(NAPSI)—Ask any pet owner and they’ll tell you there’s no such thing as a bad dog or cat. Sometimes they drive us crazy, but most of the time they make our lives better—and sometimes even save them. That’s the message of two, heartwarming new Chicken Soup for the Soul books that will appeal to every animal lover.

“Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog” and “Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat” are now available everywhere books are sold and each features 101 hilarious, touching and sometimes mind-boggling stories about all the very good, very bad and simply amazing things done by ordinary pets.

Readers can read the “tails” of Spirit, the pup who takes the yoga pose “downward dog” literally, and learns to steal the cucumber slices covering his mom’s eyes when she’s meditating, or King Murphy, the big Maine Coon who loves to play board games with a little girl and wear the jewelry he wins.

More important, every pet lover will appreciate the message behind the books: promoting adoption from the nation’s overcrowded animal shelters. Every year, some 6 to 8 million pets are relinquished to shelters, and tragically, 3 to 4 million are euthanized. The stories chosen for the book from thousands of submissions are not only inspirational and fun, but many of them also feature adopted dogs and cats, including black dogs and cats, senior dogs and cats, and pit bulls, the pets most often left behind at shelters.

To help make a difference, Chicken Soup for the Soul is donating royalties from these books to American Humane Association and its lifesaving work to protect America’s dogs, cats and millions more animals. This effort is part of the company’s widespread support for animal shelters and pet adoption, including the donation of Chicken Soup for the Soul pet food and books to shelters across the country.

“Chicken Soup for the Soul is proud to work with American Humane Association to ensure more animals like the ones featured in our two new books are adopted out of our nation’s shelters and find forever homes,” said Amy Newmark, Chicken Soup for the Soul’s publisher and editor-in-chief, and writer of the new books.

“Our dogs and cats are our best friends, and pet owners everywhere know the unbreakable bond that forms between them and their furry friends,” said American Humane Association President and CEO Dr. Robin Ganzert, who wrote the forewords for the books. “Thank you to the humane heroes at Chicken Soup for the Soul for all they continue to do to promote pet adoptions and the good work being done by the nation’s animal shelters. Pick up copies of these books today and I guarantee you will laugh, cry and come away with an even greater appreciation for the amazing healing power of the human-animal bond, the inextricable link between people, pets and the world we share.”

“Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog” and “Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat” are now available in bookstores everywhere. To find and buy your copies, visit www.ChickenSoup.com/books.

On the Net:North American Precis Syndicate, Inc.(NAPSI)