The PETA Practical Guide to Animal Rights: Simple Acts of Kindness to Help Animals in Trouble Book

When I received an email offering to send me this book to review, I knew immediately that I had to have it. I received it in the mail yesterday (along with a copy to give away to one lucky commenter, YAY!) and I stayed up until 5 this morning reading it. And it's almost 10 now, so I haven't had much sleep. Honestly, there were times that I cried reading this book and there were many times that I had to put it down and take a breather. This is an extremely intense book and at times was hard to stomach. I love animals and I love our environment and I'm not perfect but I want to do everything in my power to make a difference in this world. Even if it's only for one human or one rabbit.

I have 3 dogs who I love so very much. They have completely different personalities just like humans. Some people say that animals don't have souls but I don't believe that. My dogs are treated like part of the family and I wouldn't have it any other way. Here are some facts about my doggies so that you can get to know them.

Precious - A friend of mine had a dog who had puppies and I ended up getting one of them. Precious is part Shepherd, Lab, Chow, and Husky. She chose her own name. The day that I got her (she was 8 weeks old) and she crawled underneathe my bed and I was trying to get her to come out. I don't know why but I just kept saying doggie names and then saying come on. When I said Precious, she came out. So that's how she got her name. When she was little and we were trying to potty train her, we put a gate a the top of the second half of the steps (bi-level) and she just roamed around downstairs. My dad is diabetic and his sugar was too high and he ended up falling down the first half of the steps. Precious took a running leap over the gate to get to my dad. She was not very big at this time and I have no idea how she was able to do it. From that point on, we kept the gate up knowing that she could just come right over it, but she was really good and stayed downstairs until we had her fully potty trained and then she was able to roam the house. Precious is a diva, in every way. She loves baths, she loves to have her hair brushed. In the winter time we use a hair dryer on her. She is extremely smart and she has no idea that she's a dog. I love her so much.

Bubba - I got Bubba from the SPCA and he's a Chow mix. He's quiet and lazy. He thinks that you should be petting him at all times. I have only seen him growl and turn mean looking twice and both times it was because some shady characters were coming around me. He is extremely protective, especially of children. Whenever I would take him out to go to the bathroom, he would head to wherever he heard kids playing. One time my cousins came over and I was holding the 2 year old and I threw up in the air playing and Bubba started barking at me, he did not like this so I had to stop. He is especially protective of my nephew, Damien. Damien practically tackles Bubba and Bubba loves the attention.

Reese - I got Reese from the SPCA and we almost lost her after 2 hours. We took her home and were letting her get used to her new home. Our plan was to take her to the vet the next morning to have her checked out and to get the vaccines that the SPCA doesn't give them. After 2 hours in the apartment, Reese started pooping pure blood. It was so sad and it literally broke my heart. I called around to all the vets and they kept saying that she needed to be seen right away but that their office was closing. So I kept trying. I was determined to do everything in my power to save this little puppy. Finally I talked with someone at Banfield who said for us to bring her in right away. We did and they did the parvo test and Reese had parvo. I was terrified that she was going to die. We'd only known this little puppy for two hours but I was already in love with her. She had to stay at Banfield overnight, which broke my heart but I trusted these people. They were so kind and I could tell that they were going to do everything they could to save my baby. The next day we went to visit her (we visited 4 or 5 times a day) and she was already acting so much better. The people at Banfield took turns going in and playing with her. She had to be kept in isolation until the parvo was completely gone. After we were able to bring Reese home, I called the SPCA and I told them what had happened. She had supposedly been vaccinated for Parvo but the paper that they gave us with her shot records had the day after we got her as the date she received her shots. When I called them, they said I could bring her back and exchange her. Like she's a freaking sweater. I told them no that they needed to do something about this and they need to check the other dogs for Parvo. After fighting with them for a while, they reimbursed us for half of the vet bills. I wanted to let them know that this was unacceptable. It had nothing to do with the money and everything to do with trying to save another puppy from dying of a disease that is preventable. She's still known as the Parvo Puppy whenever we take her to the vet. They all still remember my little angel who survived.

This book is filled with little ways to make a big difference. Animals can't make themselves be heard and they need us to be their voice. I think everyone should read this book to fully understand what goes on behind closed doors. It's not an easy book to read but standing up for something is never easy. I hope that you will take the time to help someone in need.