Cody was rejected from seven different homes. Ace had been sprayed with mace and left for dead on a train track. They were deemed unadoptable. Untrainable. Unsalvageable. These would become the same dogs America relied on when its worst disasters hit.In 1995, Wilma Melville volunteered as a canine search-and-rescue (SAR) handler with her Black Labrador Murphy in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. At the time, there were only fifteen FEMA certified SAR dogs in the United States. Believing in the value of these remarkable animals to help save lives, Wilma knew many more were needed in the event of future major disasters. She made a vow to help 168 dogs receive search-and-rescue training in her lifetime—one for every Oklahoma City victim.Wilma singlehandedly established the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) to meet this challenge. The first canine candidates—Ana, Dusty, and Harley—were a trio of golden retrievers with behavioral problems so severe the dogs were considered irredeemable and unadoptable. But with patience, discipline, and love applied during training, they proved to have the ability, agility, and stamina to graduate as SARs. Paired with a trio of firefighters, they were among the first responders searching the ruins of the World Trade Center following 9/11—setting the standard for the more than 168 of the SDF’s search-and-rescue dogs that followed. Beautiful and heart-wrenching, Hero Dogs is the story of one woman’s dream brought to fruition by dedicated volunteers and firefighters—and the bonds they forged with the incredible rescued-turned-rescuer dogs to create one of America’s most vital resources in disaster response.

    Throughout her life she has always tended sheep - first as a young girl in The Cheviots, then on an uninhabited island off New Zealand with a bonfire as her only means of communication with the mainland. After a brutal attack she was forced to leave her island and returned to England, where she married, became a smallholder in Sussex and finally bought a hill farm in Somerset. Underpinning this account is the author's attachment to the land and her total commitment to combine the principles of conservation with successful farming.

    B&W photos throughout. Full-color insert.

    Her deep empathy and understanding, her years of observing Kenya’s rich variety of wildlife, and her pioneering work in perfecting the right husbandry and milk formula have saved countless elephants, rhinos, and other baby animals from certain death. In this heartwarming and poignant memoir, Daphne shares her amazing relationships with a host of orphans, including her first love, Bushy, a liquid-eyed antelope; Rickey-Tickey-Tavey, the little dwarf mongoose; Gregory Peck, the busy buffalo weaver bird; Huppety, the mischievous zebra; and the majestic elephant Eleanor, with whom Daphne has shared more than forty years of great friendship.  But this is also a magical and heartbreaking human love story between Daphne and David Sheldrick, the famous Tsavo Park warden. It was their deep and passionate love, David’s extraordinary insight into all aspects of nature, and the tragedy of his early death that inspired Daphne’s vast array of achievements, most notably the founding of the world-renowned David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Orphans’ Nursery in Nairobi National Park, where Daphne continues to live and work to this day.  Encompassing not only David and Daphne’s tireless campaign for an end to poaching and for conserving Kenya’s wildlife, but also their ability to engage with the human side of animals and their rearing of the orphans expressly so they can return to the wild, Love, Life, and Elephants is alive with compassion and humor, providing a rare insight into the life of one of the world’s most remarkable women.

    Here, she shares dozens of absorbing, true stories of animals who've risked their lives to keep the human they love out of danger. You'll read of incredibly heroic acts—from the dog who swallows a firecracker to protect a toddler, to the horse who runs through traffic to save an injured woman. You'll come away from this profoundly moving book with a deeper appreciation for the indispensable role animals play in our daily lives."Remember some of the feelings you had as a child for the animals to whom you were closest . . . That is what this book is all about."—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, from the foreword"An inspiring collection of animal loyalty, love, and bravery. No one can deny the emotional impact of this anecdotal book." —Publishers Weekly "An extraordinary combination of incredible research and deep feeling."—Cleveland Amory, author of Ranch of Dreams and The Cat Who Came for Christmas"Through dozens of inspiring true stories, Kristin von Kreisler makes a strong case for a 'controversial premise'—that animals demonstrate genuine acts of compassion toward others every day. This book will remove the 'controversial' from the premise!"— Paul G. Irwin, president of The Humane Society of the United States"Ms. von Kreisler is fearless, intriguing, and herself compassionate. Highly recommended."— Roger A. Caras, president of the ASPCA

    Ron Hubbard—begins in Brooklyn's working-class Bensonhurst neighborhood, where she was introduced to the religion by her mom. More than three decades later, Leah summoned the courage to leave the church—something few celebrities at her level of fame have ever done before and almost none have ever talked about. This People Spotlight Story explores Leah Remini and her escape from Scientology.

    We need to know how he sees us. Come on, girl, he says. Let my light shine in. Breathing Eden is forty raw, honest, heartbreaking and encouraging conversations between women and God. These prayers are like our own: full of pain, celebration, anxiety, and joy. Each one helps the reader hear God whisper love and hope into their lives. And after each story, Jennifer offers readers a guided invitation to listen for what God is saying to them. In these pages, readers will find hope and fresh perspectives. It's an invitation to come. Breathe Eden.

