Hi Mark: I love your radio
show and your appearances
with Hannity. I used to work
with dog rescue but had to
give it up because I got too attached to all the dogs I
fostered. I just lost my 17 yr
old Austrailian Shepherd, Robin because of a stroke; but she did live well beyond her life expectancy. I still have (3)
dogs – Two austrailian
shepherds, one of which
has a disease called
“lymphansagia” where the
body doesn’t absorb nutrients so he has to have
special food along with shots and RX daily. He was diagnosed at 2 yrs old
and is now 8 yrs due to the
wonderful vet we have. Also have a little femail
border collie rescued from
a hole in the ground she lived in for 6 months. I love these animals. I am
now 70 years of age and just hope and pray that I
outlive them so that can’t
be abused by anyone.
Keep up the good work.
Bonnie from NV

I loved your book. It made me cry for hours, but I needed that. I lost my son of 8years, a border collie lab mix. I rescued hifrom Mesquite Nv and we we inseperable. He died of a tumor that burst. He felt no pain but I’m the one with pain. I am now all alone.

Casey from UT

Mine is a story of heartbreak. My daughter got herself a miniture astrailian shepard pup. She had to keep Remington outside because the landloards decided they did not want him indoors. So to be fair to Remmy, She drove up to Dillan Montana from Idaho Falls where we meet her and took Remington home, where he took over my heart from the start. He had crystal blue eyes and the biggest heart. Well after making his way into our life with a exuberant amount of energy, Our blue heeler Rowdy was found dead in our yard, two days later our neighbors shot Remington, he survived after a 400 vet bill. It was a short few months later that the neighbors sister was four wheeing up our road and managed to run over and kill Remington. I am so broken over this act that I still cry when I think of him. Our house is so empty. I don’t think I can ever give my heart to another animal. Does anybody feel this way. I feel like a loved member of our family was murdered. Please let me know your stories and maybe I can heal.

Lynn from ID

Buddy is a purebred Shih tzu that we’ve had since he was just a pup…born May 3, 2000….our 3 girls have loved him like a “brother”. ..that they never had. This past February we discovered his first mouth tumor….we tried two surgeries and numerous natural therapies…the tumors have so over taken his mouth that the gnats hover around him when we go outside and his bowels have quit working so “tomorrow” he will rest in peace out of mercy. I have written a Eulogy Poem that I will share with the girls “tomorrow” at the graveside….This photo was taken by our 15 year daughter a few months ago before things got really serious….My dad submitted the Eulogy Poem earlier this evening…his heart was touched when I e-mailed it to him this evening….

Lorinda Frankenberry from KY

On February 12th, 1968 at the age of 13 I finally got the dog that I had been bugging my parents about my whole life. We had moved into a house in ’65 so for 3 years I had put a full court press on them to get one.

I soon realized though that Snoopy wasn’t just my dog but in the eyes of my Mom and Dad (I was an only child) he was their other son, but I never realized just how much my folks, especially my Dad loved Snoopy until the end.

In November 1980 we had to put Snoopy down and did so at the local ASPCA, but was not present at the final moment.

Driving away I saw a tear in Dad’s eye and I was stunned. You see, my Dad was born in 1904 in Turkey and was his family’s sole survivor of the Genocide of Armenians by the Turks in 1915. All he ever told me of those years was his grandfather was pulled from the house never to be seen again and that he and his Mom were in a forced march across the desert. One night he went to sleep next to her and in the morning she was dead.

Dad didn’t get to America until November 7th, 1924 at the age of 19 and he never told me what he had to do to survive as a 10 year old orphan in Europe during World War I and I can only imagine how horrible his life was during those 9 years.

One thing I do know was his horrible childhood was the reason he would be furious with me whenever I cried as a kid, no matter the reason. He would become so enraged at my tears that he would spank me for crying, making me cry more, but to him crying had some terrible connection to his own childhood, a weakness that had to be controlled by “The Man of Steel”.

And so that Christmas, my girlfriend Cathy decided to give my parents a simple gift, a framed picture of Snoopy and me.

To this day I can still see my father opening the present, seeing that picture of Snoopy and breaking down, crying hysterically and uncontrollably.

My Father, The Man of Steel, had a heart after all and all it took to melt it was the love and loss of a little mutt named Snoopy adopted at Bide-a-Wee animal shelter.

Mark from NY