Shelter dogs and cats make great family members
Growing up, dogs were a part of Aimee Bertero’s and her family’s lives. They had always purchased a pet from a breeder, gravitating toward a certain type of dog. But when Bertero took her mother to an adoption event in Westchester County eight years ago, her opinion changed and later sparked the inspiration to write a children’s book emphasizing the importance of adopting a rescue animal from a shelter.
The Cornwall resident published her first book, “Lucy the Little Long Dog Finds a Home,” in March.
“Lucy just makes me happy,” Bertero said. “I’m always talking about her and telling people about her. I feel good that we rescued her.”
Lucy, her mother, and her siblings were found on the street in Oklahoma and brought to New York. Each year the county conducts an adoption event where multiple agencies are invited to the Civic Center to show off the cats and dogs in need of a home. When Bertero and her mother met Lucy, a Dachshund and Jack Russell Terrier mix, they fell in love instantly.
Although Bertero lives in Cornwall and her mother in New Windsor, Lucy has become attached to her. Bertero visits often and takes Lucy for walks or car rides. She’s also taught the dog how to speak and sit.
As their bond grew, Bertero decided to write about Lucy’s adoption and her first day in her new home.
The process was a lengthy one as Bertero funded the project herself. It took about two years to finish the book as she had to save money to pay the illustrator.
The book took a couple hours to write in total, but was written in bits and pieces over time. Once Bertero had the story in her head, she wrote it out in paragraph form, but was broken up by sentence to fit on each page.
Working with the illustrator took the most effort. Bertero started by submitting stick figure sketches to Chad Thompson who then offered his artistic vision based on the renderings. Pages would go back and forth as Bertero was very particular about how each page should look. She wanted to make sure Lucy’s spots were perfect and even sent Thompson photos to replicate.
Lucy’s story is mostly true to life, with a little bit of embellishment, said Bertero, especially when the reader gets a glimpse of what the white and brown-spotted dog is thinking.
Bertero hopes the book convinces pet owners to seek out a dog from a shelter rather than from a breeder or a store.
“A lot of people love certain breeds and that’s great,” Bertero said. “There are so many nice dogs and you feel bad. These dogs are found on the streets. Some are starving. When they’re rescued, they’re so happy. I want people to rescue more dogs and think about getting a rescue dog instead of buying one from a store. Some people are kind of iffy on rescue dogs because they might have issues. There are a lot of puppies like Lucy. We got her and trained her. She’s a great dog. There are thousands to choose from. Big dogs, tiny dogs. Find one that clicks. We’d never done that before but going forward I’ll always do that.”
The book is geared toward those ages one to five, but those who can’t read yet can enjoy the vibrant colors of each hand-drawn page. “Lucy the Little Long Dog Finds a Home” is available on Amazon, but Bertero is trying to get Barnes and Noble to pick it up as well. She’s also in the process of spreading the word so more people across the country purchase the book.
Bertero is already thinking about a second book following Lucy’s adventures to the park or the vet. She said she may even write about visits to the pet store and how Lucy enjoys picking out a toy to take home.
