Leonard Rizzo sees the best and worst we offer to the most vulnerable members of society-the animals we keep as pets. The animals of Polk County, North Carolina, come to him lost and abandoned, sick and abused. Rizzo welcomes them all, working tirelessly to rehabilitate them, treat their wounds, and find them the homes they deserve. These are their stories-theirs, and those of the man they call Uncle Lennie.

With a quick wit and ever open heart for his "kids," Rizzo introduces readers to characters like Banjo, the eight-year-old springer spaniel who arrived at the local humane society...