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The Man Who Talks to Dogs: The Story of America's Wild Street Dogs and Their Unlikely Savior

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One of the nicest and most lovable things that people do is to take care of dogs. Everyone knows how devoted dogs are to their owners (for which the word "guardians" is being used by those who do not like to think of such noble and friendly animals as property) and how devoted the humans are to their dogs. But like anything else that humans do, there are people that mess things up, and in some cases, mess things up horrifyingly. There are dogs who are mistreated and abandoned, and there are not enough shelters to take care of all the strays. Countless dogs end up officially killed because culling them is the sad best solution to a problem dogs didn't cause and humans did. There are people who are making a difference, and in _The Man Who Talks to Dogs: The Story of America's Wild Street Dogs and Their Unlikely Savior_ (Thomas Dunne Books), Melinda Roth has given a touching portrait of an unlikely, flawed, and genuinely gifted dog-lover who is getting help for helpless dogs.

Randy Grim is the founder of Stray Rescue in St. Louis, a position he describes as being captain of a punctured life raft. He is a bundle of phobias. "I have to take one Xanax for driving, one and a half for shopping malls, two for walking through an airport, and three if I have to _eat_ in an airport." But he can do things like drive, even over feared bridges, without anxiety if he is on duty rescuing dogs. There is a good deal of unpleasant but essential reporting here, a good deal about what happens to dogs bred for the "sport" of dogfighting, and dogs from puppy mills. Grim drives out into the wilds of the city to try to befriend the dogs and eventually corral them into his care. He meets some cast-off humans as well, and helps them when he can; he knows he should feel more sorry for people, but he knows there are other agencies doing that: "Nobody is worrying about these dogs out here who don't know how to hunt or how to fend for themselves or how to survive."

The dogs go to Grim's basement for basic care and beginning lessons in associating with humans. A friendly lawyer helped get Grim's efforts certified as a non-profit organization, and some news stories helped get the word out so that he now has a group of dedicated foster parents to nurture terrified, injured, and crazy dogs fresh off the streets. The dogs are finally adopted out, and plenty of the adoptions work out well for all concerned. Grim has become a national figure in the dog rescue world. There is a hilarious account of an Animal Planet crew sent to film his adventures in catching strays ("Look! I'm being filmed _and_ driving across a bridge, and I'm not freaking out."). When the story aired, there was more recognition, which meant more people called him to pick up dogs, but also more donations and more volunteers. "I'm not perfect," Grim says, "but I know that if it wasn't for the dogs, I would have ended up a lost soul with a bleak life." This is a lovely story of redemption, of lost dogs and a lost man who made a difference helping each other.

Mr. Grim is a living saint in the mold of Brother Francis. If you believe that a dog dumped by someone who doesn't want him anymore will end up wild and free like a wolf . . . if you think neutering your dog will somehow affect your own manhood . . . if you think your dog should have "just one litter" because "the kids should see the miracle of birth" . . . read this book and then try to sleep at night. Dogs are not wolves in Snoopy costumes, able to return to the wild at a moment's notice. Dumped dogs die slow and terrible deaths, and dogs born on the street live short and wretched lives. They need us. They can't survive without us. Our ancestors made them that way, and passed on to us the responsibility for their life and death. Randy Grim knows this in his guts.

Read this book, and when you stop shivering, call your local animal shelter and ask them what they need most. And if you see a dog wandering alone, look into its eyes. You'll know what I mean when you're done with The Man who Talks to Dogs.

Randy Grim hates being called a hero. He feels like a fake when people use that term to describe him because, in his eyes, he's a frail and fearful person, full of complexities and issues. It takes all his energy to face life's challenges but, for some reason, it all changes when he's on the trail of a dog that needs his help. Then he's a fully focused, driven machine that will wade through filth, skid along icy, dark streets and face down the roughest, toughest people to accomplish his task. He can't and he won't leave that canine alone on the street.
This book is fast paced and fascinating. I was hooked from word one. The author has managed to weave together the story of a fascinating, though reluctant hero with the graphic and gritty reality of the price being paid by the strays in our midst. The author dissects the various causes and brings the tragic results into sharp focus. It is hard to blink, to look away, to pretend it doesn't exist. Those weary, confused eyes stare back from the pages.
While we witness the dark side of humanity and it's wretched victims, we are also allowed to share the small and great triumphs that result from Randy's dedication. Many are the hurdles that have to be overcome but, step by step, the right people join the battle, sanctuary is provided, supplies appear and donations arrive.
This is how heros and saints come to be. It's the leap of faith that says, "I don't know whether I'm making a difference. I don't know how I'm going to manage but I will. Because I'm not taking my eye off this one, and the next one, and the next one until they're safe." One small miracle at a time creates a haven. For the strays, for the people who care and for the children who see that brutality or indifference are not the only choices.
Thanks Randy, for showing the way and thanks Melinda, for telling the story so well.

The Man Who Talks to Dogs was an incredible book . I couldn't put it down. This is the true story of one man's desperate, heartbreaking love for dogs--of anguish, brutality and hope.

