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Wishbone Mysteries #17
Case of the Impounded Hounds Featuring Wishbone
When a young puppy ends up missing, Wishbone and his best friend, Joe Talbot, are more than happy to help search for the lost dog. Wishbone soon learns, however, that there is more than just one dog missing. In fact, many of the dogs in Oakdale have vanished. The situation quickly goes from bad to worse when Wishbone himself disappears! How it's up to Joe, with some help from an unlikely source, to crack this case before it's too late for all the dogs of Oakdale -- including Wishbone?
Unbound
First published August 1, 1999
71 people want to read
About the author
Michael Anthony Steele
151 books29 followersMichael Anthony Steele is an author and screenwriter living in Dallas, Texas. He’s written for a wide variety of entertainment and educational properties from Barney & Friends to the novelization of the recent film, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. He’s written over 60 licensed books for such major properties as Shrek, Penguins of Madagascar, Wordgirl, The Batman, Garfield, Spider-man, Speed Racer, Winx Club, Sly Cooper, and many more. Anthony’s television experience begins with the award-winning PBS series Wishbone and carries him all the way to writing 25 episodes of Barney & Friends and 4 DVDs of Boz: The Green Bear Next Door.
Between writing projects, Anthony is thrilled to give presentations to schools and libraries across the country. Having been fortunate enough to write for so many famous brands, his appearances require very little preparation on the part of the instructors because, most likely, the kids are fans of one or more of the properties for which he’s written.
Anthony’s current presentation features multimedia elements and tells the story of how he became a writer—following an exciting path through a career in photography and special effects. His appearances have been described as the “rock-n-roll” author visits since he comes with an animated presentation, humor, audio/visual elements, loads of energy, and a guitar—that’s right, a guitar!
His life’s journey has given him unique experience and the ability to share behind-the-scenes knowledge, tell stories, and answer questions not only about writing but also about the film and television industry. More importantly, the main theme of his program is how, with hard work and determination, the students can achieve anything they wish. Anthony was in elementary school when he was first inspired to become a writer and they too can get inspired right now! It’s just that simple and exciting!
Between writing projects, Anthony is thrilled to give presentations to schools and libraries across the country. Having been fortunate enough to write for so many famous brands, his appearances require very little preparation on the part of the instructors because, most likely, the kids are fans of one or more of the properties for which he’s written.
Anthony’s current presentation features multimedia elements and tells the story of how he became a writer—following an exciting path through a career in photography and special effects. His appearances have been described as the “rock-n-roll” author visits since he comes with an animated presentation, humor, audio/visual elements, loads of energy, and a guitar—that’s right, a guitar!
His life’s journey has given him unique experience and the ability to share behind-the-scenes knowledge, tell stories, and answer questions not only about writing but also about the film and television industry. More importantly, the main theme of his program is how, with hard work and determination, the students can achieve anything they wish. Anthony was in elementary school when he was first inspired to become a writer and they too can get inspired right now! It’s just that simple and exciting!
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 19, 2012
In 1966, Life magazine exposed a shocking underground industry based upon the theft of pets for laboratory use. Since then, countless animal adventures in popular culture have been based around this premise. Movies such as Beethoven and Homeward Bound 2 and books such as The Plague Dogs and Claude and Medea have taken on the theme of dogs wrongly procured for experimentation. Even Dick Tracy was on the case of dognappers in the 1990s—although, he had to assure Sunday comics readers that he was a-okay with vivisection, “just not on someone’s beloved pet.”
The Jack Russell who made a big splash on 1990s children’s TV, Wishbone, also gets into the act with this tie-in junior novel, The Case of the Impounded Hounds. Animal welfare advocates will no doubt appreciate that this ultra-mainstream franchise dared to even dip their toes into the red-hot debate over vivisection. They will not, however, appreciate the irresponsible dog care modeled by Joe, Wishbone’s owner, and his family:
Normally, Wishbone was allowed to leave the house freely and run around Oakdale.
Yeah, great idea. However, it’s just this flouting of the leash law that gets Wishbone, along with nearly every other dog in town, scooped up and taken to the animal shelter, where they are “reclaimed” by a shady couple working for the local testing laboratory. With some detective work, the rather slow-on-the-uptake Joe and his buddies locate the secret lab, with the local police officer and reporter in tow. The lab-coated thief is confronted red-handed:
“Look, lady,” the man replied, “I don’t know the details, okay? Like I said, I’m paid just to collect the specimens. I am not involved in the testing. The researchers who work for Archer Cosmetics do all of the testing.”
…
“I can’t believe there is a place like this in Oakdale,” Joe said.
“There won’t be for long,” Miss Gilmore said. “I am firmly against testing cosmetic products on animals.”
Call it the “cosmetics copout.” Just about everyone aside from the most extreme animal use proponents opposes cosmetics testing on animals. In popular culture, when animal testing is depicted in a negative way, it almost always involves cosmetics testing, although in reality dogs are not typically used in makeup trials. Cosmetics testing victims are normally rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice, who are relatively cheap, small, and easy to cage and breed. Unfortunately for these much-abused animals, America doesn’t have as much sympathy for rabbits as they do dogs. When you start talking about the types of research dogs are most often found in, you start heading into more controversial waters.
