All around cute, good guy and animal lover, Ian Somerhalder, is basically an angel with a very large soft spot for animals, and thus the honor of this weeks’ Instant Follow Friday!
Although we have a lot to be thankful for this thanksgiving (whether it be family, friends, love, wine…), a sexy animal lover definitely warrants our thanks too – for that reason, Ian is our guy.
Ian first wooed us as the very sexy vampire from the Vampire Diaries, Damon Salvatore. Today, he’s still the bona fide smoldering actor we fell in love with, who also shows us what true adoration is by championing animal adoption from local shelters. He and girlfriend Nikki Reed are also one of Hollywood’s hottest couples around!
As of late, Ian has really been on top of his Instagram game. Because his posts are heartfelt dedications to the creatures he gives so much love and friendship to, seeing Ian’s posts sometimes really pull at the heartstrings.
The 35-year-old even has his own foundation (the Ian Somerhalder Foundation), whose mission ”aims to empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures”. Really, who doesn’t love a guy who absolutely LOVES his furry friends?!
A strong advocate for conservation, Ian has written via Instagram: “WHY DO ONLY 150 LEMURS LIKE THIS EXIST IN THE WILD?! Why? BECAUSE THEIR HABITAT IN MADAGASCAR IS BEING DESTROYED BY DEFORESTATION!!! STOP THIS! Let’s stop this TOGETHER!!!!! Conservation INTERNATIONAL aka www.conservation.org has more info on this than you can imagine! Check out the website www.conservation.org I Love this place. Love these people. Love these animals. HATE DEFORESTATION. FUCK DEFORESTATION- find solutions please! Help us!!!”
He also calls for changes in the animal adoption process, writing in an Instagram post about new cat Sohalia: “The newest addition to the family. Her name is Sohalia. Thank you @iamnikkireed for finding us this amazing kid in Conyers Georgia. Unfortunately this little kid was wildly mislabeled as “feral/not friendly”, and had Nikki not gone in and opened her cage regardless, we would have never found out that she is the most loving kitty on the planet and she may have been put down. The point is this; because shelters are so understaffed, this happens more often than not. Let’s encourage the people who work at shelters and people whom make policies for shelter workers to take more time to get to know the animals that are brought in, so they can properly inform potential adopters. Also, if you are thinking about adding a new member to your family, know that there might be more to the animal than what’s written on their cage!!! Go have fun and adopt! Send me pictures please! Thank you- Love, Ian”
Oh yeah, did I mention he’s super hot? (Those eyes, those biceps). Follow Ian for tidbits of his life as a vampire, and for some genuine, absolutely sweet animal love on Twitter @IanSomerhalder and Instagram @IanSomerhalder.
Happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone! Go out and adopt a loving furry friend from your local adoption center.
See some of Ian’s best tweets below, and check out the gallery for Ian’s hottest Instagram posts, starring his cute animal friends!
Good morning beautiful world-I hope it’s good for everyone-& if it’s not, how can you make it so? Love, Ian
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 24, 2014
You’re going to love being a vampire. Join me on the set of @cwtvd and let’s make it happen. http://t.co/LHoCRJtojX — ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 26, 2014
“@somerbadgley: @iansomerhalder i love you more than chocolate” THAT IS ONE OF THE NICEST THINGS ANYONE HAS EVER SAID TO ME!;) — ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 24, 2014
Go’n to TVD in the still,warm&inky darkness of an early morning in Georgia. Television sound stages are time vacuums-in at dark-out at dark — ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 24, 2014
So cool to see this on my iTunes today. @NikkiReed_I_Am I’m in awe of your bravery&artistry.Thank you for inspiring.. pic.twitter.com/Qh7Z7FRoih — ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 22, 2014
I think I’ve had a bite of every single one of these today in this scene… Whoa. Yum. Ouch. pic.twitter.com/7xR0f6Z3vN
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 22, 2014
Hello lovely planet.Um,so I found a ton of unsent tweets in my drafts that I NEVER knew never went out-you may see a bunch of random mssgs..
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 21, 2014
Today, influencers & activists will come together for #FusionRiseUp. I’m rising up for Our Planet. What will you RiseUp for?”
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 19, 2014
Louisiana!PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD TO STOP FRACKING IN ST TAMMANY PARISH ENDS TODAY!NOT TOMORROW AS CITIZENS WERE TOLD!DISAPPOINTING YES-PLEASE
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 17, 2014
West coast!!! Get out and vote! California! NO GMO’s!!!!!!!!!!
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 5, 2014
I’m on 20/20 tonight @ 10 PM EST talking about my cosmic sis Sarah Jones that we lost.Please check this out-RIP Sarah,youre missed. Love-Ian
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) November 1, 2014
Holy crap! Vampire Diaries was just on the air!!! It’s on in at one hour and a half west coast! See you there!
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) October 31, 2014
“@ISF_Fife: @iansomerhalder its awesome!! Love it! Everyone needs to watch this!! #NatureIsSpeaking http://t.co/gwJ9vx9nfa” thank you!!!!!
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) October 27, 2014