    In old Doc's books, they recognize a man who knew horses and cattle to the bone and could tell about them with honest prose and a sly cowboy sense of humor. I've read them all, as have most of the cowboys I know."-John R. Erickson, rancher and author of the Hank the Cowdog series. Ben K. Green takes us back to the deep Southwest and the never-a-dull-moment years he spent as a practicing horse doctor along the Pecos and the Rio Grande. With precious little formal schooling but a perfect corral-side manner and plenty of natural wit, Green became the first to hang up a shingle in the trans-Pecos territory. Hear him tell the tales of his struggles with mean stockmen, yellowweed fever, banditos, poison hay, and "drouth." His canny mix of science and horse sense when treating animals "that ain't house pets" is 100-proof old time pleasure. A veterinarian in the far Southwest for much of his life, Ben K. Green retired to ranch in Texas until his death in 1974.

    In it she tells the story of a miraculous ocean encounter that happened to her when she was seventeen and in training for a big swim (she had already swum the English Channel, twice, and the Catalina Channel).It was the dark of early morning; Lynne was in 55-degree water as smooth as black ice, two hundred yards offshore, outside the wave break. She was swimming her last half-mile back to the pier before heading home for breakfast when she became aware that something was swimming with her. The ocean was charged with energy as if a squall was moving in; thousands of baby anchovy darted through the water like lit sparklers, trying to evade something larger. Whatever it was, it felt large enough to be a white shark coursing beneath her body.It wasn't a shark. It became clear that it was a baby gray whale—following alongside Lynne for a mile or so. Lynne had been swimming for more than an hour; she needed to get out of the water to rest, but she realized that if she did, the young calf would follow her onto shore and die from collapsed lungs.The baby whale—eighteen feet long!—was migrating on a three-month trek to its feeding grounds in the Bering Sea, an eight-thousand-mile journey. It would have to be carried on its mother's back for much of that distance, and was dependent on its mother's milk for food—baby whales drink up to fifty gallons of milk a day. If Lynne didn't find the mother whale, the baby would suffer from dehydration and starve to death.Something so enormous—the mother whale was fifty feet long—suddenly seemed very small in the vast Pacific Ocean. How could Lynne possibly find her?This is the story—part mystery, part magical tale—of what happened . . .

    But then her son came to her with a real one…Josiah was nineteen with the world at his feet when things changed. Without warning, the new university student’s mental health deteriorated to the point that he planned his own death. His mother, bestselling author Amanda Prowse, found herself grappling for ways to help him, with no clear sense of where that could be found. This is the book they wish had been there for them during those dark times.Josiah’s situation is not unusual: the statistics on student mental health are terrifying. And he was not the only one suffering; his family was also hijacked by his illness, watching him struggle and fearing the day he might succeed in taking his life.In this book, Josiah and Amanda hope to give a voice to those who suffer, and to show them that help can be found. It is Josiah’s raw, at times bleak, sometimes humorous, but always honest account of what it is like to live with depression. It is Amanda’s heart-rending account of her pain at watching him suffer, speaking from the heart about a mother’s love for her child.For anyone with depression and anyone who loves someone with depression, Amanda and Josiah have a clear message—you are not alone, and there is hope.

    A veteran magazine journalist captures the idiosyncratic world of professional dog showing, from the local competitions held in florescent-lit school gymnasiums to the granddaddy of them all, The Westminster Dog Show, as he follows a lovable novice dog through his inaugural year in competition.

    In Don't Look Behind You, Allison recounts adventures few would live to tell.

    This brand new handbook for guinea pig owners provides a wealth of information on the animal's anatomy and life cycle, plus advice on caging, feeding, breeding, and health care.

     Animal lovers and sports fans were shocked when the story broke about NFL player Michael Vick's brutal dog fighting operation. But what became of the dozens of dogs who survived? As acclaimed writer Jim Gorant discovered, their story is the truly newsworthy aspect of this case. Expanding on Gorant's Sports Illustrated cover story, The Lost Dogs traces the effort to bring Vick to justice and turns the spotlight on these infamous pit bulls, which were saved from euthanasia by an outpouring of public appeals coupled with a court order that Vick pay nearly a million dollars in "restitution" to the dogs. As an ASPCA-led team evaluated each one, they found a few hardened fighters, but many more lovable, friendly creatures desperate for compassion. In The Lost Dogs, we meet these amazing animals, a number of which are now living in loving homes, while some even work in therapy programs: Johnny Justice participates in Paws for Tales, which lets kids get comfortable with reading aloud by reading to dogs; Leo spends three hours a week with cancer patients and troubled teens. At the heart of the stories are the rescue workers who transformed the pups from victims of animal cruelty into healing caregivers themselves, unleashing priceless hope.Includes an 8-page photo insert.Watch a video

    Brad was a journalist, and Vena, a dance director. One day they packed up all their belongings and set off for a remote spot in the woods of British Columbia. This is the story of their first year "living the life of Thoreau today"--simply, happily and successfully.