To many pop culture fans, former child star Danny Pintauro will always be towheaded Jonathan Bower from the beloved '80s sitcom "Who's the Boss?" or young Tad Trenton from "Cujo."
But these days — more than two decades after he left Hollywood — Danny, 43, is a loving caretaker to some of the most vulnerable residents of Central Texas: its homeless animals.
Earlier this month, Danny took to Instagram to let fans know that he's now working as a veterinary and pharmacy technician at the nonprofit Austin Pets Alive!
"Soooooooo, i can finally announce my promotion at work! I am now officially a Vet Technician/Pharmacy Technician here at APA," Danny shared on Instagram alongside a photo of himself in his scrubs. "Day Three of training – post spay/neuter surgery recovery technician. #austinpetsalive."
On April 5, he shared a slideshow of photos on Instagram featuring a gray cat and explained what he's been up to over the last few years while also encouraging fans to get involved. "So I thought I would fill you in a bit on what I've been doing this past year and half and maybe start posting some pictures of the beautiful animals I work with. Which hopefully brings you all knowledge, joy, and maybe an open heart to donate to our cause," he wrote.
"I work for a great organization called Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) We are a NO KILL animal shelter and we have helped Austin, Texas become the LARGEST NO Kill in the COUNTRY! We do this by pioneering comprehensive and innovative programs designed to save the animals at most risk for euthanasia, particularly from the Austin City Shelter. We have brought AAC to 99% NO KILL," he continued.
"I'm called a Cat Care Specialist, this basically means that any cat that APA! takes in that has some sort of medical or behavioral issue goes through our Isolation Units first. In those units, a small team of people, including myself, give the cats everything they will need to get better -subcutaneous fluids, vaccines, two meals a day, medications of all kinds, baths, bladder expression, and love. 😊
"In our four main isolation units, we treat everything from scabies to broken bones, calicivirus, FIV, URIs, FeLV, missing body parts and the list goes on. We also receive all cats that need to be behaviorally assessed to decide where they will go from ISO. In some cases that means to the adoption center and in some cases that means to the barn enclosures where they will get adopted as working cats on farms or ranches.
"On most days this job amounts to me giving some level of care to somewhere between 60-70 cats!" he concluded. He also urged his followers to adopt rather than purchase their pets and added a link to the cat wing's wishlist. "TO DONATE to the cat department: https://www.austinpetsalive.org/donate/wishlist #adoptdontshop."
Danny, who graduated from Stanford University in the '90s and in recent years was living and working in Las Vegas, has previously been a Tupperware salesman and a restaurant manager. In 2014, he married Wil Tabares.
In 2015, Danny revealed to Oprah Winfrey that he's HIV positive and had been diagnosed in 2003. "What I want my community to realize is we need to take better care of ourselves," he told Oprah during their sit-down.