Leona Helmsley, the hotel mogul who died in August, wanted most of her estate – worth $5-billion to $8-billion — to be used by a foundation that would focus on the care and welfare of dogs, reports The New York Times.

Ms. Helmsley drafted a mission statement for her foundation before she died, the newspaper said; at first she instructed that money left to her foundation should care for needy people and dogs. She later crossed out the will’s reference to people, according to two people who told the newspaper they have seen the statement.

A spokesman for the executors of Ms. Helmsley’s estate, Howard J. Rubenstein, declined to comment on where the money would end up going, aying that the executors were still determining the direction of the trust.

The newspaper said the trustees of the charitable trust established by Ms. Helmsley had hired a philanthropic advisory service to determine whether they could fulfill her wishes and still pursue broader charitable goals.

If $5-billion, the low-end estimate of the value of her estate, is used for dog-related charitable efforts, the trust will be worth close to 10 times the amount of the assets of all animal-related nonprofit groups, according to Internal Revenue Service figures for 2005, the newspaper said.

Note: This item has been amended since it originally appeared to correct inaccuracies.