Elise Lufkin, Author of TO THE RESCUE

From childhood on, Elise Lufkin’s life has been filled with animals – dogs, cats, horses, even snakes. While working with shelter dogs to make them more adoptable, Elise saw the tragedy of pet overpopulation and how many dogs with real potential languish in shelters. Partly in reaction to this bleak side of the work, she began to focus on the happy endings and the success stories.

Her two previous books, Found Dogs: Tales of Strays Who Landed on Their Feet and Second Chances: More Tales of Found Dogs, are collections of stories about rescued dogs and the many ways in which those dogs reward the kind and generous people who have helped them. 

In the Foreword for Found Dogs Peter Mayle writes, “when you adopt a dog . . . very little is certain – except, of course, that you will be giving him a better life.  And he will be doing the same for you.”  TO THE RESCUE continues and extends the subject with stories about unwanted animals including pound dogs, shelter dogs and random strays that find good homes with people who help them to become therapy dogs and service dogs.

For many years, Elise Lufkin has been involved with the Delta Society, an organization devoted to promoting the healing role animals play in our lives. She currently serves as an Honorary Board Member of Delta.

Elise donates all profits from her books to shelters and other animal-related organizations. She believes that her books can make a difference to at least some of the millions of animals otherwise destroyed each year in shelters and animal control facilities, as well as to the many strays that never even reach shelters, living out their lives on the streets, suffering hunger, abuse and early death. She started a humane education program in the local school system, and initiated a project socializing shelter dogs in order to make them more adoptable. Elise and her dog, Posy, were founder members of a group bringing pet visits to local nursing homes. Her new puppy, Muttsy, is learning manners in anticipation of some kind of pet therapy work.

Elise attended Smith College, married, and raised four children. She has taught art in a Montessori school and designed gardens. She lives in the mountains of central Idaho.