Rescuing Rover: Saving America’s Dogs

Dogs have been man’s best friend for thousands and thousands of years, acting as companion, hunting partner and protector in a relationship that has benefitted both parties. Nowadays, nearly 75 million dogs have homes with American families, where many sleep in your beds, accompany you to school, and eat your unwanted broccoli at the dinner table. However, millions of dogs are born in the United States each year without a place to live. Many of these animals find themselves in shelters, and many, if they are not adopted, are put to sleep. Rescuing Rover takes readers into the heart of the dog overpopulation problem. Covering puppy mills, pet stores and backyard breeders, author and photographer Raymond Bial does not shy away from the grim realities of this crisis. Where do all these dogs come from? Why aren’t there enough homes? Why should you not buy a pet from a pet store? What does it mean to be a puppy mill dog?

But then he takes readers into a local animal shelter and shares with them the ins and outs of daily life there. Who runs animal shelters? Where do the pets come from? How long do they stay? Who plays with the cats and feeds the dogs? And most importantly, how can you adopt one? With captivating images and in straightforward prose, Rescuing Rover is an introduction to what it is like to be a homeless pet in America, and a call to arms.