Pets

Universal Press Syndicate

One area of change is in the conflict over the policies, procedures and philosophy of traditional animal shelters that use killing to address the surplus of pets in a given area. As if to prove the point of "no-kill" advocates that nearly every animal can find a home somewhere, the other revolution is in the growth of loosely affiliated networks of volunteer animal lovers working to move pets hundreds and even thousands of miles to find them good homes.

Bonnie Silva's "Fifteen Legs" (Riverbank Press, $23) is the story of the people who make up the chain of drivers, truckers, pilots and overnight foster homes providing a chance for animals who would otherwise be killed. Those people, writes Silva, "have made conscious decisions to move beyond the bleak details in favor of doing something, no matter how small, to alleviate animal homelessness wherever they may find it."

Dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs -- even a turkey -- have made the rides documented by Silva. Are the local shelters full of small dogs no one wants? Move them to a region where toy breeds fill the adoption waiting lists. No qualified pit bull rescue in the state? There may be responsible adoption groups a thousand miles away. Local animal control getting pounded by a recent raid on a cat hoarder? Animal transport volunteers can find help for those cats, too.

Despite -- and sometimes in defiance of -- the conventional wisdom that shelters are overflowing because people don't care enough about animals, these dedicated transporters prove just how much people do care and exactly how far (literally) they're willing to go to help.