Our Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Bridget, gave our family eleven years of unconditional love and remains in our hearts.

Dorothy from OK

Dear Mark,
I received your book \”Rescuing Sprite\” for Christmas. I LOVED IT! I recently put down my Mother\’s friend of 14 years and it was absolutely the hardest thing in the world! She was with my father 3 years struggling with cancer who passed and kept Mom in \”spirits\” after he was gone. She was well past her years i hear, dalmation, and suffered terribly from arthritis. We knew she would not make another winter as we had to pick her up to go out and she often fell just standing trying to potty.

I recently adopted a retriever from our local shelter and asked Mom if she would \”babysit\”. It was hard on her but it also \”helped\”. Morgan is 6 months and I love her dearly and do not look forward to the day she leaves me. However \”I am\” very lucky for her now and until that day… and as you said… forever after. Thank you for the wonderful sharing of your life. God Bless You and your family!

Amy from IN

I am 13 and before i was born my parents bought 2 yellow labs brother and sister the boy, sunny the girl, abby. well 6 years back sunny got a brain tumor and started seizing and my parents rushed him to the vet but it was to late…. now all we have is the sister she is 14 and the last one left alive in her litter we were close friends with the people who got her brothers and sisters. her names abby and she can barely walk anymore she drags her feet and falls. she cant get up we have to carry her around.

Its sad but my parents wont put her down because i feel it is cruel to kill an animal. she wont eat either. you can see it in her face, shes just terribly sad. a book that helped me get over her brothers death was dog heaven by cynthia rylant. anyways i am very sad about all this and dont know wut to do. you are a great writer mark i loved rescuing sprite.

Corey from NY

We put our dog down today. One of the toughest decisions we have ever had to make. Abigail (Abby) was a 16 year old Border Terrier. She is the middle dog of 3 that we have. The younger one is 15 and the older one is 18. Yes, old dogs but the feelings putting one down does not make it easier. She was very sick the last 24 hours and when you truly love your animals you realize since they cannot talk to you that you will always be troubled that you made the right choice. I know we did.

Thanks for this opportunity to “get the feelings out”. I leave you all with the famous quote from Ghandi; The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

John from CT

Hi Mark,

I love your show, I listen to you faithfully on 680 WCBM Baltimore. I loved your book, Rescuing Spirit, it brought tears to my eyes because I could truly relate. Last November I lost my beloved Toby, who was a Maine Coon cat to liver cancer at the age of 10. Liver cancer is very rare in cats and they just don’t know how to treat it. We saw all types of vets and he under went several operations. It was so hard to say good by to my gentle giant, so I planted a tree in his honor, he loved going outside with me and sniffing all my flowers and trees. I think my dog, Misty, who is a greyhound took his death very hard, they were bests friends. She didn’t eat for several days and didn’t even want to go out for her runs, she loved her kitty.

But, life can be very strange at times, three weeks after losing Toby, there were two stray kittens living in my bushes, well, I was able to rescue them and when I brought them into my home, Misty just came alive, she was so happy, doing the happy dance and wagging her tail, she couldn’t stiff them enough, she has two babies to take care of. Oh, I forgot to tell you after Misty’s racing career, which she sis very well in, she went back to the farm and over the years she had altogether 21 babies. I was told by the handlers on the farm she was a wonderful mom and she actually got to keep her babies with her longer than the other brood moms. My Misty protects her kitties and she does growl at them when they try to sample her Frosty Paws Ice Cream. Oh, I forgot to mention that my kitties are Apollo and Athena and wouldn’t you know it, Athena looks like my Toby, just not as large.

Misty is very protected of “her cats”, for example if I raise my voice at one of them, because they can get into things, naughty kitties, oh she is right there defending them. She is also a great protected, when my mom was staying with me during her illness, I would tell Misty, watch Grandma, while I go to work and she did, she wouldn’t leave my mom’s side and she would bark at anyone who came to the door. (more…)

My dog Bruno, the love of my life, is dying.
I feel like I´m dying too.
How will I survive without him, without his love, his presence, his eyes, how?

Luciana from Portugal