Beth Stern (aka Beth Ostrosky) giggles as her neck and shoulder are sniffed, then playfully licked, tickled and nuzzled. No, it wasn’t the famous shock jock Howard Stern showing affection for his wife. It was a group of adorable puppies sharing the spotlight with Stern, an animal enthusiast and the national spokesperson for North Shore Animal League America (NSALA), the world’s largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization, during a photo shoot to promote animal rescue.
“It’s good I have my makeup artist with me,” laughs Beth, as she surrenders to the affection of her fans – Licorice, a black Labrador Retriever; Gracie, a Staffordshire mix; and Chloe, a Basset Hound mix who seemed more interested in putting Stern’s Valentino sandal in her mouth than posing for the camera.
  The puppies are unpredictable, feisty and fun – traits Beth is apparently used to. After all, she is married to one of the most provocative and unpredictable radio personalities on the airwaves today. Sitting in an NSALA room that had been converted into a dressing room, Beth is back in her denim jeans, white sweater and warm, fuzzy boots, looking relaxed and ready to chitchat with The Boulevard magazine about her passion for animals, her life as a newlywed, her upcoming projects and her decision to use her married name instead of her maiden name.
“This will be the first magazine where I’m Beth Stern. It feels right … a year into the marriage.” Nevertheless, don’t let her pretty smile fool you. The 5-foot-10-inch beauty is more than just Mrs. Howard Stern. For the last five years, she has been actively working as a spokesperson for NSALA to help raise awareness of their mission. An avid pet lover, she first became involved with the not-for-profit when she modeled for them in a fashion show luncheon and was asked if she would be part of their ad campaign. The rest is history. “Animals are my life and I think they saw my passion,” says Beth, who, as a young girl growing up in Pittsburgh, was surrounded by a houseful of rescue cats, dogs, guinea pigs and chicks. In fact, the first pet she ever had was a rescue named Suzie-dog. “Suzie-dog was a big, fluffy Collie mix. She was the best. I remember her sitting there for hours as I pretended to be a schoolteacher when I was little. She was my only student and the perfect student. She will be in my heart forever.”
Since Beth took on the role of spokesperson for the Animal League, she helps the not-for-profit with anything from adoptions to event appearances to puppy mill rescues. She also has done public service announcements and is frequently on television and radio talking about the organization that helps to find loving homes for approximately 20,000 companion animals a year and has accomplished almost one million adoptions to date. “It is so inspiring and I feel so honored to be part of NSALA. I love being here when adoptions are happening. I love going to the adult dog area and helping people with their adoptions. I come when we have puppy mill rescues. I love to take the animals off the mobile units, clean them off and get them ready to be adopted. If I am having a bad week or a bad day, personally or at work, I know what I have to do. [I have to] go to the NSALA and volunteer my time. I come home so fulfilled and it puts everything in perspective after seeing what these amazing people are doing and seeing some of the animals’ heartfelt stories and the happy endings when they get adopted. It makes life so worthwhile to me.”
In January, the Sterns, who already are the parents of an 8-year-old English Bulldog named Bianca Romijin-Stamos O’Connell Ostrosky Stern, added a new member to their family, a special needs cat named Apple. Before adopting the cat from NSALA, Stern said she and Howard fostered the feline to make sure there would be a love connection with the family. “I knew I would be okay but I wanted to make sure there was harmony [among] Bianca, Howard and Apple. Within an hour my husband fell in love with her. Bianca got swatted in the head a few times but took it like a champ and was so kind and welcoming to her. And now Apple is the greatest addition to our family. When Howard plays chess, Apple jumps on his desk and stares at him. It is the cutest thing.” When asked if Apple had been named after Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter, Beth laughs. “I am the biggest Gwyneth Paltrow fan but, no, Apple came home with the name already.” And, like any proud new parent who is excited to show off her new offspring, Beth adds: “She is precious. She is a gray beige Tabby with a marking. I have to send you a picture.”

Beth’s maternal behavior makes one wonder if there will be any little Howards or Beths running around anytime soon, but she makes no secret that she is completely and utterly content with her life just the way it is. “I don’t have the need to have children but I do want to have more animals in my life. I am very fulfilled … very satisfied … and very, very happy.” She feels fortunate for the loving relationship she shares with Howard’s three daughters, who are 26, 23 and 17. “They are fantastic girls. I think they look at me as their friend Beth and I love the relationship that we share.”

