Patch Picks: A Dog’s Life: Stories of Courage, Hope and Love

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This week, senior reference librarian, Rosemary Jerome, chooses five of her favorite nonfiction books that are on the shelves at right now.

Carol Bradley, Saving Gracie:  How One Dog Escaped the  Shadowy World of American Puppy Mills   (2010)

Award-winning journalist Bradley chronicles the rescue of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Gracie from a puppy mill in Pennsylvania and her adoption into a loving home.  Bradley provides a horrifying expose of the puppy mill industry where dogs are caged like chickens and forced to repeatedly breed until they die.  It is a cry for help and a voice for action for the suffering animals forced to live under these conditions.

Susannah Charleson, Scent of the Missing:  Love and Partnership with a Search and Rescue Dog   (2010)

Search-and-rescue dog handler for the Dallas area K9 unit volunteer Charleson shares memories of her police work.  Charleson trains with her dog Puzzle as he hones his trailing and tracking skills, rappels from heights, conducts water and fire rescues and human remains detection.  It shows the bond between Charleson and Puzzle as they work together and face the mundane issues of life at home.

Steve Duno, Last Dog on the Hill:  The Extraordinary Life of Lou  (2010)

In 1989, Duno comes across feral Rottweiler mix puppies abandoned on a ridge in California.  They are the offspring of marijuana farm guard dogs.  One puppy follows him and becomes part of Duno’s  family and an inspiration for him to become a pet behaviorist and author.  Lou saved Duno’s life twice and helped train numerous last-chance dogs.

Janet Elder, Huck:  The Remarkable True Story of How One Lost Puppy Taught a Family and a Whole Town About Hope and Happy Endings (2010)

Elder is a New York Times senior editor.  She chronicles the four-day search-and-rescue operation that the Elder family experienced while vacationing in New Jersey.  Their toy poodle ran away and after several days of agony and worrying and with the help of many Bergen County residents, Huck finally is reunited with his family.  This feel-good, inspirational story shows the kindness of strangers in a small town.

Larry Levin, Oogy:  The Dog Only a Family Could Love   (2010)

Four-month-old pit bull puppy Oogy was used as bait to train fighting dogs.  Then he was thrown in a cage to die.  He was rescued and taken to Ardmore Hospital near Philadelphia where Levin found and adopted him.  Though maimed and brutalized, Oogy is a gentle, loving dog.  Attorney Levin writes a heartwarming story about a remarkable dog.