There are few stories that attract more readers, or touch more hearts, than a pet story.
The story of Josh, the abandoned puppy who needed a heart operation, his big eyes staring off the front page of The Mercury with a veterinary cone around his head, was talked about among our readers for weeks after it appeared in April, 2006.
And, it got results.
The folks at Diane's Discount Pets, who were seeking donations to pay for the surgery, had offers from dozens of Mercury readers who wanted to adopt the dog and pay his medical bills. One person dropped $1,000, no questions asked.
When I wrote last summer about the loss of our family dog, Holly, I received more email response than I have ever received on one topic, either as a reporter or editor.
So it was no surprise that I found myself in a traffic jam Saturday morning at the Berks Animal Shelter after The Reading Eagle ran a front-page story about 55 puppies acquired from a Lehigh Valley kennel.
The story was accompanied by 15 photos of puppy faces.
At least one of them was looking at me.
The day after the story was in the paper, my husband and I went to the shelter to be faced with a traffic jam, cars parked along the roadsides, and families lining up to see the puppies. We joined hundreds of other couples, filling out an application. The forms will go into a lottery to determine the 50 potential families to be invited back to adopt.
The response was a reminder of a truth we know in the newspaper business: Put a dog's face on the front page, and people will come -- in droves -- to rescue it.
This time, however, the power of the press is working against me. I really want to adopt the red daschund, or maybe one of the perky Westies, that we saw on Saturday. We have been without a dog in our house for several months, and the cleanliness and the quiet are becoming unsettling. What is a lack of dust when compared to the boisterous welcomes or the loyal following-around that a dog brings to a family home?
It's time to get a puppy.
Now, I just have to win the lottery.