Tamara Braun (ex-Ava, DAYS OF OURLIVES) has a furry new friend and hopes their story will inspire others. “I got a text from a girlfriend saying, ‘Would you be willing to foster this little baby who just got hit by a car and hasa broken pelvis?’” she shares. Upon visiting the terrier mix, the actress was taken aback. “He was hooked up to an IV for morphine and not looking so great.”

Told that the dog would be unattended over the weekend, Braun mustered the courage to take him home.“It was a learning curve,” she says. “But I fell in love.”

Open Home, Open Heart

Having decided to keep the pup, whom she named Little, Braun jokes that she’s a “foster fail.” But she’d previously had a different experience with Frankie, a Lhasa Apso mix whose owner went into a nursing facility. “I didn’t think I could foster, then let the dog go,” she says. But after having Frankie twice while The Real Bark (www.therealbark.org) sought permanent placement, Braun decided to be selfless. “I kept thinking, ‘We aren’t the perfect family for him.’ I cried for two days when they did come along, but letting Frankie go was the right thing to do.”

Word To The Wise

Having also attended a Dharma Rescue (www.dharmarescue.org) fundraiser for disabled dogs, Braun has become keenly aware of the plight of animals in peril. And with the recent string of natural disasters in which so many pets became lost or abandoned, she wanted to get a message out. “Donate money, or if you’re local, give your time, home and love by fostering or adopting,” she says. “And get your pet microchipped, so that, in the event of a disaster, you can be reunited.”

Movie Star

Careerwise, Braun will soon be seen as an abused woman who protects her daughter in Hunted By My Ex, a conglomerate chief out to control the world in Dead Trigger and a detective trying to help a friend in My Daughter’s Kidnapping. However, the performer still thinks fondly of DAYS and feels bad that Joey went to prison for ending Ava’s life. “I guess he’s being punished for smothering her, but let’s be honest — she did some really rotten things.”