[H]ave you ever heard the term ‘pound seizure,’ Mr. Berling?” the policeman asked.
“No,” the man said. “I can’t say that I have.”
Officer Krulla continued. “Pound seizure is what happens when animal-testing labs—like the one you say you collect specimens for—get their animals from local animal shelters. … pound seizure is illegal in many states…including this one.”
…
Joe couldn’t believe it. Wishbone and the other dogs had almost become part of an animal-testing laboratory. Some researchers believed that animals and humans always reacted the same way to chemical substances, but it wasn’t true. Joe had read that testing animals was not a very accurate way to research a product before it was sold to humans. And if the testing was not done in an accurate way, the animals were really suffering for nothing. Even if the testing ended up giving solid results, Joe did not believe in using animals in lab tests for something like cosmetics.
Despite the cosmetics copout, here we have the definition of “pound seizure” and a mention of the scientific drawbacks of toxicity testing on animals, so I pronounce this one a winner for further discussion of humane issues—even if it’s not a standout in a literary sense. Like other quickie tie-in novels, Hounds has a half-cooked, dashed-off feel, with very awkward attempts to make the book more educational by awkwardly shoehorning in references to Sherlock Holmes stories—compeltely disrupting the flow of the story. And why do the illustrations of the book’s child protagonists make them all look like people in their 20s?
The Jack Russell who made a big splash on 1990s children’s TV, Wishbone, also gets into the act with this tie-in junior novel, The Case of the Impounded Hounds. Animal welfare advocates will no doubt appreciate that this ultra-mainstream franchise dared to even dip their toes into the red-hot debate over vivisection. They will not, however, appreciate the irresponsible dog care modeled by Joe, Wishbone’s owner, and his family:
Normally, Wishbone was allowed to leave the house freely and run around Oakdale.
Yeah, great idea. However, it’s just this flouting of the leash law that gets Wishbone, along with nearly every other dog in town, scooped up and taken to the animal shelter, where they are “reclaimed” by a shady couple working for the local testing laboratory. With some detective work, the rather slow-on-the-uptake Joe and his buddies locate the secret lab, with the local police officer and reporter in tow. The lab-coated thief is confronted red-handed:
“Look, lady,” the man replied, “I don’t know the details, okay? Like I said, I’m paid just to collect the specimens. I am not involved in the testing. The researchers who work for Archer Cosmetics do all of the testing.”
…
“I can’t believe there is a place like this in Oakdale,” Joe said.
“There won’t be for long,” Miss Gilmore said. “I am firmly against testing cosmetic products on animals.”
Call it the “cosmetics copout.” Just about everyone aside from the most extreme animal use proponents opposes cosmetics testing on animals. In popular culture, when animal testing is depicted in a negative way, it almost always involves cosmetics testing, although in reality dogs are not typically used in makeup trials. Cosmetics testing victims are normally rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice, who are relatively cheap, small, and easy to cage and breed. Unfortunately for these much-abused animals, America doesn’t have as much sympathy for rabbits as they do dogs. When you start talking about the types of research dogs are most often found in, you start heading into more controversial waters.
[H]ave you ever heard the term ‘pound seizure,’ Mr. Berling?” the policeman asked.
“No,” the man said. “I can’t say that I have.”
Officer Krulla continued. “Pound seizure is what happens when animal-testing labs—like the one you say you collect specimens for—get their animals from local animal shelters. … pound seizure is illegal in many states…including this one.”
…
Joe couldn’t believe it. Wishbone and the other dogs had almost become part of an animal-testing laboratory. Some researchers believed that animals and humans always reacted the same way to chemical substances, but it wasn’t true. Joe had read that testing animals was not a very accurate way to research a product before it was sold to humans. And if the testing was not done in an accurate way, the animals were really suffering for nothing. Even if the testing ended up giving solid results, Joe did not believe in using animals in lab tests for something like cosmetics.
Despite the cosmetics copout, here we have the definition of “pound seizure” and a mention of the scientific drawbacks of toxicity testing on animals, so I pronounce this one a winner for further discussion of humane issues—even if it’s not a standout in a literary sense. Like other quickie tie-in novels, Hounds has a half-cooked, dashed-off feel, with very awkward attempts to make the book more educational by awkwardly shoehorning in references to Sherlock Holmes stories—compeltely disrupting the flow of the story. And why do the illustrations of the book’s child protagonists make them all look like people in their 20s?
March 7, 2012
The Wishbone Mysteries are usually quick, fun, easy reads that combine elements of old-school Scooby-Doo episodes and the kiddie board game Clue Jr., although many (not including this one) lean more toward the former. I grew up with the Wishbone TV series, so each tie-in book I read reminds me of the simpler days. Anyone of any age who has enjoyed previous Wishbone novels will likely appreciate this one, as well. Personally, I found it to be a bit more engaging than the others I've read; I started it on the bus ride to work, and couldn't wait to get home so I could finish it. If you're a fan of that literature-loving Jack Russell terrier, read it and see if you agree.
March 29, 2018
This was a fun, quick and easy read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews