Cohn’s voice is very personable, welcoming you into her and her wonderful dogs’ lives though the writing is as charming as it can be scattershot. It reads like coming back to find a group chat gone wild. Replete with a plethora of wonderful dogs pics. It was wonderful, if bittersweet, to get to know Cohn’s dogs, who even in this limited capacity are so lovable. Who Saved Who absolutely brims with love even – perhaps especially – in the most difficult of times and is a lovely tribute to both her pets and parents.

A frequent refrain comes from Cohn’s mother – “We save dogs, Roz; that’s what we do.” The ill health and decline of Fluke and Diva is heartbreakingly detailed. But her determination to do what’s best for them is both admirable and inspiring. The love she showers on her next dogs, Maui and Kona, both rescues, remains so, and the joy they bring to her is palpable. And is a wonderful source of hope. 

For the most part Cohn’s honesty serves the book well. However it proves a problem when we come to what she terms woo. The unthought through implications of ‘had I followed the Western guidelines totally, he would have been gone sooner’ that positions the non-western as unscientific. Her defensiveness over her belief in her animal communicator. The repeated and intense anthropomorphising of her pets which prioritises her interpretation of their state over their actual wellbeing. Dogs are very loving creatures but they’re not human and their emotions are not the same as ours. Projecting onto them risks losing sight of their needs to soothe your own. 

What is an animal communicator? A spiritual medium for animals which makes use of ghost vets to help heal them. Cohn often says something along the lines of “You may think I’m nuts and I don’t care’. Every time it’s frustrating. It’s more woo than I believe. But I’m here. I’m reading your book. I’m on your terms. The people who are going to judge you for it are already doing so. When you gets defensive at me my hackles get up. It’s the worst of both worlds. If you don’t care then don’t care and get off my case about it. Have the conviction you claim you do.

Thanks to iRead Book Tours and Roslyn Cohn for the review copy. I leave this review voluntarily.