About the book

This Young Adult book is based on a real dog named India, a beautiful but shy German Shepherd mix that lived in an animal shelter. Because she did not show well and later grew to be a senior dog, no one ever noticed or wanted to adopt her.

I noticed her at the shelter and walked her for nine years. Because I was not able to adopt her, I wanted to write a story about an abandoned dog that went to a shelter. I wanted to let people know about these wonderful dogs and cats longing for someone to want them. India’s home was a cage in a room. Other rooms of cages lining the walls. A second row stacked on top—all full.  

But India did not go unnoticed. She became the face, the incentive, for our project to get the old shelter shut down. Two rescue friends and I worked tirelessly for over three years with City Hall and the Police Department to get a new shelter built---where dogs did not live in cages, but runs.

This fiction story tells of a dog that is abandoned, picked up, taken to an animal shelter. India’s friends in the book were also real dogs at the shelter. After many years, one day, India’s wish comes true. She and her friends are picked to go on an airplane transport flight to find homes.

These dogs, along with Farley, used in medical experiments, Mama Dog who lived in a puppy mill, a pit bull named Rockey that was made to fight, Butch, chained outside, Binky and blind Rodney whose owner died leaving them unwanted, needed a voice, a chance. These dogs matter. People need to know of the rescue organizations and the transports saving so many lives.