cover image A Rare Breed of Love: The True Story of Baby and the Mission She Inspired to Help Dogs Everywhere

A Rare Breed of Love: The True Story of Baby and the Mission She Inspired to Help Dogs Everywhere

Jana Kohl. Fireside, $25.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-1-4165-6403-4

It's hard to think of anything cuter than a pet store puppy or anything more horrifying than the places from which most originate. Thanks to Kohl and her rescued poodle, Baby, the movement to eradicate puppy mills now has a face—plus three legs and a wagging tail. Kohl exposes an industry profiting off of “legalized abuse,” where dogs are forcibly bred each heat cycle and sequestered in cages so small that some never learn to walk. Leavening the grim accounts are original essays from contributors such as Gloria Steinem and Alice Walker and advice on how ordinary citizens can help by boycotting pet stores and Internet suppliers in favor of adopting animals from shelters and reputable breeders. Pictures of Baby with her famous fans and advocates—Barack Obama, Steven Tyler, Bill Maher, the New York Mets—provide the book with some lighter moments. While the passages “written” by Baby are slightly cloying, Kohl's accounts of how dogs suffer at the hands of puppy mill breeders (Baby's vocal cords were slashed to keep her from barking) will doubtlessly rally new crusaders to this cause. (June 3)