Product Description

Half the households in America include an animal companion. Yet, each year, community shelters take in six to eight million unwanted dogs and cats who face an uncertain fate. With compelling photos and moving vignettes, this book chronicles the true stories of 75 animals who entered a typical U.S. animal shelter during one week witnessed and documented by the authors.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46417 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Review
"Amazing, heartbreaking, tragic, loving, magical..." -- Sherman Alexie, director, poet, author of Ten Little Indians

One of the most beautiful books on animals ever produced... A magnificent work, and one that gets my highest recommendation. -- John Robbins, author of Diet for a New American and The Food Revolution

Presenting life and death in an animal shelter in unvarnished, uncompromising terms … an emotionally moving and profound piece. -- Midwest Book Review, December, 2003

Riveting, stilling, chilling and intensely motivating... shows clearly that each and every one of us can make a difference. -- Marc Bekoff, author of The Ten Trusts (with Jane Goodall)

This book has the potential to save millions of lives - if only we would open our hearts to its message. -- Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats

You will be breathless from cover to cover. -- Jim Mason, author of Animal Factories (with Peter Singer)

About the Author
Diane Leigh and Marilee Geyer are former shelter workers passionately committed to giving homeless animals a voice. Their experience in animal advocacy spans over twenty years in a wide variety of roles, from hands-on care to community education and activism. Both live in California, sharing their homes with an assortment of beloved animal companions adopted from shelters and rescue organizations.

One at a Time: A Week in an American Animal Shelter is a project of No Voice Unheard, a non-profit organization whose mission is promoting compasion and respect for all living beings and the planet we share, and encouraging a deeper awareness of the effects our actions have on animals, the environment, and our fellow humans. All proceeds from sales of this book will be used to support educational programs bringing attention to the homeless animal tragedy, creating positive change for companion animals, and honoring homeless animals everywhere.

Customer Reviews

HEARTBREAKING AND HEARTWARMING AND TOTALLY HONEST
Authors Leigh and Geyer made a brave move to follow and document the lives of animals in a shelter in northern California for one week. They have a story to tell that will at times warm your heart with joy and at other times break your heart. They are to be commended for telling a very difficult story in an honest and non-biased way. They make a point to tell stories of the dogs and cats in the kennel consistent with the actual adoption/euthanasia rates at that kennel. Some animals are adopted or recovered by their human guardians others are euthanized. It's heartbreaking to know that some dogs and cats have no chance of adoption and are euthanized simply because of their unpopular breed or age or health condition. Some happy adoptable animals succumb to kennel stress and the personality problems it causes. Some wonderful animals never have a chance from the second they enter the kennel. I found myself looking at the end of each brief story to see the outcome before I even started reading about the animals. Many do find wonderful homes but the odds are against shelter animals especially for cats. The authors are honest and fair to the shelter staff who also face unbelievable odds in their attempts to save animals. There is not enough money to care for sick animals or time or staff to socialize animals with behavioral problems. It is often a losing battle. The authors make it clear that much of the blame lies on irresponsible people who don't spay or neuter their animals. Some people just become bored with their pets or don't make the effort to work on correctable behavioral problems. Some seemingly well-cared animals are found lost and not wearing an ID tag. An ID tag and microchip could save countless lost animals. You begin to realize how hopeless the odds are even at the most well-run animal shelter. Many more animals arrive than can be adopted. You need to be strong to read this book. You'll fall in love with some of the animals and learn they did not survive the kennel but there is joy in knowing many do find new homes. The book selects several animals to feature and there is a picture or two. All are beautiful animals who deserved a chance that many never got.

Outstanding - wish everyone would read this
It is rare that I find a book that I cannot put down - and I read this book in one sitting. It teaches the reader about life in an animal shelter through the short stories written about the animals the writers came to know during a week at a shelter. It gives you pause, describing shelters from the animals' perspective, as well as from the perspective of the humans that interact with the shelter (volunteers, shelter staff, adoptive pet parents, and pet owners who resign ownership). It gives interesting and surprising statistics. It talks about foster parenting shelter dogs, and it touches on visiting pet programs (for nursing homes, etc.). It gave me ideas that I might use the improve my local shelter as a volunteer. I thought I knew everything there was to know until I read this book. It is so well written, and it opens your heart and your mind to the realities of life and death for shelter animals.

Animals need love too!!
I purchased this book as I have done many other books about shelter dogs,abandoned dogs etc. I love animals-all animals,but especially dogs.There were some wonderful stories in this book, there were also stories that totally broke my heart, seeing two large bins full with little bodies that the sanctuary found it necessary to euthanzise. ,I didn't expect to see a photo like that,but as much as it broke my heart,people need to be made aware. Animals are precious, they are like children, I have a daughter and I have three dogs, I love them all equally,my dogs are part of my family and are treated as such. People seem to think they can pick animals up and toss them out when they get fed up with them- it makes my blood boil.There was one story in particular that really got to me where a dog named Kelly had been so let down, she just gave up, she wouldn't even lift her head, the sanctuary- rightly or wrongly-decided that she could not be re-homed so they put her to sleep,there is a photo of them doing so, with a young guy holding up the her beautiful head and she is looking straight into the camera, the sadness in her eyes will haunt me forever, I just wish I had known about her, I would have given her a home and worked with her to help her to trust again.,and to show her boundless love.
There are many atrocities in this world, to me, cruelty to animals is one of them.
If anyone reading this is thinking about getting a dog, please think carefully before you do- they take a lot of your time and commitment but the love they give you in return is immeasurable.If only people were more responsible,these poor animals ,who only ever wanted love from someone, would never end up in this situation.
I hope that particular little dog is in Rainbow Bridge, and is healed now.
God Bless her, and all the other animals that have suffered and are suffering the same fate through no fault of their own.
It just isn't right.