And you thought Trouble was pampered

The public notoriety last year when we learned the Leona Helmsley left $12 million to her dog while disinheriting her grandchildren is just the set-up for this bombshell. Leona's estate is worth from $5 billion to $8 billion, depending upon how the real estate liquidation goes. Virtually all of that money goes to a charitable trust, and the NY Times now reports that the purpose of the trust is to care for dogs!

The trust's mission is not included in the will or in the trust itself, but in a separate statement.

The two people who described the statement said Mrs. Helmsley signed it in 2003 to establish goals for the multibillion-dollar trust that would disburse assets after her death.

The first goal was to help indigent people, the second to provide for the care and welfare of dogs. A year later, they said, she deleted the first goal.

The Times points out that there were already 7,381 animal-related nonprofit organizations in 2005. If the Helmsley trust is funded at $5 billion, it will be worth nearly ten times the combined assets of all of those organizations.

"It's a dog's life" is about to get a whole new meaning.