This past October marked the couple’s first year of marriage. When asked about married life with her best friend, Beth’s blue almond-shaped eyes suddenly twinkle. “Howard is my favorite subject to talk about. He is a great husband. He is different at home than how he portrays himself on the air. He is gentle and sweet and soft-spoken and just precious and adorable. Talking is our connection. He is so interesting and smart. He always knows the right thing to do. I love his advice. We have a lot of fun together. He just makes life so joyful.”
Chatting like girlfriends do, Beth was excited to provide the details of her love story to someone who did not know it and who was happy to listen. She explained that the pair first met 10 years ago at a dinner party that neither of them was supposed to be at. “We were both invited last minute and that was the evening we fell in love. We were both at the perfect time in our lives to meet each other. It was fate.” Howard’s eyes, she says, were the first thing that attracted her to him. “I found them to be incredibly sexy.” As for that dark wavy long head of hair, Beth states that every strand is real. “Everyone thinks it is a wig. I need to put it out there that Howard’s hair is real and thick and it sheds like crazy, more than Bianca.”
She adds that life with “The King of All Media” is not what one may suspect. “I think people are amazed to hear that we go to bed at 8 p.m. and we are up by 4 a.m. And the weekends are pretty much the same thing. If it is a crazy night, we may stay up until 9:30 -10 p.m. We are up at the crack of dawn, walking the dog. We eat by 5 p.m. We go out and have dinner and that is the excitement in our lives. We are a very normal, boring couple.”
In May, Beth will be launching a book she co-wrote titled Oh, My Dog!, a 500-page reference book that she believes every dog owner should have. The book is a guide to grooming, feeding, bonding and caring for your dog. Stern mixed her own personal experiences with those of seasoned experts, including top veterinarians, behaviorists, trainers, etc. She was humbled by the experience, she says; putting the book together was a lengthy process that took a lot of hard work. Beth believes she is a better dog owner because of it. As one of her contributions for the book she took a Red Cross first aid course for dogs to help prepare her for an emergency situation and then penned her experience. “I mouthed the snout of a stuffed animal,” she laughs. “I have learned so much. People think because of my association with NSALA and my passion for animals that I am an expert [but] I wasn’t and I still don’t feel that I am. That is why I think everybody who has a dog should have this book because it is so informative and easy to use.” She plans on donating a portion of the proceeds from the book to NSALA.    
She has also tapped into her entrepreneurial side, inventing a doggie dental hygiene product called Pawfect Smile (www.pawfectsmile.com) that will debut around the same time of her book launch. Beth said she came up with the idea years ago, based on her own experience brushing her dog’s teeth. The product is similar to a felt tip pen and releases peanut butter and vanilla-flavored toothpaste that keeps a dog’s teeth healthy and clean. “It was always so difficult and sloppy for me, and I assume for other people, to brush their dog’s teeth, so I wanted to come up with a product to make it easy and fun for people. Taking care of your dog’s teeth can prolong their life for up to five years.” All of the proceeds from Pawfect Smile, she adds, will be donated to animal rescue.
Blessed with good genes (her mother was a model), Beth started her modeling career at a young age. She was discovered at a department store when she was 11. Her perfect physique has been recognized as one of FHM’s Top 100 Sexiest Women of the Year from 2002 to 2004 and again in 2007, but Beth acknowledges that those days are behind her. These days, in addition to her work at NSALA, she is a regular on the morning talk show circuit as a fashion expert doing makeovers as well as dog segments for NSALA. Over the past year, she has appeared frequently on the Tyra Banks Show as an advice panelist and she continues to be a special correspondent for Extra. On Memorial Day, fans can see Beth on the ABC reality show True Beauty where she will act as a judge alongside Carson Kressley when a group of contestants compete for the Face of Vegas. One of her long-term goals, she says, is to open her own animal shelter and expand what she is doing now.
In the meantime, she is busy gearing up for the NSALA Pet Adoptathon weekend, May 1 and 2. As part of a global initiative, the facility will be open for 36 hours straight. Events like these, where she is helping with adoptions, particularly adoptions of adult dogs, are by far the most meaningful to Beth. “I remember witnessing an older couple adopt a dog who just lost its previous owner. And then there was Porgy the Corgi, a special needs dog who had bad eyesight and had to get shots every day. I never thought this dog would get adopted, but a schoolteacher came in and adopted the dog and now takes him with her to class every day, so her students can spend time with him. Then there was the blind German Shepherd puppy. A family came in, fell in love with this dog and brought him home. There were goosebumps … tears ... it was beautiful. The stories are phenomenal … people are so amazing to adopt from a shelter.”
Completely devoted to the work she is doing at NSALA, Beth jokes that she will be with the organization until they kick her out. For more information on North Shore Animal League America, visit www.AnimalLeague.org or call 516-883-7575.