New Release: "MUTTS® Shelter Stories: Love. Guaranteed."

Newly released MUTTS® Shelter Stories: Love. Guaranteed. by renowned animal cartoonist Patrick McDonnell pairs his heartwarming "Shelter Stories "strips with real-life, fan-submitted testimonials of adopted pets. These stories provide an emotionally gratifying look into the lives of the 10 million animals adopted into loving homes each year.

More than 70 full-color endearing photographs of animal shelter alumni including dogs, cats, bunnies, guinea pigs, birds, and ferrets are featured. Also included is an authoritative reference section with an adoption guide and resourceful links that encourage readers to, as McDonnell writes; "Adopt some love today."

* Hardcover: 168 pages

* 100 Mutts "Shelter Stories" cartoons by Patrick McDonnell

* 70 full-color photographs

* Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008

* Introduction by Wayne Pacelle, The Humane Society of the United States

* Includes Adoption Guide and resource links

And from Wayne's blog:

Twice a year, for the last decade, Patrick has created a week of shelter-themed comic strips. And all 10 years of strips, along with more than 70 candid and endearing photos of adopted pets, now fill the pages of Patrick’s latest book, "Shelter Stories: Love. Guaranteed." It's a fantastic book, and one you should buy or give as a gift to any animal lover or to a friend who may not know much about adoptions and animal shelters.

I had the privilege of writing the book’s foreword for Patrick, who is a dear friend and one of the nicest people you will ever meet on this planet. He has served on the board of directors of The HSUS since 2000, and has been a tireless advocate for animals throughout his adult life. Over the years, MUTTS has mixed humor with real insight into every issue we work on—including the Canadian seal hunt, the cruelty of fur, factory farming, the wildlife trade, puppy mills, and the tethering of dogs.

His characters Earl the dog and Mooch the cat are most often the stars in MUTTS. In the shelter-themed strips, however, the characters are, to use Patrick’s words, “the innocent animals who patiently wait for a home, the dedicated workers who devote such care to them, and the kindhearted people who adopt them.”

If I were to make a list of the most valuable yet underappreciated jobs, “animal shelter professional” would have to be somewhere near the top. Every day, these men and women perform challenging—and sometimes heroic—acts to help animals, too often without the recognition they deserve. To have an artist as talented and popular as Patrick celebrate their work in front of millions of readers is a needed and well-deserved morale boost.

http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2008/05/shelter-stories.html