I used to have a German Shephard named “Adam”. He was skinny, a little on the timid side, and pretty silly. We lived next to an elderly couple who had an adult son still living at home. One night, the son was in his backyard sitting next to the fence, playing his guitar and singing to his girlfriend. He obviously didn’t impress his girlfriend much because on the other side of the fence, in my backyard, my dog was sitting there howling his head off.

Ron from Texas

I’ve been a cat owner my whole life (am retired) & the greatest cat I ever had was a purebred chocolate sealpoint Siamese whom I named Hershey. Nearly 5 yrs. ago when he was about 10 mo. old he showed up at my door as I arrived home from work. I later learned a neighbor moved & abandoned him. He had never been outside before that. He had been neutered but it was possibly a “defective” procedure. He had two huge disadvantages: he was extremely territorial which led to his being injured a lot, (fights) plus he suffered from stomatitis, which is akin to his being allergic to the plaque on his teeth. For 4 yrs. I did all I could to handle the very expensive vet bills & had a great vet who was sympathetic to my dilemma. My income was very low but Hershey was worth the sacrifice. He chose to be mute most of the time & when hungry, just stood by his food dish. I’d never had a cat that licked my face as he did & he slept with me every night & never woke me in the mornings when I could sleep in. Late last winter, tho, he again was injured & needed a lot of treatment on his gums. Sometimes his mouth would be so painful that he could barely eat or swallow. I had retired by then & most of my income is spent on med. ins. premiums. His bill was going to be over $500. so despite all my efforts to try to find another home for him with someone who could afford all his vet bills, nothing turned up. It was the most anguish I had ever experienced, realizing I had to euthanize him just because I could no longer afford to treat him. That is real pain, beyond an animal for whom there is no other choice than to euthanize him/her because of old age or disease. Mark, there’s no way I can ever read your fine book because I can’t bear the sadness in it. It tears me up to even read headlines of abused animals. I hope this doesn’t have to happen to anyone else.

Linda from Colorado

No joy can replace the unconditional love of our dogs. We have a continual canine family of creatures we could never live without.

Sammy, our 7 year old cattle dog lives to run and will be having surgery to replace her knees this week. Her life is our life and we can’t wait to help her through her conditioning so she is ready to run and chase the deer when the snow falls.

Making the rest of her life the best it can be is our Christmas for ’07.

from Washington

In bad weather Dasha gets her exercise by walking on the treadmill.

Charles from Ohio

I can’t say enough about Sundance (Mama’s Boy). He was with me for nearly 18 years and 100 years wouldn’t be enough. Losing him broke my heart in a way that it will never be the same. I miss him every single day and always will. I was touched by Mr. Levin’s interview on TV and wanted to share my love for my boy in a forum that was respectful and understanding. Thank you.

Cari from Ohio

I am a police officer and have a partner, the other day i had to take a dog to the family doctor, while I was there I ask the clerk when a pet passes away do they pull the file and marked it deceased, and she stated they did, but everything was on the computer if I needed any dates or other info on a deceased pet or a living pet, a day later I had to take a second dog to the family doctor, and the clerk said I pulled your info on the computer and she said to date we have or have had a total of 52 pets, all these pets had all been resecued, three came from Hurranine Katerina, two cats and a horse, we lost one of the cats a year later, she was old and crippled and we knew no one would ever adopt her, and we have had a dog and other cats find us, I now have 7 dogs, 11 cats 13 horses, some cows, goats, chickens and ducks. I just lost a goat I had for a very short time, a year and a half, i found her deceased in her stall on Oct. 29, this loss hurt so very bad as she like all the other animals in my life was a family member. i had to put four horses down, one was 33, one was 34, one was 18 and one 15. Three of these guys told me some how that it was time for me to let them go and cross the rainbow bridge. Each loss whether dog, cat, horse, goat or cow even chicken is tragic. I know the pain it and it never gets any easier, but I think when one passes, they leave a mark on your heart to pour out that love to another dog or cat. My roommate told me that the day that I pass, that I was surley going to be trampled by all the pass loves of my life when I cross the rainbow bridge myself. I too can’t imagine anyone ever losing a child, it has to be unbearable, God put me to my knees when I lost my goat (Rose) the other day, and a great dane that I have is getting a little slower so I know her time is near, and she is 12, so god blessed me with her for more years than the average age of 7. I could just go on and on, and knowing that I wil see my kids again one day keeps me going. The family dorctor came to my house to put down a shephard in my living room, and he even cried with us, my bedroom is full of urns, where I had a couple of my cats, my shephard and 2 of my goats cremated. Even had a horse cremated. Buried 4 horses and I now cremate because the Raleigh area is growing so fast that the farm I live on one be developed, and i can’t bear the thought of having to leave them some day due to development. Some of us live and work just to enjoy the pleasure these guys give us. Sorry I bounced around from subject to subject, I am at work and a supervisor, but I can’t keep myself together enough to think straight after listing to you the last two nights. I just wish everyone could hear you story, so when I call out at work due to a death or injury the upper management wouldn’t thinnk I was nuts. Again god Bless you.

Vickie from North Carolina