The book is out!
Saving Gracie: How one dog escaped the shadowy world of American puppy mills arrived in bookstores March 1. It’s the compelling true story of one dog’s rescue from a Pennsylvania puppy mill. The book chronicles how one little dog is transformed from a bedraggled animal, worn out from bearing puppies, into a loving, healthy member of her new family, and profiles the people who stepped forward to save her along the way.
Publisher’s Weekly calls it “powerful.” Library Journal praises it as “an excellent exposé of a shady industry.” People magazine calls it a “scorching investigation” and gives it four stars. Check out People’s full review and other reviews here.
BUY THE BOOK!
Saving Gracie is available in bookstores or online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, Borders or Books a Million.
Also, check out my blog in the yellow column on the right, and watch my video.
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Publisher: Wiley & Sons
Advance praise for Saving Gracie
“Bradley’s compelling account propels readers on a roller-coaster ride of emotion as they follow Gracie’s journey from a squalid puppy mill to a loving home. But this is also an excellent exposé of a shady industry—it describes legislative attempts to control the large-scale breeding of dogs and evaluates the effectiveness of those efforts.” (Library Journal, February 1, 2010)
Journalist Bradley exposes the hidden world of puppy mills, where dogs are caged like chickens and forced to repeatedly breed until they die. Unlike most factory farm animals that endure painful confinement and are slaughtered within six months of birth, mill breeding dogs are sentenced to many years of existence in deplorable conditions; many don’t learn to walk because their cages don’t give them enough room to stand. Bradley details the raid of one such mill, Mike-Mar Kennel in Oxford, Pa., which led to the seizure of more than 300 dogs, mostly adults that had languished for years with broken limbs and untreated diseases. Dog 132, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel later named Gracie, was rescued during the raid. Nearly blind, with decayed teeth and a strong aversion to human contact, Gracie flourished under the love and patience of her adoptive owner, Linda Jackson. Bradley’s powerful narrative will tug at heartstrings, raise public awareness, and, hopefully, help put an end to puppy mills. (Publishers Weekly, January 4th, 2010)
“Saving Gracie is heart-rending but also wonderfully stirring and empowering. The operators of puppy mills are arrogant, greedy, and cruel, but the people committed to putting them out of business make you want to cheer–and they restore your faith in humanity. Carol Bradley does a great service to dogs by telling this story.” —Dean Koontz, New York Times best-selling author
“Carol Bradley seizes a national moment in Saving Gracie. With deft investigative skill and a loving heart, she tells the story of Gracie, and her sojourn from a puppy mill. If we are judged as human beings by the way we treat our animals, this is an eye-opening account, direct and informative, one you will not be able to put down.” —Adriana Trigiani, New York Times best-selling author of Very Valentine and Big Stone Gap
“Saving Gracie is one of those rare books that will at once disturb, inspire, and move you to action. Read this outstanding book about the enduring strength of the human-animal bond and share it widely. It is that important.” —Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Wild Justice, and The Animal Manifesto
“In this book about the best and the worst of human behavior, we see that the best in both humans and canines prevails. Bradley’s cast of angels will fill your heart with joy and gratitude that such souls exist. This book is essential reading for anyone who loves dogs and thinks justice matters.” —Susan Richards, author of the New York Times best-seller Chosen by A Horse
“Saving Gracie is a story told with verve, with compassion, with style, and with marvelous intelligence. Any dog lover will be happy to add this to the growing list of wonderful books about dogs.” —Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of Dogs Never Lie about Love and The Face on Your Plate
About Carol
Carol Bradley is an award-winning former newspaper reporter who studied Animal Law as a 2004 Nieman Fellow at Harvard. She spent 26 years covering the U.S. Congress and state legislatures in Tennessee and New York, and writing features and investigative stories in Montana. She has written about many aspects of animal welfare, including horse slaughtering, rodeos, animal hoarding, and animal cruelty. She grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee and lived in Nashville, Knoxville, New York and Washington D.C. before moving to Great Falls, Montana, where she now lives with her husband, Steve L’Heureux, and their two dogs, Chachi and Jillie. Saving Gracie is her first book.
Dear Carol,
I love your website and believe we have similar interests at heart. My company, Happy Tails Books, compiles breed-specific compilations about adopted dogs that raise awareness of, and funding for dog rescue efforts. Each month in our newsletter we also feature a like-minded writer or artist, and I’d be happy to feature your book. Is there any way you can help us to get the word out about our project? More information can be found at http://happytailsbooks.com.
Please email me when you get a chance.
Kind regards,
Kyla
From Dad: I am enjoying your book; I’m on Chapter 20 now and enjoying every word of it. I can’t wait to show it off!
From Mom: We always knew you could do it. We’re very proud of you!
Thanks, guys! Your support has meant a lot.
Dear Carol:
As one of the Humane Officers mentioned in your book, I can’t thank you enough for bringing the atrocities of puppy mills into the public eye. Most people in the general public do not uderstand how difficult our jobs are, what we see and have to deal with, our sorrow and frustration, and how we are haunted by those we cannot save. But we rejoice in those we can save and we are better people when the ones we save have happy endings. People often tell me they couldn’t do my job; sometimes I wonder how I do it but something keeps pushing me on. It’s because I know we are their voice and-without us-they have no voice. We will keep being their voice and-thanks to your book-you are their voice too.
