Cesar, Scooby-Doo team up for competition

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- "The Dog Whisperer" star Cesar Millan says cartoon canine Scooby-Doo is helping him with the U.S. "National Spokesdog Competition."

The competition is to find a superstar to appear in an educational campaign focusing on the importance of spaying and neutering dogs and adopting homeless animals from shelters.

Millan began the competition, an online photo contest at www.nationalspokesdog.org, where celebrity judges, including Scooby-Doo and star of "The Biggest Loser" Jillian Michaels, will select contest winners.

The grand prize-winning spokesdog will star with Millan in the Millan Foundation's 2010 public-service announcement education campaign.

"We've created a contest to search for America's top dogs to help us communicate the importance of spaying and neutering to prevent homeless animals. I am thrilled to have a dog superstar like Scooby-Doo and an animal lover like Jillian Michaels to help us choose America's next dog star, while educating about responsible animal ownership," Millan said in a statement.

"Pairing the world's favorite Great Dane with a revered dog expert like Cesar makes for the perfect partnership, and we look forward to a long and continued relationship between these two icons," said Karen McTier, executive vice president of domestic licensing and worldwide marketing for Warner Bros. Consumer Products.