A challenging foster dog invites an experienced foster mama to explore where the endless stream of unwanted dogs is coming from and how it will ever end. After welcoming her one hundredth foster dog (and her puppies), Cara grabs her best friend, fills a van with donations, and heads south to discover what is really happening in the rural shelters where her foster dogs originate. What she … she discovers will break her heart and compel her to share the story of heroes and villains and plenty of good dogs, in the hope of changing this world. Cara fosters her most challenging dog yet and she and her husband are pushed to the brink of what they will do to save a dog. Cara wonders why the need seems endless. She hatches a plan to head south on a Thelma & Louise-style road trip. Each stop exposes more of the realities of rural animal shelters. The hopelessness seems unsurmountable until they discover one shelter, deep in South Carolina that has found the answers and is truly a ‘no-kill’ shelter. One Hundred Dogs and Counting will introduce the reader to many good dogs, but also to inspirational people sacrificing personal lives and fortunes to save deserving animals. It will offer not just the entertaining stories of plenty of loveable good dogs, but the real problem of unwanted animals in our rural shelters, and how the reader can be part of the solution.
more
One Hundred Dogs and Counting is such an amazing book any dog lover or animal lover must read. Cara’s story is so touching and really brought me to tears reading her stories, what she advocates for and for her heart.
I have learned so much about how our animals and dogs in particular are mistreated and unfortunately, with the lack of funding and resources, our dogs continue and will continue to suffer consequences through abuse, malnutrition and neglect. Since there is severe lack of space, even a healthy puppy only months old can be euthanized.
I love how the book brings awareness about shelters and rescues, how to foster, volunteer in every type of avenue, donating for the cause and how to advocate for these dogs in every way possible. The book is such an amazing read that I enjoyed a lot. At times, I did need to break for the heavy topics but it did not deter me from learning more about it, and picked it back up again.
Today is as good as any time to do this for our dogs – a man’s best friend. I challenge you! Pick this book up and do something positive for our dogs today.
I can’t say enough great things about this book. I’ve read Achterberg’s first non-fiction book about dog fostering, Another Good Dog, as well as several of her fiction books and, simply put, she’s a phenomenal writer. Achterberg’s compelling and informative prose is infused with heart and candor, and she’s chosen to use her gifts as a writer to spread the word about an extremely important topic that is also near and dear to my own heart: dog rescue.
Acting on the premise that, with regard to dogs in need, it’s not that people don’t care, it’s that they don’t know, Achterberg aims to shed a light on the plight of dogs in our country–particularly in the rural south–that are struggling to survive in harsh, often inhumane conditions. Achterberg maintains that in a dog-loving country such as ours–where Americans spend billions of dollars each year on our pets–that this is a fixable problem. And I tend to agree. But to solve the problem, we, as a nation, must first be aware that the problem exists.
I challenge any dog-loving person to read this book–that is as heartbreaking as it is inspiring–and not be spurred to action. By the time I turned the last page, I’d already created a mental list of ways in which I can help. If every person did just one thing, big or small–whether it’s volunteering at a local shelter, donating money or supplies, spreading the word about this book and this need, or even fostering or adopting a dog–we, as a nation, would be well on our way to solving this fixable problem.
A little bit of a ramble, a lot of passion and even more heart, One Hundred Dogs and Counting takes us on a journey to shelters in the American South and examines the harsh conditions many abandoned animals in our country experience.
Our Book Club read Cara Sue Achterberg’s eye-opening story of sheltering and fostering dogs and came away with a new respect for pet Foster Families and what it takes to care for abandoned dogs in our Country.
We did not realize is how poverty and a lack of respect effects the treatment of pets. That was remarkably interesting and brought much more understanding of how shelter overcrowding happens and how these attitudes contribute to the overwhelming situation in some regions.
The positive side of shelters and fostering is what Cara Sue highlights in the book, though there is so much on the negative side, it seems more productive to find the good, find what works and focus on that.
