Mark, I read your book, Rescuing Sprite, on Christmas Eve day. My heart broke for you and your family and the pain and guilt you have gone through. 8 years ago I had to end the love of my life’s pain and I am still not past the quilt. I wish I could go back and do more for her. Everyone tells me that it was time and she was ready, but when I look back I cannot see that. I can just feel my pain of losing her. I feel your pain. When a furchild dies from an accident or dies naturally it is a completely different set of emotions than when you are the one to decide to end their suffering.

In your book you talk about how special foster dog families are and I want to tell you that my family which consists of me, my husband, and our own 3 (rescued) furchildren are a foster family for Carver Scott Humane Society in MN. I thank you for the kind words you said of us. We love each of the furbabies that have stayed with us until their forever people came to claim them as much as our own much loved boys. To us they are all the same. But what I want to share with you is this; when you get to pick the home they go to and you know it is a better home and life than you give them, it is worth losing them. Yes, I do cry at every adoption, but it makes me cry more for all the dogs I cannot rescue. My husband and I take in the husky and husky mixes and furchildren with issues. We are one of the only foster homes that will work with the furbabies on a daily basis to get them past the issue so they can be adopted into loving homes. It always makes me happy to hear when people adopt an older dog. We have a foster boy right now who is about 9 years old and losing his site. He has already lost about 80% and will lose the rest in the next year. We believe that he will be with us for the rest of his life as people do not seem to be interested in adopting a blind older dog. We love him and will keep him until his forever home comes along, whether it is here on this earth or in heaven with Sprite.

Your book was very cathartic for me. It helped to cry for you and for Sprite for the wonderful life he had with you and it was also a great help for my feelings about my beloved Cleopatra, whom I miss each day. I thank you for being such a furchild lover and being open about it.

Melissa from MN