Saved: Rescued Animals and the Lives They Transform

Phil, ailing and unemployed, took an orphaned fawn into his trailer and now walks the woods with the devoted stag. “I don't know what I'd do without Li'l Buck,” Phil declares simply. “I guess I'd be crazy.”

Walt, a retired pipe fitter, says, “Animals...take your heartache away. I lost my boy to drugs and my horse saved my life—just through the therapy of riding.”

Don and Lillian devote their time advocating for animal rights and bringing home lost animals. According to Don, “Emotionally, it's an endorphin rush to be with [the animals]. On the metaphysical level, they give us meaning in life.”

With these and many other compelling, heartfelt stories, Saved, in the words of Rita Mae Brown, “proves once again that love rescues us all.”

Karin Winegar is an award-winning journalist who has written for many magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Judy Olausen's New York Times bestseller, Mother, was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, NPR, and the Today show, and in People and Harper's magazines.

They both live in Minnesota.