Order your copy of Dogtown, the book. Meet some of Dogtown’s special pets and people. |
Dogtown. There’s no other place quite like it: a sanctuary within a sanctuary at Best Friends Animal Society in Angel Canyon, where dogs thrive as they rehabilitate, train and prepare for their happy new futures.
Now you can read all about this safe haven and the diverse dog characters who live there in a new 80-page, hardcover book, Dogtown: A Sanctuary for Rescued Dogs.
Dogtown is also the subject of an ongoing special series (and a new DVD)featured on National Geographic TV. And the book is the first in a series of four that features different animal care areas at the Best Friends sanctuary. A second book, Kittieville, is scheduled for release in the fall.
With more than 100 color photos, Dogtown follows the canines from when they first arrive and are medically examined and treated to their group homes at Dogtown, where they live in specially built octagons with spacious outdoor play areas and indoor sleeping quarters.
From the rescue of thousands of dogs on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, the airlifting of 300 dogs and cats from war-torn Lebanon, assisting pets in earthquake-damaged Peru, to rescuing puppy mill dogs, Best Friends has been there to help, and these stories are told too.
It spotlights the veterinarians who treat the dogs, the caregivers who watch over them each day, and the animal trainers who teach and work with them.
Featured in Dogtown are 22 confiscated dogs from former NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring. The Vicktory dogs were handed over by a judge to Best Friends, and it was the first time they were allowed to simply be dogs. The progress in their lives – from an illegal fighting ring to a comfortabe life where they can relax and have fun at Dogtown – is covered in poignant stories as compassionate, patient caregivers, veterinarians and trainers help them heal from their emotional and physical wounds.
All the dogs at Dogtown are special, but one particular featured girl is Kunzite, whose story begins when she first arrives, with her parvo-virus infected mom, as a tiny, two-day-old puppy – the lone survivor in her litter of nine. Kunzite not only survives, she thrives as she’s nurtured by staff members in a home, and then, a few months later, adopted out to a couple and their two other dogs. Hers is a story of survival that will tug at your heartstrings.
The history of Dogtown, from its early beginnings with the erection of its first building, is also illustrated in photos and told in touching stories.
“Dogtown is like any other town,” Faith Maloney, a Best Friends founder who once oversaw Dogtown, explains in the book. “It has characters of all kinds.”
To read more about these characters, order the book here.
Story by Cathy Scott
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