The American Dog Magazine sat down with these three beautiful, intelligent, passionate women to let them tell their story about why they are dedicated to speaking for those who have no voice and committed to saving those who beg for the chance to live. Photos by Heather Green.
Q: How have your dogs enriched or changed your life?
The thought of life without dogs is depressing; they are the most perfect creatures on earth because they unlock the secret of joy for us. I can't imagine having four husbands, but having four dogs is pure fun. It's non-stop entertainment. All four of my dogs were dead dogs walking - all on death row at the pound and now they're living the good life. They've changed my life as much as I have changed theirs. One of my dogs, Jinky, gave me a career as a writer. It started with a book "written by" my dog Jinky, a comedic animal rights activist who is a critic of how preposterous humans are. It was my love of dogs that got me involved in investigating the link between pet stores and puppy mills. I sleep with dogs, dream about dogs and wake up and work for dogs I don't even know. I have a goal to make puppy mills illegal and to empty all the cages in our nation's shelters.
Q: What motivates you to help rescue dogs?
I have a lot of friends who rescue dogs, and we must all be the voice for the dogs. We know that if we don't stand up for them, they'll die. Right now, with the current economic collapse, we have a tragedy occurring. Record numbers of pets are being killed in the shelters. We must change people's way of thinking about how to acquire a pet - adoption is the only ethical choice and people must stop thinking of pets as status symbols or accessories that are disposable. Dogs are our friends.
Q: What projects are you currently involved in?
This summer, our group plans to convert more pet stores to a humane business model. We've investigated another highend pet boutique that sells dogs from a dungeon-like factory in Minnesota. They brag that they sold a dog to Governor Schwarzenegger. We will convince them to stop defrauding customers by staging a siege in front of their store, showing customers the evidence. We've been very successful in the past year and we plan to build on that success. The entire chain of Pet Depots is in the process of going humane as a result of our protest movement and we will be expanding the movement all over the nation.
Q: What are your plans for another book or future projects?
Of course, I'm helping Jinky with his new book, a sequel to The Diary of Jinky, Dog of a Hollywood Wife, about how humans are bumbling idiots with cat poop for brains, who can't seem to overcome narcissism, greed and status anxiety. I'm also working on a feel-good family entertainment film script - a Great Escape sort of action adventure about a small group of talking puppy mill survivors who break free and want to go back to save their parents.
