by Carol Mithers
Counterpoint LLC
8/20/2024, hardcover
SKU: 9781640095984
In Los Angeles's most underserved communities, Lori Weise is known as the Dog Lady, the woman who's spent decades caring for people in poverty and the animals that love them. Long before anyone else, Weise grasped that animal and human suffering are inextricably connected and created a new rescue narrative: an enduring safety net empowering pet owners and providing resources to reduce the number of pets coming into shelters.
Rethinking Rescue: Dog Lady and the Story of America's Forgotten People and Pets unites the causes of animal welfare and social justice, moving between Weise's story and that of the larger U.S. rescue movement. Through captivating storytelling and investigative reporting, Carol Mithers examines the consequences of bias within this overwhelmingly white movement, where an overemphasis on placing animals in affluent homes disregards pet owners in poverty. Weise's innovative and ultimately triumphant efforts revealed a better way.
As cities across the country witness some of the worst housing crises in history, and as the population of unhoused people and pets continues to skyrocket, Rethinking Rescue offers a story of compassion and hope.
Reviews:
"What Matthew Desmond's Evicted does for housing...Mithers does for pet ownership--lays bare the many ways in which poverty and pet ownership intersect, weaving a heartbreaking tapestry of a system that largely fails both animals and people." -- Sophie Vershbow, DAME Magazine
"An engrossing, inspiring read for lovers of dogs and humans alike." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"[An] eye-opening account...Mithers's finely crafted narrative applauds Weise's work but doesn't cut corners; it unflinchingly depicts the harrowing conditions pets face in homeless encampments. The result is a provocative challenge to contemporary mores regarding animal welfare." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
About the Author:
Carol Mithers is a journalist who has written about Los Angeles, women's issues, and extraordinary women for over thirty years. Her work has appeared in The New York Times; Los Angeles Times; LA Weekly; O, the Oprah Magazine; Los Angeles Magazine; More; Town & Country; Architectural Digest; Ladies' Home Journal; Parenting; The Bark; The Nation; California magazine; Buzz; Salon; The Daily Beast; and elsewhere. She is also the author of three books, including Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, written with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee. Mighty was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and has been reprinted in fourteen languages. Mithers lives in Los Angeles, where she has raised three demanding rescue dogs.