It is no surprise to Ian Somerhalder fans that the Vampire Diaries star snagged the “Dog’s Best Friend” award at the World Dog Awards last night. Somerhalder is a well-known Animal rights activist and supporter of all things dog.

“Just to be here tonight, when we could all be doing anything else in the world, to be here tonight with all these furry creatures that truly impact our lives is a blessing,” Somerhalder said at the World Dog Awards. “It’s incredible, and people who think that these animals don’t affect our lives I think are a little crazy.”

The actor and his fiancé, Nikki Reed, have a reported six dogs, two cats and horse they call family. But they don’t just adopt animals in need. No, Ian does much more …

The actor founded the Ian Somerhalder Foundation in 2010. The foundation “aims to empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures,” and it has done so with continued Support for no-kill shelters and pet adoption programs. There is even an animal sanctuary in the works thanks to this wonderful organization.

Holly Robinson Peete joked while introducing Somerhalder at the award ceremony, “He’s behind more adoptions than Angelina Jolie.”

And Somerhalder doesn’t stop at pets. This handsome star has spoken in front of Congress urging them to end elephant poaching and put a domestic ban on the trade of ivory in place.

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He also took an active interest in the BP oil spill disaster that affected the gulf coast, shooting PSAs and participating in the CNN telethon.

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Not to mention, Somerhalder participated in the #MovetheUN campaign to get animal protection on the global agenda.

To top it all off, his Twitter feed is full of facts and information on animals and Animal rights issues.

Congrats Ian! And keep on rockin’ the world for animals!

Lead image source: MTV