Category Archive

Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America is the last book in a long, long time that I couldn’t put down. It starts with a short history of the movement in the US to stop animal abuse in the mid 1800’s. Then it moves through how the organizations which we entrust with animal welfare have come to a conclusion. The conclusion is that there are too many cats and dogs, far more than people could ever want as pets and so most of them must be killed. According to the author the number of cats and dogs killed annually by animal shelters in the US has reached 5 million.

Nathan J. Winograd, a lawyer, and animal shelter director in US, challenges many of the assumptions held by shelter directors and staff in the United States. He built on the achievements of others to develop
a way of sheltering that says healthy cats and dogs do not have to be killed for lack of space. In short, he does it by first unplugging from the cushy million dollar contracts to kill animals on behalf of the city and country. Then to develop high volume/low cost and free spay neuter programs, stop euthanizing feral cats, start TNR programs, expand adoption and fostering programs, capitalize on volunteers, and build a staff that believes the public are an asset not a liability.

Winograd has many critics and detractors. If you believe him, the major organizations have used propaganda to undermine his credibility and distort his results. I had many questions as I read through this. Still I found it challenging and inspiring. I’d recommend it for anyone interested in any way with animal welfare.

The above is a new book to be published in March 2008. Written by Martha Sherrill, it tells the story of Morie Sawataishi and his life long devotion to saving the Akita dog. By the time Japan surrendered in 1945, there were only 16 Akitas left in the country. They were used by the military as either food or fur to line the vests of military jackets. It became Morie’s passion to save these dogs from an almost certain extinction. Today, Morie is 94 years old an still lives with his Akitas. According to the review in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue of The Bark,

“In the old days of Japan, honoring the specific look or ‘breed’ was never part of the dog tradition. Spirit was the thing one hoped to keep alive.” Dog Man is a celebration of a man with spirit to spare, and of the dogs who marked and enriched his life.

Barnes and Noble offers a more in depth review here.

The book is available for preorders from Amazon Japan.

One of our members recommends the book The Cat Who Covered The World: The Adventures Of Henrietta And Her Foreign Correspondent. (Also available through Amazon.co.jp)

From the Amazon review:

Christopher Wren belonged to Henrietta the cat, and Christopher Wren travels far and wide in his work as a foreign news correspondent. Of course Henrietta insisted on being brought along to Moscow, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, and all the other cities the Wrens visited. And of course Henrietta got into all sorts of scrapes — cats can cause enough trouble right in their own living rooms! The Cat Who Covered the World is a tremendously entertaining memoir and travelogue, covering 17 years in the life of a busy cat and her accommodating family.