Cherie A. Rohn

Well, my friend William and I were writing his life story about a guy who tries to make money off of other people, but becomes the victim. William's dog, Herman the German Schnauzer, would come over when we were discussing the book and try to join in the conversation. When there was a quiet spell Herman would bark a few times, then look at each of us, as if asking what we thought of his suggestion. It became such a regular occurrence, I decided to write a story about Herman and his quirky personality.

There are really two parts to this answer:
1. In the book, Herman tells people how important speech is. It's a powerful tool that humans take for granted. But each person has the opportunity through words to change the world for better or worse.

2. This may sound unlikely, but many years after I wrote Dog Justice, I learned about an organization that does exactly what I describe at the end of Dog Justice. I wrote about a group that rescues dogs and cats from being put down. I added that they do this through a worldwide organization. The group’s field units would locate homeless critters and transport them to one of the thousands of international centers. There the animals had a home for life if they weren’t among the fortunate to be adopted. I wrote this, of course, as pure fiction.

Imagine how stunned I was to find out there really is such an organization! I thought rescuing animals like this would be impossible due to the sheer cost. But I was wrong. Such an organization has existed for years and it's called "Maddie's Fund" after a miniature German Schnauzer by the name of Maddie. Though I have absolutely no connection to this group, it seems like they do an outstanding job. You can read more here: http://www.maddiesfund.org/about-us.htm.