My career in writing about pets began after a neighbor in my tiny Southern California town moved, leaving behind his two dogs. This was in the early 90s, mind you, not during today’s foreclosure fiasco where people so often take the couch when they leave their homes but not the cat. So I rounded up the dogs and drove 40 minutes to a no-kill shelter that offered to find them new homes. Soon after I began volunteering at the shelter and writing articles for local publications about the plight of homeless animals. I also published Desert Pet News, a freebie newspaper that featured animals for adoption and educated owners on how to properly care for their pets. At its peak more than 10,000 copies were distributed in the Palm Springs area to grocery stores and various retail outlets.

Today, more than 15 years later, I write full-time about pets, specializing in health, news and trends. (Before that I worked as a staff newspaper reporter and, for a brief stint, as a veterinary assistant.)

My work has appeared in a wide range of online and print publications, including: Cat Fancy, Family Circle, The New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Woman's World, HealthDay (a syndicate), NBC Universal's Petside.com, National Geographic News and Animal Planet. I'm also a contributing editor for Dog Fancy magazine, the most widely read pet publication in the country.

I share my home with K.C., a 7-year-old Chow/Akita and Sasha, an energetic 11-year-old Belgian Sheepdog mix.