Randy Grim dedicates his life to saving the big-city feral-dog population of St. Louis, single-handedly braving the mean streets to rescue God's lost angels--those half-wild, half-domesticated dogs existing on the borderlines of urban society.

In this story, Randy brings to light the terrible struggle of these animals, who haunt burned-out buildings, eating out of garbage cans, dropping dead in the streets of starvation and illness, some never having come close to a human...or worse yet, falling prey to the sadistic cruelty of dog-fight rings or random violence. Thru this man's tireless efforts, many of these dogs have been saved, rehabbed and adopted to loving homes. Some of their stories are told in this book--- I guarantee that you will never forget them.

Randy is an incredible human being and an inspiration to all of us....Get this book, read it and live it--it is a great lesson in compassion for the creatures with no voice--- and how one person can make a difference, one dog at a time.

If you go to your local veterinarian and tell him you want to adopt a shelter dog or cat, chances are he or she will give you a big smile. Vets will tell you of the horrible plight of abandoned animals, of the growing number that are euthanized by animal control shelters, and of the heroic efforts of animal rescue leagues, who save animals, rehabilitate them and find loving homes for them. We have two rescue cats--great pets, and really believe strongly in adopting pets from rescue leagues.

"The Man Who Talks to Dogs" is the story of Randy Grim who has dedicated his life to rescuing dogs. He drives around the St. Louis area in his van, capturing strays, finding homes for them and educating the public about the problem. There is a lot of interesting information about the problem of stray dogs in the US. This includes statistics about dogs killings of humans, of the number of people bitten. It also is a story about the sadness --of dogs who are sick, dogs who can't be rehabilitated, of euthanizing thousands of animals.

This is not always a happy book; so many animals cannot be saved and so many are traumatized beyond curing or rehabilitation. But the story is heroic. If you love animals and are considering adopting a dog, this is a good book to have. And if you are adopting a dog and considering not neutering it, it's a must-read.

Most dog lovers understand that the plight of stray dogs is miserable. Unfortunately, they feel the problem is unsolvable, so they simply push it to the back of their minds. This book tells the inspirational story of one man who took it upon himself to help unwanted dogs. Many of the stories in the book are heartbreaking and hopefully they will serve as a wake-up call for dog lovers everywhere. Personally, I resolved to do fundraising for my local shelter after reading THE MAN WHO TALKS TO DOGS. If every dog lover who reads the book decides to do something-anything! to help the cause of abused and abandoned animals then we can make a big improvement in the lives of man's best friend.

Enter one very unlikely hero who is trying to call national attention to the scourge. Randy Grim was young, hip, but crippled by panic attacks and phobias (of public places, parties, elevators, driving). After rescuing his first street dog, Bonnie, he couldn't look away. "How can I?" he asks. "Each one says, `Don't leave me here.'" And so the man who must pop Xanax to walk through an airport refuses to leave a starving, terror-stricken German Shepherd on a dark, icy and stormy East St. Louis street, even when an threatening tenement resident has him on the business end of a gun.

Journalist Melinda Roth puts a human, and animal, face on an ignored tragedy playing out in our cities. She gives us beautifully wrought, but too few, scenes of redemption.

If you've seen stray dogs in your city and wondered how they live, how they became homeless, and what finally happens to them, this book will tell you. This is the story of dogs on the street and one man who has dedicated his life to saving them.

Randy Grim works every day with homeless dogs in the St. Louis metro area. These are dogs that were once pets, now abandoned by their owners. Or, they were born on the streets and have never known a safe and loving home. By the time Randy finds them in abandoned city warehouses and on busy streets, they have little faith in humans. It is his seemingly impossible job to convince them to trust again. He acclimates them to human behavior so that they can be adopted by responsible families. Randy's non-profit organization, Stray Rescue of St. Louis, is dedicated to saving the lives of dogs on the street.

This is a story of heartbreak and hope. It is the story of dogs who were brutalized and who come to trust again. When we see how Randy's patient work can turn around even the most distrustful dog, we can celebrate that special bond that exists between man and animal. It will make many animal lovers sad because it details struggles of dogs on the street. But it will also serve as inspiration to show the rest of us what can be done!

A fascinating account of one man's crusade to rescue the stray dogs of St. Louis, this book gives us incredible insight into the issues surrounding the stray animal problem in this country. I learned more than I knew there was to know about feral dogs and their place in our society. But this book is not just about dogs - the lessons learned could just as easily be applied to the "capture" and "saving" of all the other strays found in our cities--including those lost & homeless children who have become so commonplace. The behaviors they exhibit are scarily similar to those described by Randy Grim in this book. A gripping tale and one which should be read by anyone interested in the plight of all the strays of the world.

A warts'n'all portrait of a man who devotes every spare moment and every spare dollar to rescuing abandoned and abused dogs from the streets of St. Louis. Though numerous stories about dogs tortured and neglected may be upsetting to sensitive readers, this is ultimately a deeply inspirational story about how one man CAN make a difference. As soon as I can, I'm hunting down his address and sending him a check. Makes a good companion piece with Kat Albrecht's THE LOST PET CHRONICLES.

PS: As I write this, the animal shelter in Buffalo may be a victim of budget cuts. One step forward, two steps back.