Unchain My Heart: Dogs Deserve Better Rescue Stories of Courage, Compassion, and Caring

Dogs Deserve Better, an award-winning nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing Man s Best Friend into the home and family, brings you 40 of its best stories, written by our own area reps, and edited by DDB founder Tamira Ci Thayne and Illinois rep Dawn Ashby.

Love Thayne s rescue of Doogie, chained and unable to walk? Read more of the quest for justice, in these pages. Love Rotties, Labs, Pitties, and Beagles? German Shepherds, Heinz 57s, Chihuahuas, and Border Collies? All these breeds and more are tucked between these pages, winning the happy endings they deserve and the caring families they long for.

Love a book that combines man's best friend, courage, a willingness to fight abuse and a passion for going the extra mile? You ve come to the right place.

Curl up with your favorite companion for a night of reading by the fire. Because dogs DO deserve better than life on a chain, and DDB reps are making sure they get it.

Tamira Thayne is founder and CEO of Dogs Deserve Better, an award-winning national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the chaining and penning of dogs, and bringing Man's Best Friend into the home and family.

Tamira and DDB have won 12 awards, including a first in the ASPCA Chase Pet Protector Award and a 2nd in Animal Planet Hero of the Year Award. In 2010, Thayne was termed the "Godmother of Anti-Tethering" by USA Today.

Tamira is author of "Capitol in Chains: 54 Days of the Doghouse Blues," "Scream Like Banshee: 29 Days of Tips and Tales to Keep your Sanity as a Doggie Foster Parent", and co-editor of "Unchain My Heart: DDB Rescue Stories of Courage, Compassion, and Caring."

She is also an ordained Interfaith Minister, and holds a B.A. from the University of Maryland, as well as a Doctoral Degree in Naturology from AIHT.

Dogs Deserve Better has rescued over 3000 dogs from chains nationwide, and Tamira has fostered over 250 from her home alone. In 2011, DDB bought Michael Vick's former dogfighting compound, and is transforming it to a 16-acre rescue center for chained and penned dogs.

Dawn Ashby has volunteered with United Animal Nations during Hurricane Katrina, and for many non-profit rescues including Illinois Dalmatian Rescue.

She served as long-time representative for Dogs Deserve Better, and while Rescue and Public Liaison Director, was interviewed and quoted in numerous articles, and has written many articles on the subject of backyard dogs and the hazards of dog chaining. A freelance writer presently working on her own novel, she resides in Litchfield, Illinois, with husband Darin. Dawn shares her life with her fluffy constant, Romeo the Saint Bernard, and the furry souls rescued from lives on chains.

She's still sadly missing her best friend and family Dalmatian, Spectre, who crossed the bridge in 2008. Dawn rules her canine kingdom with a lint roller in one hand and wine glass in the other. C est la vie!