Children’s book ‘Doggie Do’s and Don’ts’ features CCAC animals

A new children’s book intended to teach the next generation the importance of being a responsible pet owner features real dogs from the Cheatham County Animal Shelter (CCAC). All proceeds from “Doggie Do’s and Don’ts” support Charlie's Angels Saving Animals (CASA).

CCAC works closely with CASA, which has a primary mission to save as many Tennessee animals as possible through rescue transport. CCAC sends many dogs and cats to CASA each year which helps keep the shelter from overflowing. 

In addition, CASA runs a low cost spay and neuter clinic that is offered to shelters, and CCAC gets the vast majority of their animals fixed through CASA's clinic as an affordable alternative to private vets. 

“Doggie Do’s and Don’ts” was written by Robin Lapre, the former president of Saving Cheatham Animals: Mission PAWSible (SCAMP). 

“I wrote the book because I felt that we were not being proactive enough in teaching our communities responsible pet ownership, and that we were simply reacting to many unfortunate situations,” Lapre said. 

The book is narrated by Cadence, a former shelter dog owned by CASA Founder and President Laura Prechel. With the release of “Doggie Do’s and Don’ts” last month, CASA expanded to include Promoting Animal Welfare Stories (PAWS) as an additional facet of the organization. 

“The situation we find ourselves in, particularly in the South, can’t improve until we start teaching children the things they need to know to grow into adults who respect, value and properly care for animals,” Prechel said. “We save as many animals as we can via our transport efforts, we prevent future unwanted animals via our low-cost spay/neuter efforts and now we’re able to lead the way in educating children about animal welfare to help shape the future.”

Lapre said the book “has been a labor of love,” taking about a year to create from conception to publication. 

“It was worth my effort to create a book that hopefully finds its way into schools and libraries to become a starting point for teaching children how to be good pet owners,” Lapre said. “The book is priced very low to make it easy for people to buy and get it into circulation.” 

The book is available for $10 on Amazon, but you can also shop it locally at Hens on the Hunt’s booth at Wonder Gift & Garden. 

You can also support CCAC directly by volunteering daily at the shelter. CCAC is most in need of daily dog walkers from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.