Thank you for everything you have done for the ones who have no voice.
Mike
Great to hear from you, Mike! You’re right — most people have no idea how tough a job you face. I honestly don’t know how you do it.
Carol
Next to my children and Eric, Gracie is my greatest joy! She is a once in a lifetime pet. In spite of all her physcial challenges, she is the most loving, affectionate, grateful pet anyone could hope to have.
I am, and always will be, deeply indebted to everyone invoved with saving her life; especially the loving and dedicated staff at the Animal Rescue League.
I am so happy Carol found us and chose to tell our stroy. Hopefully, others will be touched and inspired by our fateful sojourn through the trials and great rewards of pet adoption and ultimately educated about the horrors of puppymills.
Carol, I wish you great success with this book. All of us here in central PA are anxiously awaiting the release!
Thanks, Linda. I’m glad we found each other too!
I just started your book last night and wanted to thank you very much for writing about this. I just hope more and more people will become aware of the horrors of puppy mills.
As a volunteer at an animal shelter in Jersey City, NJ I see quite a few sad stories.There are many great dogs sitting in shelters waiting for homes that may never come, while uninformed people shell out big money for puppies.
Hopefully your book will reach many people and educate them to the cruelty behind the cute little puppies in pet stores and for sale on internet sites.
Thank you again!
Ms. Bradley: I saw the review on your book “Saving Gracie” in People magazine and I am very excited to pick up the book today.
I just lost my Gracie, a wonderful Westie, less than two weeks ago. She came from a puppy mill in Georgia. We got her in December 2004, and she had given birth to at least six litters of puppies in her life. She had just been diagosed with Westie Lung Disease, had several rotten teeth removed, been fixed, and had polyps surgically removed when we got her. They told us she would probably only live about 18 months after we got her because of the lung disease. Her spirit was broken and she was terrified.
She became my very best friend. She was the most wonderful dog I ever met. And I thank God every day that we have five wonderful years with that beautiful creature. She remains alive in my heart, always.
Thank you for writing this book and making people aware of what happens to dogs in puppy mills. Thankfully, the puppy mill my Gracie came from in Georgia has since been closed.
Kim Mayers
I cannot wait to read your book. We have a tricolor Cavalier from the Michael Wolfe confiscation. We named her Darbey, which is an Irish name meaning “free”. We could not love her more.
We are unsure of her age. The vets guessed her to be 7 or 8 when we adopted her. She has several health issues but with regular visits to her cardiologist, ophthalmologist and her regular vet, she is doing great!
She loves life! She has 2 Cavalier brothers and one Cavalier sister (another rescue). She can often be found cuddling right next to or on top of one of them!
Although we would like to think my husband and I are her favorite things, we think food, treats, her canine siblings and going on walks are tops on her list! She only has a few teeth left, thanks to Michael and his version of debarking her, but she manages just fine. Walks have to be short due to her heart issues, but that’s ok, when she tires we have her own “chariot”. She can be found snoozing on Nantucket for a few weeks every summer. We are so grateful this cutie pie chose us to adopt her!!!
I saw your book reviewed in People magazine. I have a a good friend that recently started rehabilitating some dogs rescued from puppy mills, including a Porkie (Pomeranian Yorkie designer cross breed) named Chester from Chester County, PA. Her birthday is next week so I bought your book to give her as a gift. I opened the book to check it out and read it from cover to cover non-stop. My heart went out to each and every dog in the book, for all the people working so hard to rescue the dogs and for the thousands of dogs that still live in deplorable conditions. You made it a very personal story but at the same time presented a lot of facts and documentation.
While recently passing through Adams County, OH I stopped at an Amish store know for it’s wonderful baked goods. While I was there I overheard a lady talking to an Amish man about puppies. I couldn’t hear her end of the conversation but she must have asked about their kennels because his response was, “Their kennels are nicer than a lot of people’s home”. If I had already read your book I might have asked to prove it to me. I feel confident this request would have been denied.
I can’t wait to give the book to my friend. It will be a gift she will cherish forever.
My thanks to you and all the wonderful people that are fighting so hard to eliminate puppy mills.
Beth Reisman
Cincinnati, OH
Thanks for writing, Beth. A Porkie, huh? That’s a new one. I appreciate your concern for puppy mill dogs.
Carol,
I am on my way to the bookstore to buy Saving Gracie. I look forward to it with both anticipation and dread, as I know what I will read will sadden and outrage me. I volunteer for North Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue (I adopted 2 of my own) and know what our front line volunteers face every day. Thank you for getting the word out about puppy mills, and I would add cruel, neglective owners to that list of evil people.
Jean
PS Which of your dogs is a Pyr…Chachi or Jillie?
Hi Jean,
Thanks for buying the book. Chachi looks like a Pyrenees from the pict, but we actually think he’s a husky-golden-collie mix. A quite talkative chap. He was found roaming Great Falls three years ago. We love him dearly!
Hi Carol,
I am soooo happy for you! The book is great. I am sorry I could not be at the book signing, but glad that Christi was able to get a copy for me. You are so deserving, Congratulations! Nicki
Thanks, Nicki!