b'books, movies, music & more.A REGULAR COLUMN FEATURING DOG-THEMED BOOKS, and occasionally, MUSIC & FILM, REVIEWED BY THE NEW BARKER TEAMRethinking Rescue: Dog Lady and the Story of AmericasForgotten People and Petsby Carol MithersCounter Point Press, 2024Powerfulbondsbetweenhumansandanimalsexistacross has climbed more than 60% in the last 10 years. If a petneighborhoods, races, ages, genders and classes. Are we able to becomes sick or injured, they surrender it to the shelter, some-condemn abusers while, at the same time, understand that times in the mistaken belief that an on-site veterinarian willthosewhoseonlycrimeisbeingpoordeservehelp,not treat it. Many pet owners cant find pet-friendly rentals orblame? While researching and afford extra (often nonrefundable) deposits or pet rent writingherbook,Rethinking charges that disproportionately affect those with low-incomeRescue, authorCarolMithers and communities of color.spentalotoftimewith Peoples relationships with their pets affect what happensLoriWeise,thefounderof to them. Renters get evicted when landlords suddenly insti-Downtown Dog Rescue. Weise, tuteorenforcenopetrules.Somepetownerswhoareknown as Dog Lady, has been unhoused stay on the street if the alternative is a refuge thathelping pets and people of the wont allow a dog or cat. Children are traumatized when theircitys undeserved communities parents economic struggles separate them from a beloved pet.since the 1990s. She saw what Animals filling our shelters are less likely to have belongedothers chose to ignore: home- to humans who abused or didnt love them than to those wholesspeoplewiththeirpets, lack education, information and most of all, money. WeisemainlyinaDowntownLos took spay/neuter surgeries to the streets, bringing a mobileAngelesneighborhoodknown unit to the Skid Row neighborhood. Knowing her target mar-as Central City Easts Skid Row, and earned their trust, one ket didnt have computers, cell phones or televisions to receiveperson and pet at a time along the way. traditional advertising or news messages, Weise created andprinted out flyers, and paid some of her homeless clients to Intwenty-first-centuryAmerica,evena handthemoutonthestreet.Shepromisedanyonewhoshowedupwouldbefed,andtalkedapizzachainintoasimple story about needy dogs and cats is thirty-pie donation.part of a complex, larger one about inequality, Dr. Robert Goldman, a Boston-born and Tufts-educatedveterinarian, whod been working the spay-neuter van, wasrace, class, and gender. A great deal of animal stunned when he arrived on the appointed day of the eventsuffering is inextricably tied to the suffering and saw a line stretching around the block. Lori got themof humans. You cant talk about one without rides, she got everything taken care of, their cats had carriers,their dogs had leashes, he told Mithers.the other. The endless flow into shelters isnt Goldman was also a social justice advocate and had spentapetproblemorapeopleproblem.Itsa time in Downtown L.A. watching other rescuers treating thehomeless as less important than their animals. Squadrons ofpoverty problem.youngwhitewomen,hesaid.Theywouldapproachahomeless man with a dog, sweet-talk him and offer $20, thenLori Weise, excerpt from Rethinking Rescue walk away with his dog.Therearearound20millionAmericanpetslivingin Lori was helping those same people hold on to and dopoverty with their owners.Their peoples class affects their right by their pets. Her work began flipping the equation.fates, said Mithers. When people cant afford spay or neuter At a time when no one else was doing it, she and her smallsurgery, their pets disproportionately produce unwanted (and teamofvolunteerswerehelpingtheunhousedtreat,feed,later surrendered) litters. If a pet gets loose and is taken by ani- sterilize, and keep their pets. She stationed a counselor at amal control to a shelter, its owner is not allowed to take it high-intakeshelterwhowouldaskfamiliesconsideringhome without paying a redemption fee. Some people who surrendering their pets, What can I do to help you keep yourlove their pets cant afford the cost of veterinary care, whichpet? and then did it. 54THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com'