Bret Michaels Adopts a Dog Named for Him After It Gives Life-Saving Blood Donation to a Kitten (Exclusive)

"I could not have been more touched and more honored to adopt Bret Michaels the husky," the rocker tells PEOPLE

Bret Michaels — meet Bret Michaels!

Earlier this week, a 6-year-old husky named after the Poison frontman gave a life-saving blood donation to a kitten that was dealing with flea anemia at the Nebraska Humane Society, the establishment said in a post shared on Facebook.

After the story made its way back to Michaels, 60, he reached out to the Nebraska Humane Society, and is now adopting the dog named in his likeness.

"I could not have been more touched and more honored to adopt Bret Michaels the husky, knowing that he gave blood to save the life of a kitten," the rocker — who is currently on his Parti-Gras tour — tells PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. "I could not work fast enough to adopt this husky and extend the awesome quality of little Bret Jr.'s life."

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In its social media post, the Nebraska Humane Society detailed that the kitten was brought in as a stray alongside two other felines.

Noting that they were "dirty, cold and covered in fleas," the establishment wrote that they took care of the animals, but noticed one of the cats appeared "a little bit off" and was "wobbly, weak and lethargic."

After diagnosing the kitten with flea anemia, the Nebraska Humane Society found that it needed to do a blood transfer fast, but they couldn’t wait for testing to be done to determine a suitable feline donor.

Instead, the organization knew that dog blood can be transfused into felines, and they remembered that the canine Bret Michaels had blood work done just days prior, making him a candidate to donate.

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After the first round of transfusion, the kitten started showing signs of improvement,
the Nebraska Humane Society said in its Facebook post.

Michaels' decision to adopt the hero dog comes shortly after he lost his 14-year-old German shepherd Phoenix earlier this year.

"So this story brought a smile back into my family's life," the musician tells PEOPLE. "I work diligently with my family and many people to save and improve the lives of many pets."

"We have always donated to incredible pet drives and charities, and will continue to [home] Bret Jr., who ... has now found a loving family that also includes our two rescue shepherds, Nova and Draco," he adds.

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