of Bond Girl Sexiness," Richards writes an intimate post about her role as Dr. Christmas Jones in 1999's "The World Is Not Enough" and how the iconic role helped "show her the world" -

"There's not too many scientists who run around in little shorts with a tattoo. So many people made fun of how I was dressed when the movie came out. That's part of the appeal of Bond. These Bond girls are so outrageous and if I did really look like a scientist, the Bond fans would have been disappointed. The biggest part I got out of it was being part of something so iconic. I couldn't look at how big it was, though, because that would have been too much pressure. I just had to do my job.

But the bigger picture is, it was a whirlwind. When I look back at that time, I couldn't pick one moment. It was the whole picture. Today, my kids are too young to understand. It was on TV a few weeks ago and they had no interest in watching yet. So no, I'm not the coolest mom yet for being in a Bond movie. I was the coolest mom when I did an episode of 'Kickin' It' on Disney."

For the full post, click here.