From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2005:

Nobody’s Pets
by Debra White
Four Footed Friends (P.O. Box 25736, Tempe, AZ 85285), 2001.
$8.95, paperback.

Nobody’s Pet is a tale about shelter dogs and cats, told by
the animals themselves, through longtime Maricopa County Animal Care
& Control volunteer Debra White. The book begins with two men
breaking into an animal shelter at night to steal the animals with
the intention of selling them to labs for use in experiments.
The stolen cats and dogs escape and find their way home after
many adventures.
The dialogue among the animals is unconvincing, partly
because there is little character development. There is also little
atmosphere because the place descriptions are superficial.
It is unfortunate that the book is disjointed and lacking in
depth, as the author’s heart is in the right place.
–Beverley Pervan

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2005:

Getting Lucky by Susan Marino with Denise Flaim
Stewart, Tabori & Chang (c/o La Martiniere Groupe, 115 West 18th St.,
New York, NY 10011), 2005. 144 pages, hardcover. $18.95.

Susan Marino founded and runs the Angel’s Gate Animal Hospice
at her home on Long Island. Her nursing career, allied to a
dedication and commitment to unselfish giving of love, has given her
the ability to care for the countless ailing and injured animals who
are carried to her door.
Her door is open to all animals, regardless of species, and
here they find a loving sanctuary until death eventually claims them.
Getting Lucky is beautifully bound in glossy paper with color
portraits of the animals the book introduces. Each gets a chapter.
The result is somewhat processional, as one animal after another is
paraded before the reader. But the stories are charming and well
written, centering around a Great Dane called Lucky. The thematic
binding thread is that all life is precious, and should be preserved
as long as the animal would want it. Terminally ill animals are not
euthanized but instead are nursed until death occurs naturally.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2005:

What The Dogs Have Taught Me
& other amazing things I’ve learned
by Merrill Markoe
Villard Books (299 Park Ave., New York, NY
10171), 2004. 245 pages, paperback. $13.95.

This is not a book about dogs. Nor do
the dogs who feature in some of the essays teach
Markoe much worth writing about.
These essays are mainly about women:
their anxieties, hopes and fears, needs and
hates. “What living in Los Angeles has taught
me” might have been a more descriptive title.
Some of the essays do revolve around
dogs, including “Showering with your dog,” “A
conversation with my dogs,” and “Zen and the art
of multiple dog walking.”
But most of the book is devoted to the
life and times of a modern American woman. It is
written by an insider who is witty, worldly,
erudite, obsessive and risqué–often to the
point of being plain crude.

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