Miss Fancy, the lovely black and white cat sits beside me on my desk as I write. A year ago, while visiting my Mother, a days drive away from my home, I got a call from my husband telling me Fancy had been missing for two days. Needless to say, I was on the road back home arriving early evening. I walked the neighborhood, calling her name, but she didn’t hear me. I then printed up numerous photos of her and posted them all over our addition and surrounding home additions.

My friend who has worked with Pug Rescue for years told me to pray to St. Francis of Assisi, as he was the patron saint of lost animals. That’s exactly what I did. For three days and evenings, I searched Fancy. The last evening I was in an addition directly behind mine, sitting on their park bench resting my tired feet and as I sat, I prayed, “Please, St. Francis, I need to find my Fancy”. I walked on around the block behind the park. A car passed me, a garage door went up and the couple got out of their car and noticed me. “Hello”, the wife said. “Hi”, I answered, “would you by any chance have seen a lost little black and white cat?” “Oh my goodness, I just read an email about a lost cat. Come in the house and let me look that up”, she said. I did. Her husband asked me how I came to that area to look for my cat and I explained, adding the prayer to St. Francis.
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Scout is a 4 year old Vizsla I adopted, from the breed rescue, this February. I am retired and try to hike 4 miles each day, of course, Scout is always with me. I live alone and Scout is a good friend. Please consider adopting your next pet, it has worked out great for both of us. Thanks for this great site Mark.

Dan from PA

I don’t know how to send a picture of our beloved little Maltese; simply picture in your mind’s eye THE sweetest and cutest little white, fluffy doggie that ever lived…. he died early, at the age of 5 1/2 of multiple melanoma… even though we have had many dogs over the years (we are 64) this little precious one somehow “connected” with our hearts and minds.. he was devoted to a fault; he understood a myriad of words and commands … always amazing us with his intelligence… I can’t tell you how much we miss our little Dexie – we cannot seem to bring ourselves to “replace” him, as he can NEVER! be replaced…. there is a painful void and cloud that seems to hang over our lives…. we are now beginning, however, to remember him with much more JOY than pain and this is a wonderful change….. I cannot WAIT to read “Sprite” — I have already placed on order one through Amazon and will be in Huntington on the 10th of Nov…. I can’t WAIT for that!!! Thank you for writing this book as I KNOW it will be a very important book for us….

Sincerely, Carol from New York

In summer of 2004, 3 stray dogs were wandering around our family owned business. I left food out for them when I arrived in the morning and before I left at the end of each day.
Only one of the dogs stayed around. We assumed she was pregnant. Finally in late Sept. we could hear pups crying in a cave. The mom still came out morning and afternoon to eat. She would carry the dish away with the food in it. I couldn’t figure out why she didn’t stay and eat. I thought it was because she was too afraid to take the time. I’d talk to her as she passed through, but could never get close, she always walked away from me.
In October we saw 3 pups asleep at the opening of the cave. I placed food there but was hesitant to get too close. I didn’t know where momma was. That night we told our brother-in-law who was interested. He came to the yard the next day in hopes of seeing the pups. We went up in back & couldn’t hear anything. As I started to walk away, I noticed something to the left of the cave, up higher on a level part of the bank. I called out & 6 little heads started popping up. They were beautiful, healthy puppies. I started handing the pups down to my husband & brother-in-law. One of the pups was squirming so much she slipped back down into the cave. Just then, they shouted to me to move out of there because Momma was on the other side of the fence. She just laid there watching. I didn’t know what to expect from her so I left the one pup and got out. I then called animal control for assistance to retrieve the other pup. The officer went back to the cave and got the other pup. I placed a plate of food out and they all dove into it. I wondered how they knew how to eat like that, if they had only been nursing. The animal control officer assumed they were at least 8 weeks old. They were all clean, free of parasites and chubby. Momma did a great job!

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Mark, thank you so much for sharing your story about Sprite. I found great comfort in your words. I had to have my Australian Shepherd, Zac, put to sleep last fall. Zac was a great dog-never more happy than when I said, “Let’s go check the sheep”. He was still my “puppy” at the age of almost 9 when the vet discovered a mass in his belly and spots on his lungs. I could have taken him to a pricey dog oncologist in Cleveland but chose to bring him home to the place he was comfortable. That night, I slept in the livingroom with him and woke each time he struggled to breathe. I made the decision to have him put to sleep the next morning. Zac is buried in the back yard next to my roses. I cried nearly everyday for a while and then less and less but as I relate this to you, my eyes are once again filling with tears! I didn’t think I’d get another dog for a long time but I found myself calling Zac’s breeder just to see if they would be having any puppies in the future. I was dismayed to find that someone had poisoned Zac’s mom and she didn’t have plans for a new female . HOWEVER, her daughter had purchased an Aussie pup but had since moved to Texas. “Georgie” was living there but was unhappy and in need of a family. You guessed it! I needed him and he needed me. So, my broken heart was mended and Zac’s memory was honored by taking a chance on Georgie.

Beth from Ohio

I was so upset when you read the article about horses being tortured as they’re slaughtered in Mexico. I wrote to my senators and representative (all liberals, including Her Thighness) encouraging them to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. I also got friends and relatives here and in other states to contact their elected officials. I find it interesting, and disgusting, that we’re so worried about the caribou in Alaska, but not doing anything about what’s happening to American horses in Mexico.

The love of my life is a six year old yellow Labrador named Cygni. She is truly the center of my universe. I think one of the reasons she’s so important to me is because we got her a few weeks after 9/11. I’m one of the most patriotic people you’ll ever meet and she helped me focus on something besides what was happening to our country. I’ve already been worrying for years about the day she won’t be with me.
Mark, I love your show. I have even more respect and admiration for you now that I know you’re a fellow animal lover. And yes, especially dogs. I’m looking forward to the book, although I suspect it will be heartbreaking. By the way, what a lovely wife you have.
Marianne  from NY