Dog 281

Save Five #1

by Janet Vormittag

Are you familiar with USDA Class B animal dealers? Alison Cavera wasn't. When her dogs were stolen, Alison was thrown into an underground world of dog theft and suspicious activities linked to the county animal shelter. Her determination to rescue Blue and Cody gave her the courage to take risks, do things she never knew she was capable of and helped her honor the memory of her son. Along the way, Alison meets Cooper Malecki, a handyman, vegan and animal advocate. As Alison opens herself up to new ways of helping animals, she also finds herself opening her heart.

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2012

About the author

Janet Vormittag is an author, editor and animal advocate. She is the publisher of Cats and Dogs, a Magazine Devoted to Companion Animals, a free publication distributed in West Michigan that promotes pet adoption and spay/neuter. Janet has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Grand Valley State University and was a correspondent for The Grand Rapids Press for ten years. She has had articles published in Cat Fancy, The Muskegon Chronicle and the North Ottawa Weekly. Her story of the taming of a feral cat, Wild Cat I Think You Love Me, was published in The Ultimate Cat Lover (HCI, 2008). She is a member of Toastmasters International’s club GVSU 4380 and is the Division L winner in the 2011 Tall Tales Contest.

Reviews

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books where I sometimes struggled not to rush to the end of the book to find out how it ends. Not because it was boring or slow-going. Far from it. It's because the tension reached a point where I almost couldn't stand it.

In other words, a good mystery !

I'm all too familiar with the subject of pound seizure and the Class B Random Source Research Brokers, which only fuels the tension because the plot is all too plausible and realistic. It's almost as if the author condensed and blended several real life situations to lay the foundation for her story-line.

There are nine such 'random source' Class B research brokers left in the U.S.A. Seven of them are currently under investigation by the U.S.D.A. for a host of violations, including numerous counts of illegal procurement. Michigan, where this story is set, is home to three of these research brokers, including one who is now under a full investigation after years of citations and fines.

In at least two or three cases, animal control officers lost their jobs after being caught sneaking dogs out the "back door" to these creeps, sometimes knowing full well that an owner was searching for the dog in question.

And while the author clearly states that Dog 281 is a work of fiction, unrelated to real individuals or events, if you've lived in an area where local news stories capture the latest violations of one of these Random Source brokers or you've seen something like the HBO Documentary, Dealing Dogs, based on an undercover investigation that led to the largest broker bust in USDA history, then you're apt to start Dog 281 with a pre-existing reservoir of tension.

But I don't think you have to know all of this to be firmly hooked by this book. The author's research into her background subject matter and her excellent descriptive work pretty much lays it all out for the uninitiated reader as she goes about telling a plausible story that is compelling for it's surprising developments, rich characterization and ever- building suspense made all the more so because it is not sensationalized.

Start to finish, Dog 281 is a good read. The edge of the chair can sometimes be an uncomfortable place to sit for long. The result was a book that I found hard to put aside. Fortunately, it's just the right size. And the ending does not disappoint.

[Tricia McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dog 281 is one of those books that is hard to put down once you get started. It has intrigue, romance and suspense. All of the characters were believable and I spent many evenings staying up too late just to read a few more pages. I can't wait until the next book in this series.

[Diana Duell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I completely enjoyed this story and loved reading about how far one woman is willing to go to find her lost dog. I am not an animal owner, but I could still empathize and relate to the story. I even learned some interesting things about what could happen to animals in shelters. There were some very heartbreaking things to read in here, but it was an eye-opener for sure. There is a love story that brings joy while reading about some of the heartbreaking things happening to the animals.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book snuggled up with my 3 beagles, themselves rescued from research labs. This still goes on and while taking shelter dogs for research is especially awful, they all deserve rescue. My 3 had been bred specifically for research. They were some of the lucky ones, the got out alive.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alison Cavera lost her son, divorced her husband and now has had her two dogs, Cody and Blue, dognapped from her grandmother's fenced-in yard. Follow her into the underground world of pet sales for research as she finds love in her quest to save her dog from medical torture.

The premise for the story was interesting and moved the plot along. Unfortunately the book has grammatical errors and misspellings, which is distracting and distracts from an otherwise compelling tale.