Pet Spotlight: J.T. Ellison

All I saw was a kitten who’d struck out on her own, a little stripedy runaway. She had gumption, I could see that. Desires, dreams. She wanted a bigger world than the one she’d been dealt. She was a renegade. She had to be mine. But she was also a five-week-old...

Steph Cha:Me & My Basset

Remember that show Room Raiders on MTV? It was this dating show where hopeful singles tried to assess the personalities and interests of potential mates by touring their rooms. Three years ago, my room would have told the story of a messy girl with a lot of books....

Pet Spotlight: Deborah Crombie

The Cat Who Lost Her Tail I think I've just come up with a great title for a children’s book—maybe there’s a new writing adventure in store for me. Now, if I could only draw… but photos will have to suffice for now. I think cats get short shrift. Not that I don’t...

Pet Spotlight David Wishart and Annie

This is Annie, named after the orphan. We found her nine years ago, in a French layby near the Swiss border, very thirsty and hungry and in a terrible condition: you could literally see her ribs and her skin was patchy with scabs. It turned out later that she had...

Pet Spotlight: John Burley

They say that animals have much to teach us if we only take the time to listen. The two dogs in my household are getting up there in years—a ten-year-old English Bulldog named Zoe, and an eight-year-old Great Dane who goes by Sterling. Zoe came first, a gift from...