Eighteen years ago, actress Mary Tyler Moore co-founded Broadway Barks alongside actress Bernadette Peters, an annual cat and dog adoption event in NYC.
Meet Tyler, a rescued lab-mix whose life changed forever thanks to the late Mary Tyler Moore.
Read: America's First Dog Cafe For Rescue Pups is Generating Some Serious Buzz
Eighteen years ago, alongside actress Bernadette Peters, Moore co-founded Broadway Barks, an annual cat and dog adoption event hosted in New York’s famous Shubert Alley.
During the event, visitors are invited to adopt a pet from hundreds of rescue animals from 27 local shelters. Organizers estimate around 200 dogs are adopted from the event each year.
Tyler was just 3 months old when his owner Tony Sestito adopted him in 2011.
Sestito had just lost his boxer, and was on the lookout for a new dog to love. That’s when Tyler became the fourth dog Sestito rescued.
“Tyler was the first dog I saw, and he was mine the very next day. Our eyes met, and that was it,” he told InsideEdition.com. “It makes the most sense to me. It’s not a matter of money, it’s a matter of giving a home to a dog that really needs it.”
Sestito said Tyler was part of a litter rescued from a burned out car in Queens.
After taking him in, Sestito renamed his pup Tyler to pay homage to Moore's hard work.
“It was an amazing event, and the celebrity factor was wonderful,” he said.
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On Wednesday, following news of Moore's death at age 80, Sestito took a moment to remember the woman who'd changed his — and Tyler's — lives forever.
“I was in my office and I cried a bit,” Sestito said. “She was such a wonderful, beautiful person.”
Watch: Dick Van Dyke Remembers Former Co-Star Mary Tyler Moore: Our Chemistry 'Was Just Serendipity'
