Evil Breeds or Bad Owners?

Well here we find ourselves on another Wednesday, which means another Book Blurt. This week I’m blurting about Ingrid Lee’s Dog Lost, which was written in 2008, and was also published by Scholastic. As it turns out, this book isn’t categorized in the YA area. It is actually in the juvenile area. You might be scratching your head wondering as to the reason that I’m reading it. Well, this book is a 2011 Young Reader’s Choice Award nominee, and I figured it would be good to at least read some of those. But more importantly, this book has some objectionable subject matters, and other librarians were wondering if it should be categorized in the YA section instead. Wanting to have something to say if this became an issue at the Hayden Library, I decided to read the book.

The book focuses on Cash, a pit bull, and a young boy named Mackenzie. Mackenzie’s mother died a few years ago, and his father isn’t handling the situation very well. He is often drunk, and isn’t very supportive of Mackenzie. Although this is the case, Mackenzie’s father does do something nice for him without even knowing how much of an affect it would have. Mackenzie’s father had gotten a dog while gambling, and he gave it to Mackenzie to take care of. Having something that he could love, and loved him in return, was something that Mackenzie hadn’t felt in a long time. The boy and the puppy spend all of their time together, until Mackenzie’s father gets angry with the dog, and abandons it in a field outside of town. The book then weaves the tale of how Cash survives without anyone looking after her.

Although this book was written for juvenile readers, I really enjoyed it. Although I didn’t mention it during the synopsis of the book, this book largely deals with a city-wide ban on pit bulls, which Cash obviously is. People in the town feel that pit bulls are a particularly dangerous breed of dogs, and therefore any pit bull that doesn’t have a home would be destroyed. Cash actually becomes something of a hero because of her great care for those around her, and the affect that this has on the town makes for a great ending. The book also weaves several stories together at the same time, and doesn’t tie them all together until the ending of the book. This keeps you wondering how the stories will relate to each other, and when they do intersect, it is done so in a realistic way.

Another thing I have to mention is the objectionable content in the book. As I mentioned earlier, the reason I read it is because other librarians had some objections to it. The book was objected to because of references to dog fighting, and other examples of cruelty to animals. After reading the book, I can see where these librarians are coming from. Dog fighting, and the subsequent cruelty to animals, is referenced in passing in the book. After Cash is abandoned in the field, she is captured by a shady character and put in the ring with another dog. Although Cash escapes, the other dogs that have been fighting for a while are talked about, and it isn’t a pretty scene. In addition to the dog fighting references, there is some profanity throughout the book.

The cruelty to animals and the profanity definitely raise some red flags for me. But in regards to moving the book to the YA section, I don’t think that I would do that. The book itself is definitely written for a younger reader. The sentence structure is simple, and the lead character is a young boy. Moving this book to the YA section would be taking it out of its intended audience. Having said that, I don’t know if I would want my younger siblings reading this book, so I can see it from both sides. Personally, I would leave the book in the juvenile section, but if anyone came to me with objections to the book, I could totally understand their objections. Although the book has some objectionable content, it is well written, and sheds some light on the debate between evil breeds or bad owners.