Lopez, Samuel

Author Samuel Lopez and his wife Cheri live on a hundred-year-old farm in Westley, California, a small town 85 miles southeast of San Francisco. They share a lifelong love for all animals, and so the farm life suits them well. What happened shortly after they moved to the farm, however, surprised them both.

At night, people began dropping off unwanted animals and then driving off into the darkness. Some, perhaps bolder and more caring, would arrive during daylight hours and knock on the door to the old farmhouse. "We have a dog we can no longer keep," they would say. "And we heard you take...