There seems to be quite a few episodes where Lucy works with dogs, and other animals, in her shows. Does anyone know if Lucille Ball had a particular fondness for animals like Mary Tyler Moore, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and others are well known to have?

Yes, she loved animals, as evidenced by the fact that she had about six dogs at one time, and when her and as he lived on a farm and chest with California, she refused to let any of the chickens be killed for food, nor the cow. Desi commented on this in his biography, about how much Lucy got attached to the farm animals.