MARK,

EVEN THOUGH I LOVED YOUR BOOK, I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT YOUR REACTION TO SPRITE WAS WAY BEYOND WHAT I WOULD FEEL WHEN I WOULD HAVE TO PUT DOWN MY DOG.

WELL, THE DAY HAS COME TO PUT MY SHELTER DOG, BUSTER, DOWN, AND I AM BAWLING LIKE A BABY AS I AM WRITING THIS TO YOU. IT IS PRETTY UNBELIEVABLE THE EMOTIONS I AM FEELING AT THIS TIME, AND NOW I HAVE A MUCH BETTER UNDERSTANDING AS TO WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH AND FELT.

HE HAS BEEN FAMILY FOR 14 YEARS. IT WILL BE AWFULLY HARD NOT TO SEE HIM LYING ON THE RUGS, OR SCARFING FOOD OFF THE FLOORS, OR TAKING HIM FOR WALKS OR JUST INTERACTING WITH HIM.

EVEN OUR CAT, JINGLE, HAS BEEN ACTING QUITE STRANGELY AS HE HAS BEEN NUZZLING BUSTER AND HANGING AROUND HIM…ALMOST AS IF HE SENSES BUSTER’S PAIN AND KNOWS HE WON’T BE AROUND MUCH LONGER.

GLAD I READ YOUR BOOK…AND, AS BUSTER WAS A STAUNCH CONSERVATIVE…LET’S GO WIN AN ELECTION….

Jim from OH

Reading \”Rescuing Sprite\” had me smiling as I thought of  the dog and cat family members I\’ve had and it touched my heart deeply.     I read it in one sitting.  You expressed the love and tragic loss that all animal families eventually go through.  Although my family is a cat family, many of my extended family have Dogs and Cats.

In 2004 my husband came home from Iraq and we transferred from Ft Hood, TX to Ft Knox, KY.  It didn\’t take long before we adopted 2 cats from the Ft Knox Animal Shelter.  Surprising, because my husband has never been a pet person.  But war changes you, in good and bad ways. It changes what you value as important; changes your outlook, etc…

Our oldest kitty, Jade, was 1 when we adopted her.   Terrified & depressed, dumped off by her 1st family for unknown reasons.  She spent 2 weeks hiding under our daughters bed, only coming out to eat and use the box in the middle of the night.   But slowly she began to investigate her new home. After 2 months we became best friends.  She may be a cat, but acts like a dog.

Jade follows me from room to room, sits next to me when I sit on the couch, meows at me to hurry up when it\’s bedtime, greets me at the door, runs up and flops over so I will pet her belly, sits and looks at her furry mice and back at me until I go get one for her to play with and gets jealous when I pay attention to her kitty sister Lexi; Jade is a velcro cat.  I treasure everyday we have together.   Our furry family members have such a short time with us, but bring us so much joy.   Thank you for sharing your wonderful Spritey with us.         p.s. Please give Pepsi & Griffen a treat for me.

Michelle from KY

dear Mark I sent my son 19 year old Seth pfc us army off to the war this morning. i am much to sad to call your show and would not be very entertaining. i must tell you why i am so very emotional this very moment. my young hero surprised me three days ago when he returned home with his beautiful young wife emily on friday.

my son keeps his bulldog (Romo) at home with us romos mom, dad, and two sisters also live with us they all get along for the most part anyway but i swear today they sense my sadness and they are being so incredibly loving. i recieved a call from my son on the airplane he is flying first class thanks to a great american vet who would not take no thankyou for an answer.

my son is a well trained soldier and willnot truely understand why a great americanwould give up his expensive seat until he returns. my christmas present from my wife last christmas was your autographed first edition i have to say we(my family and 5 dogs all enjoyed the power outage shortly after christmas when my wonderful wife of 21 yrs read your great book.my simple words can never describe the priceless value of that evening thank you mark we love you

Lee from ME

About Them …
These are our babies Luke and Leia . They are Border Collie/Lab mixes. They were found along the side of the road in a box with their siblings on a hot August day in 2003 when they were approximately 10 weeks old. Unfortunately Luke and Leia are the only survivors. Woodland Animal Hospital in Seymour, took them under their wing and Dr. Cheryl Haass took it upon herself to find them a home.

From the first time my husband and I saw them we knew they were ours. The wonderful staff at Woodland Animal Hospital took them home with them the first few days until we got ready for their arrival. Luke and Leia were the inspiration that started Me & Them Pet Bakery. They love life, and love to eat. I wanted to do something special for them so I started making them homemade treats. They love them so much and they won’t eat store bought treats anymore. Now each time a batch is mixed, rolled and baked they sit quietly and wait for a sample from each batch. They don’t mind testing the cat treats or the horse treats either!

Besides playing and chasing each other around the yard, their favorite hobby is to chase “bird shadows” in the yard, chase butterflies and bounce on sunbeam reflections on the floor. If given the opportunity they will chew on everything in their site, like their dog house and the front porch! And of course they love to dig holes…..big holes. Luke and Leia have been a joy and pleasure to live with. Today they are “happy, healthy, full of energy puppies” and we love them dearly.

Jan from WI

Chopper, the best reverse brindle boxer, ate a hole in water bed, jumped through front window of house to play with kids, went through radiation & chemo just to be with us & never complaied miss him dearly,

Allen from IL

I had a wonderful black lab for 12 years. I had to put him down finally about 15 years ago.. still breaks my heart!  I adopted an equally wonderful black lab in the past 4 months. \”Sausage\” is 5 has obviously been abused and was extremely over weight. She bonded to me within 20 mins and has not left my side since the day she arrived. She has lost about 25 pounds through exercise and healthy diet. I had to change her name from \”sausage patty\” to \”sausage link\”

My kids and I adore her and feel so blessed that she has come into our lives. I just read \”Rescuing Sprite\” it brought so many tears for my old Bova dog and for my horse Cowboy who I just had to put down about 3 weeks ago. There truly is nothing to replace these loyal animals…

I thank Mark Levin for writing his story. I\’m sure it was therapeutical for him but it sure helped me release some of the pain and guilt a person feels when having to make these decisions. Kudos to Mark Levin for being able to put his emotions on the table. I\’m sure there are so many people out there that he has no idea how much he has touched.

Heidi from OR