Bret Michaels on Being a Dog Dad to Rescue Pup with His Name (Exclusive) ArticlePure

Bret Michaels is one proud dog dad!

In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE ahead of a new A&E Biography series that looks at the rock star’s life and career, Michaels, 61, opens up about adopting a dog — named Bret Michaels Jr. — last year, as well as his overall love of animals.

“Having pets, having dogs, in my life has been amazingly life-changing in such a positive way,” he says. “The love they give is unconditional. There’s no condition to it. It’s just great.”

“And if we can provide back a much better life for them, that’s a good [thing],” adds the Poison frontman.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Last year, Bret Jr. — who is a 6-year-old husky — 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, he reached out to the animal organization and adopted the dog named in his likeness.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

“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 told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement at the time.

“I could not work fast enough to adopt this husky and extend the awesome quality of little Bret Jr.’s life,” he added.

According to Michaels — who is currently on his Parti-Gras 2.0 Tour — he has “been a pet parent my whole life.”

His first dog was a canine named Tark, and Michaels says that having a pet is “good for their life and good for our souls.”

The rest of his family also loves animals just as much as he does.

“My entire family, we nonstop rescue pets, and it’s a big part of what we do, along with my Life Rocks Foundation,” he notes of his nonprofit.

Biography: Bret Michaels premieres on A&E on June 16 at 9 p.m. EST. It will be available to stream the following day.