Mutual Rescue: How Adopting a Homeless Animal Can Save You, Too

A moving and scientific look at the curative powers--both physical and mental--of rescuing a shelter animal, by the president of Humane Society Silicon Valley.

MUTUAL RESCUE profiles the transformational impact that shelter pets have on humans, exploring the emotional, physical, and spiritual gifts that rescued animals provide. It explores through anecdote, observation, and scientific research, the complexity and depth of the role that pets play in our lives. Every story in the book brings an unrecognized benefit of adopting homeless animals to the forefront of the rescue conversation.

In a nation plagued by illnesses--16 million adults suffer from depression, 29 million have diabetes, 8 million in any given year have PTSD, and nearly 40% are obese--rescue pets can help: 60% of doctors said they prescribe pet adoption and a staggering 97% believe that pet ownership provides health benefits. For people in chronic emotional, physical, or spiritual pain, adopting an animal can transform, and even save, their lives.

Each story in the book takes a deep dive into one potent aspect of animal adoption, told through the lens of people's personal experiences with their rescued pets and the science that backs up the results. This book will resonate with readers hungering for stories of healing and redemption.

Carol Novello began rescuing animals at age 5 and hasn't stopped. With a Harvard MBA, she was a senior executive working in high tech, most recently at Intuit, Inc. Today, she is the president of Humane Society Silicon Valley, where she launched Mutual Rescue, a digital global campaign of short films designed to showcase the therapeutic benefits of animal companionship and encourage adoptions. Through her work at Humane Society Silicon Valley, she has been awarded the Maddie's Fund "Maddie Hero Award" for innovation and leadership in the sector and has been recognized as an honoree at the Fifty Years of Women at Harvard Business School celebration in Northern California.
She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she enjoys spending time with her own rescue companions: Tess, a German shepherd, and her tuxedo cats, Bode and Herbie.