Wayne Pacelle, the CEO and President of the Humane Society of the United States has written a new book, The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them. The book describes our contradictory attitudes towards animals and ideas on how to move into the future that benefits all. The leader of the nation's largest animal protection organization, Pacelle has helped to bring animal protection from the margins to the mainstream during his quarter century of work in the field, which includes seventeen years at HSUS.

The other is called, Shaggy Muses, by Maureen Adams. It is five stories about famous authors and their dogs. The people are: Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Virginia Wolf, Emily Dickinson and Edith Wharton. One passage I love is this: "In addition to providing a safe harbor and a secure attachment...they teach us how to tolerate and moderate our emotions. A child's powerful feelings are terrifying if experienced alone...we can cry or shout or read a poem we have written and our dog will keep us on track and always remains the same. They are our mute confederates."

Most of the women in the book except for Edith Wharton were very introverted people as well as ill. The dogs were the only ones they felt really at ease with. Adams writes: "Because they belong to a different species, dogs ...do not judge changes in our appearance, our social status or profession."

I am sure that a dog would be a very good way to help a child who is being bullied at school or feeling alone. The price of a shelter dog, that the child picks out him or herself, could well be worth more than anything else you could buy.

It could be any pet, but a dog has that special look that seems to understand us so well. A dog is also so huggable whereas a cat might not like being held. You do need to be sure your child does not take violent anger out on the animal.

Whatever you decide, the pet needs to be that particular child's pet and allowed to sleep in the room. He needs to be fed by the child; under supervision of parent. When I remember how much it meant to me, the child of divorce, it makes my heart ache for all those kids out there who really need this. Don't wait too long.