Tales from a Dog Catcher

Review by Rachelle Nones

Before embarking on a new career as a high school social studies teacher, Orange County’s own Lisa Duffy-Korpics once worked as an animal control office in the quaint Hudson River Valley community of Peekskill. Lisa’s numerous on-the-job adventures are compiled in this collection of sad, charming, delightful and humorous short stories.

An animal control officer’s job can be heart wrenching at times, especially when dealing with misguided owners. Working above and beyond the call of duty and out of sensitivity, empathy and compassion for animals, Lisa often circumvented the system to assist an animal in dire need. In “His Master’s Voice” she battles the relatives of a deceased dog owner. Against Lisa’s advice, his niece is determined to euthanize her uncle’s orphaned dog because she wrongly believes that the elderly dog is not adoptable. The headstrong niece insists that burying the dog in her uncle’s grave is “something he would have wanted.”

But not all of Lisa’s stories are sad ones. There are funny stories and heartwarming stories as well, like the tale of a crazed Pekinese driven to distraction by his argumentative owners and a stranger-than-fiction tale about a woman who greatly misconstrues Lisa’s instructions to “feed and water” her felines.

The touching story “Rescued by Love” recalls the author’s numerous encounters with a homeless lost soul named Bobby, who voluntarily assists Lisa on her daily patrols for stray dogs. Lisa is unexpectedly touched when Bobby’s compassion for a homeless dog places his own health and welfare in jeopardy.

Animal lovers of all ages will appreciate Lisa’s recollections of her memorable encounters with domestic animals and injured wildlife in the beautiful Hudson Valley. Read more about Lisa here.

Rachelle Nones sells her original graphic prints at www.cafepress.com/fashionkarma.