“One Hundred Dogs & Counting” by Cara Sue Achterberg is her book about the second part of the title, “One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues.” In this book that will wring your heart, we learn about her selfless determination to foster, and thus rescue, as many shelter dogs as she can.

Achterberg makes no bones about the work that goes into fostering. She doesn’t play it safe like I do, only fostering adult dogs who will be quickly housebroken and are usually past the chewing and destructive stage. Her description of the work and cleaning involved in caring for litters of puppies has convinced me that adult fosters are definitely the way to go!

But Achterberg doesn’t shirk from hard work and from heartache. When you rescue, you know both. She passionately describes loving the foster dogs and then letting them go to permanent families. She knows that it’s easy to be what’s called a “foster failure” and adopt the foster dog you’ve fallen in love with, but then she wouldn’t be able to take in tens of dogs every year and save them. This one woman has saved over a hundred dogs in a short time by fostering them and then getting them adopted. Then repeat.

But the more dogs she saved, the more she thought about how the problem of unwanted and abandoned dogs doesn’t seem to be getting any better. And so she took trips to rural shelters to see what their problems were and what they thought needed to be done to solve the overpopulation problem which then leads to the problem of too many unwanted dogs. She describes her travels in detail. There are brutal descriptions of horrible shelters where caring people struggle to save as many dogs as they can in spite of almost insurmountable obstacles. There are also shelters where those in charge spend their own money to feed and care for the dogs. It’s a huge spectrum.

This is a book that will make you cry. It’s horribly depressing to realize that so many wonderful dogs and cats (and other animals) are discarded like trash when uncaring, heartless owners decide they don’t want them anymore. But those on animal rescue sites and Facebook pages dedicated to saving animals already know that. We see the despair deep in a senior dog’s eyes when its owner hands over its leash and walks away, away saying, “It’s too old so I don’t want it.” It will also make your heart sing as you recognize that there are many, many dedicated people who work tirelessly to save as many animals as possible.

It’s a book for those who already rescue. In Cara’s story, we recognize our own struggles with the mess, the baby gates, the dogs who have behavior issues. We know about the feeling of loss when the dog leaves – no matter how loving the adoptive home. And we all say to the adopters that if they ever don’t want “our” dog, we will take the dog back.

This is also a book for those who don’t know about rescue. Who might read this and learn how desperately foster homes are needed, and might just decide to try and foster a dog or cat. After reading about the work involved in fostering puppies, I can’t say she’s done a great job promoting that particular job! But also, it’s an important step in educating people on the importance of helping. Reach out to local rescues and see what they need. Usually they are the ones pulling from other public shelters in all areas of the country where dogs and cats are routinely killed for space.

No one wants to kill animals. But when shelters get overwhelmed, unless there are rescues willing to take the animals, there is no where for them to go. And unless there are fosters willing to help house and love the animals, the rescues can’t do it all. There are wonderful projects and things that shelters have done to get the community involved. Because once animal-loving people understand what is happening in their community, they often want to help. And sometimes it’s just as simple as asking for help, asking for dog walkers, building walking paths and inviting the community to come walk — with a shelter dog.

Please, read the book. Get involved. Foster a dog or cat. Or donate to your local rescue. Offer to help transport animals to their final destination. It’s a commitment of a few hours, but with a huge reward. Visit Who Will Let the Dogs Out for more information.

And when you are finished reading the book? Pass it on to someone who might benefit from reading it. Someone else who might help. (Pegasus Books)

A few of this reviewer’s rescues. Two black cats from the streets. One dog rescued from China (I flew her here) and the other from the Redland area of Florida by the Redland Rockpit Quarry Project, a group that feeds the homeless and abandoned dogs in that area each and every day. They do their best to find rescues for the dogs and cats.