Man's Best Hero. Ace Collins

      Out of all of the world’s creatures, the dog is the one that truly needs to love and serve to be happy and fulfilled. This book focuses on dogs that have earned the title hero. Their stories are as varied as their backgrounds. From a four-pound terrier that initiated a mighty movement during World War II, to a massive canine that fought a frigid winter storm to save the man he loved, to a dog that brought hope to those whose spirits were crushed by the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, the animals in these pages have accomplished things far beyond what people believed they could. So in a sense these tales are both inspirational and comforting, but that is not the purpose for placing them in this book. The real reason for telling these amazing stories is to fully present the potential of all dogs, including those in your home right now. All of these canines, be they purebred or mutt, are looking for a calling, yearning to find their potential, and wanting to live out the challenge once issued by the great missionary doctor Albert Schweitzer: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but I do know that the only ones among you who will truly be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” Thanks to a bit of help from humans, the dogs in this book found a life of service. And that is the challenge for each of us as pet owners. We should not just furnish them a home but also provide our companions with a reason to live.

      With that in mind I felt a good place to begin this book was not by focusing on a dog but on a person who loves both dogs and humans. Through faith, determination, vision, and persistence, she has found a way to give the animals no one wanted and the people deemed unforgiveable a second chance at life. And that is a theme found throughout this book—second chances.

      Beautiful, tall, and elegant, on first glance Renie Rule defines sophistication and grace. She could be the model for the modern businesswoman. But so much more than her career defines her. Rule possesses charismatic warmth that draws you right into her soul and a spirit that inspires those around her to dig deeper and climb higher. Robert F. Kennedy once said, “There are those who look at things and ask why, I dream of things that never were and ask why not.” Rule is one of those rare people who constantly finds answers to problems others usually fail to see.

      The Fort Worth native and Little Rock resident is the executive director of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. And though her activities in helping to guide one of the nation’s top teaching hospitals are remarkable, it is her job of transforming lives through volunteer work that has seen her create a new breed of heroes. These all but unnoticed champions were once unwanted canines that were on their way to doggy death row but now serve as assistance animals, therapy dogs, and pets. Her revolutionary work has touched thousands, and it was remarkably born out of one sad man’s final request.

      Rule’s upbringing as a missionary’s kid gave her a slightly different point of view than most folks. After watching her parents work in some of the poorest areas on the globe and live out their passion for service each day of their lives, Rule doesn’t look for what she can take but rather searches for what she can give. Even as a child in Brazil she was saving starving dogs while her parents were feeding hungry people. Perhaps it was those actions that gave her the conviction that every animal and person, no matter what they have done in the past, has the potential to be something remarkable now and in the future.

      In the summer of 1994, Rule was forty-four when she read a newspaper story about Hoyt Franklin Clines. Clines was on death row awaiting execution for robbery and murder. In his final interview he told a reporter he had hoped his last meal would be a hamburger, French fries, and banana bread. The first two were easy requests for the prison to fill, but the prisoner was deeply disappointed when he was informed the unit’s kitchen could not make banana bread.

      Most people would have read the story and felt little compassion for a man society had deemed unfit to live, but not Renie Rule. She went to the store, bought the necessary ingredients, raced back to her kitchen, mixed and baked the bread, and then drove more than an hour to deliver it to the prison gate. At that moment she had no way of knowing this simple act would lead to starting a program that would radically change the lives of dogs and humans on both sides of prison walls. All she was doing was trying to show compassion for one single soul.

      On August 2, the night before he was to be executed, Clines was allowed to make a phone call. For almost an hour the lonely man spoke with Rule. As the conversation was ending she asked him if there was anything else she could do during his last day on earth. The man quickly replied, “Will you build a chapel down here?”

      There