That was a favorite part of the book; how the success stories can inspire us and create a desire to foster animals. Focusing on the villains does stir an emotion, but usually it is vitriol toward the perpetrator and not always channeled into positive action. The telling of Kristen Reid’s Tennessee Shelter story, -how she has made a difference- inspires us absolutely. Even the author herself is a study in what positivity can accomplish
One Hundred Dogs and Counting has changed the way I look at shelters, good and bad. I have gained so much respect for the families that foster dogs and how that impacts their lives. The book definitely makes me want to take in many dogs, short term, until they find a home.
Many thanks to GalleyMatch and Pegasus books for providing an ARC for this honest review.
#GalleyMatch
#onehundreddogsandcounting
#thebookclubcookbook
#bookclub
#Pegasusbooks
#whowillletthedogsout
#carasueachterberg
Achterberg presents truth that is not pretty but is necessary. She provides information to educate readers about a serious problem in a way so personal, they will feel like they have just visited her puppy room and are sitting in her kitchen having coffee. In addition, she offers a wealth of knowledge valuable to any pet parent. 100 Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues is an important read for any dog lover. It is a book you will remember, and in some way, even a small one, will call you to action.
As a dog lover, this book pulled back the curtain on the rescue world and unending supply of dogs. The author did a great job sharing her life as a foster and advocate as well as the successes and failures in the shelter system. Very inspiring to save more lives!
Cara Achterberg has written a very personal and poignant account of what life is like when rescuing homeless animals. While there are many rewards to fostering, One Hundred Dogs & Counting brings to light the ongoing challenges and struggles facing many animal shelters. Achterberg is to be commended for peeling back the onion on a topic to which society often turns a blind eye. Solving the homeless animal problem is achievable through education and the dedication of selfless people, such as Achterberg.
I read several books each month and have never before written a review about any of them. This book touched me so deeply that I just had to do whatever I could to help get this information in front of the animal loving public
ONE HUNDRED DOGS & COUNTING: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and A Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues is Cara’s second work about the world of dog rescue. Her first book, “Another Good Dog” looked primarily at the joys and heartbreaks of fostering these dogs (providing temporary homes until permanent homes can be found).
One of her fosters, Gala, was a particularly frustrating and difficult one, and led Cara to wonder why the flow of these dogs from southern shelters never seemed to lessen. This led Cara to combine her book tour for “Another Good Dog” with a road trip around the south, visiting many of the animal shelters and ‘dog pounds’ there. (She made multiple trips south researching this subject.)
What she found was both shocking and heartbreaking, but also fixable. Animals were not the problem. Money alone wouldn’t fix the problem. Management, knowledge and attitudes had to change.
This book, ONE HUNDRED DOGS & COUNTING, is Cara’s 1st effort to shine some light on the problem of the discarded and unwanted dogs (and cats) that end up in the animal shelters, mainly in the south, with far too many of them being destroyed. Education, she believes, is the beginning of the answer to this seemingly never-ending problem.
If you are an animal lover, this book (and her first) are must-reads. As Cara says, “The problem exists not because people don’t care, but rather that they just don’t know about it”. Please help spread the word.
Remember (as Bob Barker always reminded us) “Have your dogs and cats spayed or neutered”.
#100Dogs #100dogsandcounting #animalrescue #foster/adopt/volunteer
I read this book in two days. Cara Achterberg not only manages to tell the story of a special dog she fostered for almost a year, but she transitions into the very difficult story of how we, as a country deal (or don’t deal) with the animals we place in our shelters.
Please don’t misunderstand, while difficult stories to tell, are well, difficult, Cara manages to offer solutions that are doable and totally within our reach. By no means did what this book talks about leave me not wanting to finish it- to the contrary, it gave me hope and kept me turning pages quickly!
If you are an animal lover, you need to read this book. If you are a lover of good stories and well- written stories, you need to read this book. As a fellow rescue volunteer, I was surprised to find that I learned so much from Cara’s southern shelter trip, not only about fosters, shelters and dogs, but about her life and dedication to “the cause” as well.
I’m already looking forward to the follow up book!