I just finished Rescuing Sprite. I cried when Sprite passed away. I felt that i was reading my own thoughts. My golden retriever, Tyler , died on january 16, 2006. He was my first dog as an adult. He was my kid since i have no kids. He was in renal failure. I stayed with him as the vet put him to sleep. I wanted to yell stop. Like you i felt terrible guilt. I also felt like i killed him. I felt like i took his choices away. I still havent been able to adopt another dog. I started volunteering for golden retriever rescue as a way to honor Tyler. The thought of getting another dog terrifies me. As i was reading your book, i realized why i havent been able to get another dog. I am afraid that i will have to make the decision to put him or her to sleep. If i knew the dog would pass away at an old age then i could handle it. So thanks to you and your book, i now realize what has been holding me back. God bless you and your family for all you do for animals.

Kelly from FL

I recently moved (3 months ago) and brought my Cat of 10 yrs. and my Border Collie of 10 years with me. My cat has always been an outdoor cat, and always self sufficient. He would come home, eat, get lovin and then sleep till it was time to go back outside hunting or whatever. When I moved to my previous house 5 years ago, he spent 2 weeks getting to know the neighborhood and I saw him only once. When I moved to the townhome I am currently in I was worried about letting him out, as there is alot more traffic and all the houses look alike. Well he went out over 4 weeks ago, and I had not seen him since. My Dog Sarah, and Tipper the cat have always been best buddies, although Sarah has always been jeleous of the ammenities that was provided to tipper, that she was not allowed! Anyway, I had all but given up hope that Tipper was alive, spent nights crying over my lack of diligence to keep him in and feeling responsible for his death…I THOUGHT! Exactly 41 days since he was lost, today Sarah and I were sitting in the living room watching tv, (as I am layed-off from work right now), and Sarah was getting all excited and dancing around the patio door leading to the deck. I decided to let her out on the deck (which is upper level and has no stairs) and she went out then came back in and looked at me, then looked back out the door. She did this about 3 times and I decided she heard something I wasn’t hearing, so I went to the door. I heard a faint meow and for a second thought maybe it was a kid screaming in the distance, then I walked out on the deck and clearly heard a meow that I could not mistake for any other cat other than Tipper. I hd to go out and get him as he was so weak from lack of nutrition and being shot at with a shotgun I assume from the wounds. But he is alive, has no broken bones that I know of and is, although weak, very happy to be home and safe! Had it not been for Sarah, my loyal Border Collie, I would not have known Tipper was even out there, and gone to work at my second job without ever knowing. Thank God for little miricles!!!

Patrick from MN

Mark, I just finished reading Rescuing Sprite and all through it, I sobbed! I honestly could only read a few pages at a time and I’d have to put it down. I bought your book this past summer after I saw you on Hannity and Colmes. I, too, am an animal lover and the picture of Sprite on the cover had such a resemblance to my Lexie, whose picture I have attached. I found Lexus romping around on the show room floor at South Bay Lexus when I worked as a switch board operator about 20 years ago. He just came out of nowhere! Literally, off busy Pacific Coast Hwy onto the marble floors of the showroom. I gave him a piece of cheese out of our refrigerator and called my husband to tell him I found our other dog, Jessie, a friend. Lexie was with my husband and me, through all our trials and tribulations, moving from Torrance to Redondo to Canyon Lake, acquiring lots of other pets along the way (Lexie had a “soft spot” for kittens). I wish I could write a book about him. I related to so much of how you felt about Spite, as I, too, have felt that way about Lexie. He was so special. In his later years, he had lumps all over his body – probably cancer and he had arthritis. I used to lay down with him and tell him that he’d never have to worry…that I would be with him until he left this world…that nothing would ever hurt him. My husband, Steve and I knew the time was getting close to having to put him to sleep, as Lexus was really slowing down. Read the rest of this entry »

Mark,
Our little Buddy Ripley had to be put down on February 28th after 14 AWESOME years of fun love and loyalty. We adopted him on Christmas Day of 1993. Runt of the litter but special to no end. It was a very hard decision. I remember going through every emotion you did in your your book. The guilt of not knowing if you did everything you could can eat you up inside. We had a GREAT vet in Dr. Murphy who was Ripley’s vet for over 9 years. He had seen him through everything. Near the end Ripley had lost his hearing and most of his sight, but was very happy, but when the sores started to form we knew his days were few. We are going through our time of mourning now and will be looking for a new furry family member in a couple of months. Thank you for writing this book, it really helped me deal with this better then I could on my own. I’d also like to thank Dave for giving me this book and knowing it could help during this hard time. He is a true friend of the canine family.
Gary from VA

Hi Mark,
My story is about a very special cat named Max.I was thinking I would like a male this time around since I had recently lost my female cat thru diabetes. I found Max thru the local newspaper from the daughter of the original owner. The daughter told me her mother had passed away and she promised she would give Max to another single woman who would love him. When I first saw Max for the first time, he walked right into the cage as if to say, take me home. well I did, and I had him for a year in a half by the day! On Januuary 13, Max woke me up with a big huge cry. He coudn’t breath and he was very cold. I rushed him to the vet and was told he had a blood clot that moved to his extremities, so therefore he couldn’t walk He had had a heart attack. Max was so wonderful, he had a personality everyone loved. I have a hard time with this because Max was always there for me. I will never forget the look on his little face when he looked at the vet as if to say, can you fix me? He laid there so calm, so sweet and patient, then he was gone. I have pictures of him, but I can’t send them due to not having the right equipment on my computer. By the way, Thank you for being there for all of us every night. The first time I heard you I knew I would listen forever. Thanks for listening, and letting me share my story.

Diana from MI

Mark I haven’t as yet had the chance to purchase your book but rest assured I will own that book soon. From what I gathered you also rescued your Sprite. We rescued our Rosie. She was just a mutt, a puppy that my wife saw pouncing around in a rather over grown hay field. She was near some of her dead litter mates. Never knew what happened to the mother. My wife screamed that I had to stop and she literally jumped out of the moving vehicle and ran to grab that puppy. Rosie was just skin and bones and I thought she might not make it. But, she did and she became the joy of our lives. She looked like she had some German Shepherd in her and some other things as well. The other things were what got her and we didn’t even know it.

When Rosie turned 5 years old she began to cough a lot. One day as we were playing outside I threw her ball and she ran after it as usual. She suddenly began to stumble and stagger as if she were drunk. I had no clue as to what was wrong with her but she recovered quickly. I sort of let it pass until I saw it happening more often. I took her to my school mate who had become a Vet. Bruce took a look at her and told me he was going to do a blood test but he saw immediately that she had heart worms. He said she could live for years longer or die in a few days. My heart sank. She never complained never whimpered she just looked at me with trust and love in her eyes. He said he was going to try something with her. He was going to give her a really low dose of heart worm medicine and see if he could kill off some of the heart worms and not kill her at the same time. I asked him how I would know if she was in real distress. He said she would begin to cough and begin to pass out without running. Read the rest of this entry »