The Humane Society of Bay County, Florida, has announced that it is teaming up with the company behind “Girls Gone Wild” to raise money for its shelter and increase public awareness about homeless animals. (Really.)

Today, Girls Gone Wild, in partnership with animal activist/fashion designer Ashley Paige, will launch their Ashley Paige for Girls Gone Wild swimwear line with a fashion show at the Raleigh Hotel in South Beach. (GGW sponsoring a clothing line seems a bit like a Krispy Kreme-backed weight loss plan.)

The show will feature two of the shelters newest additions: "Lil John," a Pekinese saved hours before being euthanized and "Serenity," a cute Chihuahua mix who will be walking in the fashion show while hoping to be adopted. (Serenity, watch out for the guys with the video cameras.)

Following the fashion show, Paige and Girls Gone Wild will be throwing an after party at Club Prive' to benefit the Humane Society. (Joe Francis, the man behind GGW, is currently in a Reno, Nevada, jail awaiting trial on a tax evasion charge and won’t be attending.)

"We are so excited to be working with Girls Gone Wild and their caring management (oh yeah, true saints) and employees. Their commitment to our organization will go so far to help us to rebuild our center, and most importantly save defenseless animals lives," said Mary Sanger, director of the Bay County Humane Society.

Francis, founder and CEO of Mantra Films, which produces the Girls Gone Wild series, was excited, too (but then I’m guessing he is pretty much perpetually in that state).

"We are very excited to be able to use our resources to help the community of Panama City in positive and long lasting way,” said Francis (as opposed to swooping in for a few days and exploiting its teenaged girls). "The saving of animals lives and those abandoned by others hits close to home and we are excited to be working with such a wonderful organization and worthwhile cause. We are hopeful that by embracing this opportunity, we can not only draw attention to this worthwhile cause, but truly help save the lives of cats, dogs and other animals in need.” (Joe may not be quite as good at talking rich folks out of their money as he is at talking teenaged girls out of their shirts.)

The humane society says the campaign will help it upgrade their facilities, raise public awareness and implement a wide ranging list of projects associated with their organization. (And it probably won’t hurt the tom-cattish reputation of Joe, either, whose participation in the event is actually part of a community service sentence stemming from federal charges involving the company’s activities during spring break 2003 in Panama City.)

That’s the story. Send me your headline, and, of course, any other thoughts you have on this turn of events. Just click on the comments button below. I’ll pick my favorite and put it atop this entry. When? At my earliest convenience. Be patient ... Keep your shirt on.