section_path: Personal life/Dogs
section_name: Dogs
paragraph_text: Dogs
  
  In addition to his faith, Rourke has publicly attributed his comeback to his dogs. He is well known as a pet lover, particularly fond of small-breed dogs. A spay/neuter advocate, Rourke participated in a protest outside a pet shop in 2007 and has done a public service announcement for PETA.
  
  His first little dog was reportedly a gift from his second wife. Though Rourke's dogs are generally referred to as " chihuahuas ", some are not purebred. Loki, his most-publicized dog whom he described as "the love of my life", was a chihuahua-terrier mix. So reliant was Rourke on Loki's companionship, he spent US$5,400 to have her flown to England while he was on the set of the film Stormbreaker.
  
  Rourke gave his dogs credit during his Golden Globe Best Actor acceptance speech January 11, 2009: "I'd like to thank all my dogs. The ones that are here, the ones that aren't here anymore because sometimes when a man's alone, that's all you got is your dog. And they've meant the world to me." The day of the 2009 Golden Globes, he told Barbara Walters that "I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about 14 years ago or so... the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. The dogs were there when no one else was there." Asked by Walters if he had considered suicide, he responded:
  
  Yeah, I didn't want to be here, but I didn't want to kill myself. I just wanted to push a button and disappear.... I think I hadn't left the house for four or five months, and I was sitting in the closet, sleeping in the closet for some reason, and I was in a bad place, and I just remember I was thinking, "Oh, man, if I do this," then I looked at my dog, Beau Jack, and he made a sound, like a little almost human sound. I don't have kids, the dogs became everything to me. The dog was looking at me going, "Who's going to take care of me?"
  
  Beau Jack sired two of Rourke's later pets, Loki and her littermate Chocolate. Beau Jack died in 2002, although Rourke reportedly gave him 45 minutes of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Chocolate was the subject of a children's book, Chocolate at the Four Seasons, about his temporary stay with producer Bonnie Timmermann. Chocolate returned to Rourke and died in 2006. In addition to those dogs and several other past pets, Rourke currently owns a chihuahua named Jaws who appeared with him in his 2009 PETA ad, as well as in the film Once Upon a Time in Mexico. He has had as many as seven dogs at one time, back in 2005. Jaws originally was named "Little Mickey" and was originally slated to be euthanized. Rourke also believed Jaws was previously abused. At the time of his Golden Globes tribute to his pets, Rourke owned five chihuahuas: Loki, Jaws, Ruby Baby, La Negra and Bella Loca. About a month later, on February 16, 2009, Loki died in Rourke's arms at the age of 18.
  
  In addition to his faith, Rourke has publicly attributed his comeback to his dogs. He is well known as a pet lover, particularly fond of small-breed dogs. A spay/neuter advocate, Rourke participated in a protest outside a pet shop in 2007 and has done a public service announcement for PETA.
  
  His first little dog was reportedly a gift from his second wife. Though Rourke's dogs are generally referred to as " chihuahuas ", some are not purebred. Loki, his most-publicized dog whom he described as "the love of my life", was a chihuahua-terrier mix. So reliant was Rourke on Loki's companionship, he spent US$5,400 to have her flown to England while he was on the set of the film Stormbreaker.
  
  Rourke gave his dogs credit during his Golden Globe Best Actor acceptance speech January 11, 2009: "I'd like to thank all my dogs. The ones that are here, the ones that aren't here anymore because sometimes when a man's alone, that's all you got is your dog. And they've meant the world to me." The day of the 2009 Golden Globes, he told Barbara Walters that "I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about 14 years ago or so... the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. The dogs were there when no one else was there." Asked by Walters if he had considered suicide, he responded:
  
  Yeah, I didn't want to be here, but I didn't want to kill myself. I just wanted to push a button and disappear.... I think I hadn't left the house for four or five months, and I was sitting in the closet, sleeping in the closet for some reason, and I was in a bad place, and I just remember I was thinking, "Oh, man, if I do this," then I looked at my dog, Beau Jack, and he made a sound, like a little almost human sound. I don't have kids, the dogs became everything to me. The dog was looking at me going, "Who's going to take care of me?"
  
  Beau Jack sired two of Rourke's later pets, Loki and her littermate Chocolate. Beau Jack died in 2002, although Rourke reportedly gave him 45 minutes of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Chocolate was the subject of a children's book, Chocolate at the Four Seasons, about his temporary stay with producer Bonnie Timmermann. Chocolate returned to Rourke and died in 2006. In addition to those dogs and several other past pets, Rourke currently owns a chihuahua named Jaws who appeared with him in his 2009 PETA ad, as well as in the film Once Upon a Time in Mexico. He has had as many as seven dogs at one time, back in 2005. Jaws originally was named "Little Mickey" and was originally slated to be euthanized. Rourke also believed Jaws was previously abused. At the time of his Golden Globes tribute to his pets, Rourke owned five chihuahuas: Loki, Jaws, Ruby Baby, La Negra and Bella Loca. About a month later, on February 16, 2009, Loki died in Rourke's arms at the age of 18.