Rethinking Rescue

In Los Angeles's most underserved neighborhoods, Lori Weise is known as the Dog Lady. She has spent decades caring for people living in poverty and for the animals that love them. Early on, she recognized that animal suffering and human suffering are closely linked, and she built a different model of rescue: a lasting safety net that supports pet owners and offers resources to reduce the number of animals entering shelters.

Carol Mithers alternates between Weise's story and the wider history of American animal rescue. That history runs from the dog's twentieth-century shift from property to family member to the rise of the no-kill movement, which aimed to end euthanasia in shelters, and the contradictions that held those efforts back. Combining storytelling with investigative reporting, Mithers examines bias within this largely white movement, where a heavy focus on placing animals in wealthier homes often overlooks pet owners who are poor.

Weise's inventive work showed there was a better way. The book joins animal welfare with social justice and takes on poverty and homelessness through one question: who deserves the love of a pet?