A Pet Recycler's Journey

Today, I'm happy to have this from Randi Berger, author of My Receylced Pets: A Diary of a Dog Addict:

As a child, my 2 rescued Benji type terriers, Lucky and Skippy, made more sense to me than any humans, so I grew up with them as my significant others. But at age 11, I started playing the flute and my dogs fell to the bottom of my priority list. Lucky passed away when I was in my teens and, one day when I was in my early twenties, Skippy had disappeared. When I went to retrieve him out of the same shelter that my family rescued him from as a puppy, my life would never be the same. The second half of his life was spent devoid of my attention and I didn't realize that he had become a senior with cloudy eyes, was now 14 and was unable to stand. He had been hit by a car and had 7 fractures in his pelvis. When I called out his name, his tail wagged against the back of the cage in the hospital section of the shelter and he began to urinate on himself. I couldn't believe he remembered a voice he had barely heard in years and would forgive me for ignoring him most of his life.
Due to his age and injuries, the vets we phoned didn't want to treat him, only euthanize him, but I found one who was optimistic and believed he would heal on his own. Within a month Skippy healed, became my born again, indoor, pampered, puppy and I was given another life with him.

When Skippy had to be put to sleep three years later at 17, I went into a dark depression and was lost without him. My college degree meant nothing to me. I had to leave the state to get away from anything that reminded me of him. Several months later, while in my travels, I heard the screeching of car tires and a dog's anguished scream as he was hit by the car. That catapulted me back to Southern Calif. where I began looking in shelters to find my Skippy. It was then that I learned that over 75% of the animals were euthanized in public shelters. I slowly started the greatest mission of my life and began taking out one or two dogs at a time to save them. That was 1987.

Today, over 20 years and 10,000 dogs later, my all- volunteer charity, Recycled Pets Rescue, has been the model to help other rescues flourish. I was always drawn to the severely abused, handicapped or senior dogs that were written off by shelters, vets or trainers, so I learned everything I needed to rehabilitate them emotionally and medically, extending some of their lives miraculously past the age of 21!

My focus today is to educate the public on the importance of spaying and neutering and making a lifetime commitment to our pets, before we bring them into our lives. This will eliminate any pet from being abandoned at any age. The adult, rescued dogs ultimately make much better pets than puppies. They have already experienced and lost a human bond, so they are far more appreciative and bond much more intensely than the puppies. They also are more willing to please.

My book which received a Writer's Digest Inspirational Award, MY RECYCLED PETS:DIARY OF A DOG ADDICT, is for all ages and tells my life story with the astonishing synchronicities and miracles that I've experienced rescuing thousands of dogs. It is guaranteed to help shift peoples' belief systems about what is possible for us on earth and I wrote it to give back to the world all that I continue to receive with faith, miracles, inspiration. My rescue has taught me how to overcome limiting, negative beliefs and, by focusing on what we want to create, we can see what others say is impossible, come to life.
Today, through my speaking and writing, my passion is in inspiring the world to also overcome all limiting beliefs that are preventing them from living their dreams.

100% of the Net profits from the sale of my book, goes to Recycled Pets Rescue. For a donation to my rescue, I am sending personally signed copies anywhere in the U.S. and worldwide with postage added. Information is on my web site at http://www.randiberger.com/.
The book is also available on all Internet sites.