What motivated me to write a controversial book about a taboo topic?

I could never have predicted the extent of the challenge.

Ever since this whole thing started, there’s a question I get asked a lot.

Why did I pour time, energy and resources into telling this story? Of all the remarkable tales just waiting to be told, why choose one that most people wouldn’t be motivated or willing to write? Perhaps even to read?

I don’t have a complete answer yet. I hope it comes to me in time.

In part, my desire to write this book gathered momentum because no one else was willing to do it. Someone had to set words to a story practically begging to be told. That probably still wouldn’t have been enough to suck me in if it hadn’t happened close to where I lived. The animals who were seized landed at my local shelter, an organization whose work I have written about extensively for more than a decade.

Sometimes you follow the story not knowing why. You follow it simply because it’s there. You follow it because that’s what a journalist is trained to do. You aren’t supposed to worry about where it’s going, or what you’ll find when you get there. Just knowing it’s leading somewhere should be enough to keep you on its trail.

I posted story updates this week.

In response to the question of what happened to Doug Spink’s animals: