Dogs Save

Name: Dogs Save
Price: 198.95 AUD
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ISBN: 9780231206969

Stories of Canine Redemption in US Culture

Katharine Mershon

$198.95

Hardback

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English

Columbia University Press
21 April 2026

Popular culture; Animals & society; Religious groups: social & cultural aspects; Sociology; Dogs as pets

Series: Critical Perspectives on Animals: Theory, Culture, Science, and Law

Stories about people and dogs saving one another are everywhere in US culture-on TV, in Hollywood movies, on social media, and even on bumper stickers. Yet these seemingly heartwarming stories of mutual rescue revolve around redemption through suffering, a narrative profoundly interwoven with Christian beliefs, white racial anxieties, and US national myths.

Katharine Mershon examines the unacknowledged religious underpinnings of stories about dogs, revealing deeply rooted cultural assumptions about who can be saved and how redemption ought to occur. She identifies the ""canine redemption narrative"" as the defining cultural script for the stories people in the United States tell about dogs and, in turn, the nation. Exposing unexamined assumptions about the relationships between people and dogs, Mershon sheds light on the central place of animals and religion in defining racial boundaries.

Dogs Save considers examples including the Michael Vick dogfighting case; Samuel Fuller's controversial B-movie White Dog; the TV show The Dog Whisperer, from the celebrity dog trainer Cesar Millan; Laurie Anderson's film Heart of a Dog; and Eileen Myles's Afterglow (a dog memoir). Bringing together religious studies and animal studies, this book shows that redemption narratives shape who is allowed to survive and thrive in US society.

By: Katharine Mershon
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm,
ISBN: 9780231206969
ISBN 10: 0231206968
Series: Critical Perspectives on Animals: Theory, Culture, Science, and Law
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 21 April 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Katharine Mershon is assistant professor of philosophy and religion at Western Carolina University.

Reviews for Dogs Save: Stories of Canine Redemption in US Culture

An urgent, necessary read for those seeking to understand our enduring intimacy with animals—a sacred bond that Mershon fearlessly examines. -- Colin Dayan, author of <i>With Dogs at the Edge of Life</i> and <i>Animal Quintet</i>