Comedian makes saving shelter pooches her pet project

So one time, comedian Elayne Boosler finished a New Year's Eve gig at the Sahara when her husband let their dog run onstage. Then he bounced across tables full of Champagne.

Wiley was an 85-pound black Lab with a tail for destroying things.

"He was a people person," she says, "so he just started jumping from table to table, wagging his tail, and glasses were flying, and people were yelling and running out.

"It was hysterical," says Boosler, who performs tonight through Sunday at the Riviera.

There were no repercussions.

"No one ever said anything to me, like, 'You can't come back here,' " she says.

She's aware Wiley broke house rules.

"They won't let a dog onstage, but you can have lions there every night. You have to sign this release in case they kill you during the show."

Boosler is a true believer in animal welfare. She runs TailsOfJoy.net, working as many as 10 hours a day online and on the phone, rescuing shelter pooches.

"All we do is pull animals out of the pound day after day after day," she says.

Saving animals saves people too, she thinks.

"If you can help someone with a medical bill for an animal -- if you can pay the bill and they keep their animal -- that's a better solution than them giving it up," she says.

After her comedy shows, Boosler sells merchandise to raise cash for local animal rescuers.

"I never sold stuff after the show. Now I do," she says. "I sell stuff to benefit charity rescues in each city."

She will do fundraising during fan meet-and-greets after her Riviera shows.

"We don't take the money out of the city we play. So people say, 'Is the money really staying here?' And I go, 'Here is the person!' "

Boosler also happens to be a thief. Well, not really. But kind of.

She was the last act to perform at the Sands. During her shows there, she and her opening act realized "everyone's stealing everything!"

And all that thieving was affecting hotel service.

"The first day, we get our room service coffee. The second day, it comes up in a teapot. The third day, it's in a loafer," she says.

So she and her opening comic stole uniforms. When they were spotted, she yelled, "Run!" she says.

She also pilfered a prominently displayed portrait of Jerry Lewis, at 4 a.m., but she later handed it to Lewis on one of his telethons.

By the way, Boosler jokes that all these hotels closed after she played them -- the Sands, Dunes, Landmark, Aladdin, Frontier, Hacienda, Stardust and the Sahara.

"You can say goodbye to the Riviera," she cracks. "I can't believe they're letting me in. I give them a month."

Doug Elfman's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.