Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Rescue Dogs: Who They Are and the Joys of Rehoming Them
An interview with Pete Paxton about his new book, "Rescue Dogs."
Posted September 27, 2019 Reviewed by Ekua Hagan
America's leading animal welfare undercover investigator Pete Paxton's (a pseudonym) new book called Rescue Dogs: Where They Come From, Why They Act the Way They Do, and How to Love Them Well, written with Gene Stone, is a fascinating read about these amazing canines that covers a number of topics including where they come from, why every dog lover should consider adopting one, and how to make them part of your family.
Part of the book's description reads, "In this book, he shares stories of the amazing dogs he has rescued and brought to loving families, and also offers invaluable guidance and wisdom for anyone living with rescue dogs. Far too many people think rescue dogs have irredeemable anxieties, behavior issues, or other problems. In truth, rescue dogs can—and do—become wonderful companions. This groundbreaking book will help readers understand these dogs' unique ways of thinking, learning, and loving, and leaves no questions unanswered about the plight of dogs commercially bred in the United States—and what every dog lover can do about it."
As I read Rescue Dogs, my learning curve was vertical, and I was thrilled that Pete could take the time to answer a few questions. Our interview went as follows.
Why did you write Rescue Dogs, and who is your intended audience?
The purpose of Rescue Dogs is to inform people about what everyone can do to help make the world a better place for dogs. The book has two sections—the first tells the story of my undercover investigations and some of the dogs whom I saved. The second part gives advice to the reader who, I hope, will be moved to go out and rescue a dog—or two!
Basically, Rescue Dogs explains what’s wrong with buying a puppy from a massive breeder, or even a small breeder who has a few dogs and claims to be “protecting the breed standard.” The book also dispels myths about shelter dogs being troubled and offers diverse training advice for raising happy dogs adopted from a shelter, or fearful dogs rescued off the street or out of the hands of an abuser. It also offers advice on how to rescue stray dogs, report dog cruelty, find lost dogs, and stand up for better legal protection for dogs.
The audience for this book is anyone who loves dogs, and anyone who thinks that they can help others learn to love dogs as well.
How does it follow up on your past interests and how did you collect the information you needed to write your book?
Rescue Dogs relies on my first-hand knowledge of rescuing dogs from many dire situations, and my undercover investigations of hundreds of puppy mills and pet stores. All the information within comes from my personal experience, with concrete instead of theoretical explanations.
What are some of your main messages to readers?
Readers will learn how puppy mills and animal shelters have an inverse relationship. Adopting dogs at shelters stops the abuse of dogs in puppy mills, while buying puppies from pet stores causes the deaths of dogs in overcrowded shelters. If we decrease the demand for bred puppies by increasing the demand for adoptions, we save lives.
Reasons for how dog abuse has gone on for so long under the guise of fulfilling a public demand are told through stories of my undercover investigations. In short, I like to think of our justifications of commercial animal abuse as layers over a core. That core is made of greed and ego, and so we layer it with defenses to keep it from being revealed.
The first layer is teleological thinking claiming the purpose of animals is for us to use them. This cultural excuse claims that we treat animals a certain way because our parents did the same, our community condones it, and it gives us a sense of identity. It’s a claim that because something is already acceptable, it should remain so. We then wrap that in a layer of legal condonement, since laws that exempt agricultural practices from animal cruelty prohibitions are themselves derived from teleological thinking.
Finally, we put up the thinnest veil, which is the claim that commercial abuse is okay because consumers demand it. This claim falls apart the moment covert cameras document the actual conditions of dogs in puppy mills, chickens in broiler farms, and dolphins being brought up dead in nets. However, without that evidence revealed, this layer remains the safest excuse for an abuser.
Can you say more about the role that puppy mills play in breeding dogs who sorely need to be rescued?
People sometimes think they are saving a puppy if they buy the puppy from a pet store. A puppy who remains in a pet store has a decreased price as she gets older, and inevitably is sold. But keep in mind that buying the puppy increases demand for puppies from breeders, and damns puppy mill dogs to a life of churning out litters.
When breeding dogs can no longer produce puppies, some puppy millers will give the dogs away to rescues, others will euthanize them, and others will sell them at auctions. I’ve watched rescue groups bid against each other at an auction to buy spent breeding dogs, giving the puppy millers more money to expand their operations. I also warn against “false rescues” i.e.: groups that claim to rescue dogs but are actually USDA-licensed puppy brokers who sell purebred puppies from breeders to pet stores, who then claim the puppies are “rescues.” They’re not. They’re just ways for the brokers to make money.
The bottom line is that to combat this complicated issue, we have to adopt dogs from shelters instead of buy puppies from breeders.
Are you hopeful that people will use the information you provide to work harder to make the lives of dogs better and to give them the very best lives possible?
Anyone who thinks rationally about the information in Rescue Dogs will have to agree that dog adoption, training based on positive reinforcement, and better laws to help dogs bred in kennels, is the answer to saving dogs in our society. What I particularly like about this subject is that love of companion animals defies politics. It’s a rare topic that can be genuinely discussed by people on opposite ends of the political spectrum–and saving dogs is one of the few
Is there anything else you'd like to tell readers?
If for some reason readers want to verify investigative information in the book, they can visit the website of the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) at to see footage and read reports of cases in various chapters of Rescue Dogs. Likewise, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has recently placed undercover investigators at several Petland pet stores and routinely found sick puppies being sold to customers. You can read about their cases here.
Finally, I’d like to note that much of the book explains how dog rescue involves communities coming together so shelters can adopt out more dogs through policy change, the help of foster networks, better communication between shelters, and laws banning pet stores from selling puppies from breeders. If we truly expect change of this kind, we have to offer as much forgiveness and empathy as we demand understanding. Puppy millers are members of agricultural communities. We can’t just tell them to abandon the selling of highly priced puppies if there’s no alternative for them to turn to. A change in agriculture from breeding animals to growing crops that are better for the environment, public health, and animal welfare than puppy milling and factory farming requires not just condemnation of animal abuse, but admiration for change.
“Before you get a dog, buy this fascinating, beautifully written book that’s both an adventure story and a how-to. Once you’ve read it, you will probably want to go right out and rescue a dog—and two lives will be forever changed.” —David Coman-Hidy, president, The Humane League
Thank you, Pete, for such an informative interview. Each time I reread sections of Rescue Dogs I learn something new. I fully agree with David Coman-Hidy's words and all of the other extremely positive endorsements and I hope your book enjoys a broad global audience because the many topics with which you're concerned know no geographical borders. Rescue dogs need all the help they can get.
