Meet the pet-lovers behind the bylines:
Dr. Marty Becker | Gina Spadafori | Christie Keith | Susan and Dr. Rolan Tripp | Mikkel Becker Shannon | Keith Turner | Kim Campbell Thornton
The Pet Connection newspaper feature team
The weekly Pet Connection page feature is syndicated to newspapers internationally by Universal Press. Here are the primary contributors:
Dr. Marty Becker
Dr. Marty Becker is "America's Veterinarian." Dr. Becker is the popular veterinary contributor to ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" and is the host of "The Pet Doctor With Marty Becker" on PBS. He has appeared on Animal Planet, and is a frequent guest on national network and cable television, and radio shows. He has also been interviewed for countless magazine and newspaper articles.
Dr. Becker is an adjunct professor at both his alma mater, the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and at the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Additionally, he has lectured at every veterinary school in the United States, and been named Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year by the Delta Society and the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Dr. Becker is co-author of the fastest-selling pet book in history, "Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul," and is either sole author or co-author of other top-selling books, including other animal books in the Chicken Soup line, "The Healing Power of Pets: Harnessing the Amazing Ability of Pets To Make and Keep People Happy and Healthy," and "Fitness Unleashed: A Dog and Owner's Guide to Losing Weight and Gaining Health Together!" With Gina Spadafori, he is co-author of the New York Times best-seller, "Why Do Dogs Drink Out of the Toilet?" as well as several other books.
The two produce the Pet Connection feature for the Universal Press Syndicate. The feature appears in newspapers throughout the United States and Canada, as well as on many Web sites.
Dr. Becker devotes his life to his family, which includes his beloved wife, Teresa, daughter, Mikkel, and son, Lex, along with all the furry family members on the Beckers' Almost Heaven Ranch in Northern Idaho.
Gina Spadafori
Gina Spadafori has been blessed with the opportunity to combine two of her dearest loves -- animals and words -- into a career writing about animals.
Gina has served on the boards of directors of both the Cat Writers Association and the Dog Writers Association of America. She has won the DWAA's Maxwell Medallion for the best newspaper column, and her column has also been honored with a certificate of excellence by the CWA. The first edition of her top-selling book "Dogs For Dummies" was given the President's Award for the best writing on dogs and the Maxwell Medallion for the best general reference work, both by the DWAA.
Along with co-author Dr. Paul D. Pion, a top veterinary cardiologist, she was given the CWA's awards for the best work on feline nutrition, best work on feline behavior, and best work on responsible cat care for the top-selling" Cats For Dummies." The book was also named one of the 100 best feline moments in the 20th century by Cat Fancy magazine. With internationally recognized avian specialist Dr. Brian L. Speer, Gina has also written "Birds For Dummies," one of the best-selling books on pet birds ever written. Her books have been translated into many languages, including French, Serbian, Danish, Japanese and Russian.
Gina has also headed one of the first and largest online pet care sites, the Pet Care Forum, America Online's founding source of pet-care information.
She lives in Northern California.
Christie Keith
Christie Keith is an experienced journalist with a primary interest in animal health issues. In addition to her work as a contributing editor of the Pet Connection syndicated feature and Web log, she oversees editorial and community content and policy for the PetHobbyist.com group of pet Web sites. More recently, she has become the online pet-care columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle's Web site, writing the Your Whole Pet column twice monthly.
She is the past director and editor of America Online's Pet Care Forum, past director and editor of America Online's HIV/AIDS Forum, past director and editor of the Veterinary Information Network's pet owner website, and the founding editor of VeterinaryPartner.com. She has also been a contributing editor to The Bark magazine.
Christie has bred and shown Scottish Deerhounds under the Caber Feidh kennel name, and is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Scottish Deerhound Club of America, and past President of the Northern California Deerhound Club. She has bred group and best in field winning hounds.
She lives in Northern California. For more information, visit Caber Feidh.
Susan and Dr. Rolan Tripp
Susan and Dr. Rolan Tripp have followed their hearts into a career helping people develop better relationships with their pets. Their pioneering Web site, AnimalBehavior.Net, focuses on this increasingly important aspect of veterinary practice. The Tripps write “On Good Behavior” for the Pet Connection syndicated newspaper feature.
Dr. Tripp has lectured and presented on animal behavior around the world, and he is an Affiliate Professor of Applied Animal Behavior at both Colorado State University and the University of Wisconsin. He is also the principal veterinary consultant to Petmate, one of the largest manufacturers of pet products in the world.
With a background in teaching, writing and speaking, Susan Tripp shares her husband’s passion for developing create kinder, gentler experiences for pets in veterinary practices and at home. The Tripps owned the La Mirada ( Calif.) Animal Hospital for 10 years, during which she helped to transform the practice by offering community seminars, a volunteer program, puppy kindergarten classes, day care, deluxe boarding and gentle grooming.
The Tripps live in Southern California. For more information, visit AnimalBehavior.Net.
Mikkel Becker Shannon
Mikkel Becker Shannon is a lifelong animal-lover and an accomplished young writer. Mikkel has been active in the Quarter Horse show circuit and she is a three time Canadian National Champion in Western Pleasure and Hunter Under Saddle. Mikkel has been a contributing author to Knight Ridder newspapers, Cat Fancy Magazine and her work has appeared in Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul II. Mikkel and her husband Pat Shannon live in eastern Washington, where Mikkel is wrapping up a degree in intercultural communications at Washington State University.
The Pet Connection Web log team
Gina Spadafori and Christie Keith are the lead bloggers for the Pet Connection Web log. Their work during the 2007 pet-food recall scandal was lauded by thousands of pet-lovers and featured in many media outlets, including appearances on CNN and articles in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today.
The Pet Connection Web log follows pet-related news and offers expert commentary on issues regarding animals and our society.Christie and Gina are joined occasionally on the blog by top pet-care writer Kim Campbell Thornton.
Kim has been writing about dogs and cats for more than 20 years. Her work appears monthly on MSNBC.com, and she writes frequently for Catnip, Dog World, Popular Dogs and other pet publications. She is enslaved by two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Bella and Twyla, and caters to Larry Bird, an African ringneck parakeet who meows. She and her husband, Jerry, founded the Darcy Fund to raise awareness and funds for research into chronic valve disease -- a tribute to their much missed dog, Darcy.
Keith Turner
Keith Turner is editor of the Pet Connection's DogCars.com Web site and adds his "Car Guy" perspective to each vehicle review. He is a veteran journalist who has been writing his self-syndicated auto review column “The Family Car” since 1994 for parenting publications nationwide. Keith worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers in Michigan, California and Alaska. In 1989, Keith was a member of the Anchorage Daily Newsstaff that was awarded the Pultizer Prize for Meritorious Public Service for its “A People In Peril” series of articles.
Keith, his teenaged children and the family's two cats live in Northern California.
