Mutual Rescue
How Adopting a Homeless Animal Can Save You, Too
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A moving and scientific look at the curative powers--both physical and mental--of rescuing a shelter animal, by the president of Humane Society Silicon Valley.
MUTUAL RESCUE profiles the transformational impact that shelter pets have on humans, exploring the emotional, physical, and spiritual gifts that rescued animals provide. It explores through anecdote, observation, and scientific research, the complexity and depth of the role that pets play in our lives. Every story in the book brings an unrecognized benefit of adopting homeless animals to the forefront of the rescue conversation.
In a nation plagued by illnesses--16 million adults suffer from depression, 29 million have diabetes, 8 million in any given year have PTSD, and nearly 40% are obese--rescue pets can help: 60% of doctors said they prescribe pet adoption and a staggering 97% believe that pet ownership provides health benefits. For people in chronic emotional, physical, or spiritual pain, adopting an animal can transform, and even save, their lives.
Each story in the book takes a deep dive into one potent aspect of animal adoption, told through the lens of people's personal experiences with their rescued pets and the science that backs up the results. This book will resonate with readers hungering for stories of healing and redemption.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The premise put forward by Novello, president of Humane Society Silicon Valley, in her first book is a simple one: rescuing a pet from a shelter helps both the animal and the owner in numerous ways. This collection of anecdotes, bolstered by the requisite statistics and studies, proves her point time and again. Novello opens with the story of how two Parkland School shooting survivors found solace in a pair of rescue dogs, one a mini Australian shepherd trained as a therapy animal, the other a puppy (of an unspecified breed) recently rescued from an abusive home; both were powerfully effective in helping their owners recuperate from trauma. While not all of Novello's accounts are this dramatic, they're equally impactful, variously showing how animals can help owners overcome the loss of a child or the suicide of a loved one, combat mental illness, adopt a healthier lifestyle, and even enhance a child's cognitive and emotional development. A selection of resources, such as volunteering tips for people unable to commit to pet ownership, rounds out the book. It's an impressive and inspiring work guaranteed to spur a visit to a rescue web site or trip to the local Humane Society.
Customer Reviews
Terrific read!!!
Most books focus on animal stories - without showing the value animals have explicitly on our lives as human beings. Novello's book is one-part animal/human stories (page turning, heart-warming, uplifting), one-part data (finally! stories and data about why animals help humans and not just vice versa) and one-part inspiration (how our human populations can get involved in saving and enhancing shelter animals' lives both INSIDE a shelter and through adoption and involvement). Novello's writing style is easy to read, and conversational - makes the reader want to have a bigger discussion with her to hear more of the amazing stories and facts recounted in the book. This book will appeal to hard-core animal advocates, general population animal lovers and even those who like animals, but feel a little bit embarrassed by it! :) Really makes the case for supporting your local shelter, and why it truly is not "animals or people", but "animals AND people". Buy this book for all your friends!