Celebrity Pets That Had the Best 2012

Ahh, to be Choupette. First, she’s clearly one adorable white fluff ball. But she also had the good fortune to become the beloved (and amazingly spoiled) pet of the iconic Chanel designer. Karl Lagerfeld admitted in a magazine interview this year that Choupette eats at the table with him and has two maids who record her every move so that he doesn’t miss a thing about her day.

Actress Katherine Heigl readily admitted to USA Today that she’s a “mad dog lady.” And she can prove it: She has seven pups at home. (Above is her dog Oscar with her daughter, Adalaide.) The animal activist's Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, named for a brother who died as a child, aims to “eliminate the needless suffering inflicted on animals.”

The country crooner owns nine dogs, but that hasn’t stopped her from helping more! This year, she rescued one puppy from a ditch, then managed to find homes for six German Shorthaired Pointer puppies she found outside an Oklahoma day care center. Once the last pup was adopted, she tweeted, “If you weren't able to get one of these sweet angels..please visit your local shelter! Don't forget..love a shelter pet!”

Another country girl, Taylor Swift, is (much) more of a cat person. This year, she has shared plenty of photos and videos of the kitty she adores, Meredith — and they’ve quickly gone viral. The Scottish Fold is named for Meredith Grey, the character played by Ellen Pompeo on Grey’s Anatomy. And we imagine she’s the inspiration for the cat-themed fashions Swift has showcased this year, too!

Comedian and host of The View Sherri Shepherd knew what she wanted when she searched online for a rescue dog: a black Lab. "I specifically wanted a Lab because I had a Lab who passed away at 12," she told People. "And I wanted a black dog because there is something called Black Dog Syndrome. Black dogs are the last to be adopted [because] when you take a picture of them in their cages, they look menacing behind the bars." Now, 3-year-old Ashley — who’s going to be renamed Chloe but is currently known as “Ashley-Chloe” — is happy at home in New York with Shepherd.

Some dogs get to take part in their owners’ nuptials, but how many get to walk the bride down the aisle for one of the year’s most high-profile weddings? Beast, the shaggy Puli with more than 1 million Facebook fans, played that role for Priscilla Chan when she married longtime love and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

He may not have won Best in Show, but domestic diva Martha Stewart’s Chow Chow, Genghis Khan, aka G.K., won plenty of attention while competing at this year’s Westminster Dog Show. G.K. was Best of Breed but didn’t advance to be a group winner. There’s always next year, G.K.!

The Late Night host’s penchant for Golden Retrievers was already clear — he’d become known for having them on the show as “puppy predictors,” to weigh in on the outcomes of events including the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards. So, perhaps we could have predicted that he’d end up bringing home one of his own! By the time the presidential election came around, his Golden pup, Gary, was the one doing the predicting — though, um, not correctly, as it turned out.

The pop star and X Factor judge also brought a new puppy home this year — and quickly introduced her to Twitter. Tiny @HannahSpears had nearly 25,000 followers in just a matter of weeks. From Hannah’s tweets, there are a few hints that the mom of two boys may be doting on this little girl. “Anyone seen my leopard dress? I can't find it anywhere,” Hannah asked this month.

During the summer’s London Olympics, two Border Terriers belonging to Great Britain’s tennis smash Andy Murray found themselves in the news after trying on his gold and silver prizes for size. Maggie May tweeted the photo on her own account. “Here we go folks ... Just checking to make sure Rusty definitely has the silver, obviously,” she said. They look like winners to us!