NATIONAL PET DAY by Teresa Inge (Please celebrate responsibly!)

National Pet Day will take place on Sunday, April 11!

The event got its start in the United States in 2006 to celebrate the joy that all pets bring to us. Since that time, it has expanded to the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Spain, Guam, Scotland, and other nations.

In addition to celebrating pets on this special day, the event brings attention to the ongoing needs of pets waiting in shelters to be adopted. Which makes it timely to reach out to rescue organizations to adopt the millions of animals who enter shelters each year for various reasons. Some are strays, some are surrendered by their owners, and some are seized in legal action.

But thanks to events like National Pet Day, owning a pet and specifically a dog, can bring great joy to people’s lives. Today, dogs are taking a more prominent role in society and becoming more important as family members, particularly as children to their owners.

Further enhancing their importance, dogs are often portrayed as characters in mystery books since readers love a good dog related mystery.

In the Mutt Mysteries books, each story involves dogs helping their protagonist look for clues, solve crimes, and alert their owner to danger. They are as much a character as other characters in the book.

I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to write about Catt Ramsey and her sidekicks, Cagney and Lacey, two Yorkshire Terriers in each book. Catt owns the Wolf-Pack Dog Walkers in Virginia Beach. I knew from the start that I wanted Catt to own a dog-walking business so I could get her out of the office and onto the streets to solve crimes. But I also knew that I wanted to showcase various breeds of dogs and the benefits of owning them. These two goals remain constant in each story that I write in the series.

Thanks for stopping by the blog to learn more about National Pet Day, pet ownership and dogs in mysteries.

 

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TERESA INGE grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries. Today, she doesn’t carry a rod like her idol, but she hotrods. Love of reading mysteries and writing professional articles led to writing short fiction and novellas. She is president of Sisters in Crime Mystery by the Sea Chapter and author of short mysteries in Virginia is for Mysteries, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Coastal Crimes: Mysteries by the Sea, and Murder by the Glass.

 

Website: www.TeresaInge.com

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