About this item
We love them with all our hearts, but do we really know where our dogs came from? Kim Kavin, author of Little Boy Blue, reveals the complex network behind the $11 billion-a-year business of selling dogs. A must-read for the benefit of all dogs, everywhere. In what promises to become an "Omnivore's Dilemma" for dog lovers--breed devotees and adoption advocates alike--The Dog Merchants is the first book to explain the complex and often surprisingly similar business practices that extend from the American Kennel Club to local shelters, from Westminster champions to dog auctions. Without judging dog lovers of any stripe, The Dog Merchants makes it clear that money spent among these dog merchants has real-world effects on people and canines. Kavin reveals how dog merchants create markets for dogs, often in defiance of the usual rules of supply and demand. She takes an investigative approach and meets breeders and rescuers at all levels, shedding much-needed light on an industry that most people don't even realize is an industry.Kavin's goal is to advance the conversation about how all dogs are treated, from puppy mills to high-kill shelters. She shows that a great deal can be improved by understanding the business practices behind selling dogs of all kinds. Instead of pitting rescue and purebred people against each other, The Dog Merchants shows how all dog lovers can come together, with one voice as consumers, on behalf of all our beloved companions.
About the Author
Kim Kavin has been a word enthusiast ever since her Mom taught her to read. She wrote to the publisher of her first-grade textbook after finding grammar errors, she won the fifth-grade spelling bee, and she was editor of her high school newspaper before graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. She has earned a living as a full-time writer and editor since 1994, which is about the same time she realized that she could never again eat at restaurants whose menus contain typos. Today, she takes extra care when writing Facebook status updates, since she is friends with her high-school English teachers.
In her spare time, Kim volunteers with dog-rescue organizations and participates in sprint-distance triathlons. She hesitates to call herself a competitor because she almost always brings up the rear, but she does finish every race while wearing Spandex in public, an accomplishment for which she believes women with curves should receive a special medal.
Kim lives in Morris County, New Jersey, about an hour west of Manhattan.
