I saw a huge tour bus parked in front of the Flying Star on Rio Grande last night and it sparked my interest. It was covered in great doggie pictures and the signage said, "A Rare Breed of Love," putting an end to animal cruelty.

Turns out this bus belongs to author Jana Kohl who is on a cross-country trek raising awareness about puppy mills and increasing efforts to help abused animals. She wasn’t at Flying Star. She was actually speaking at Bookworks, next door, to promote her book about Baby, an abused puppy mill survivor who lived through a nine-year ordeal in order to become a "national spokesdog" to raise awareness about cruelty in the dog breeding industry.

After reading her Web site, I just had to post. What an incredible way to promote animal abuse awareness. The Capital Times in Madison, Wis., had this story that really explains more about Baby and what we all can do to stop puppy mills from spreading.

Here’s a snippet of what she hopes to accomplish with her bus tour:

"After writing a book for the past 3-1/2 years, and planning a cross-country schlep to raise awareness about puppy mills, the only thing I feel like writing is a note to the mailman - `Gone to Disneyland.’ But as bone-tired as I am, I have something to get off my chest: When it comes to our efforts to help abused animals, injustices occur every day. The abusers go unpunished and modest reforms that might ease animal suffering go nowhere because of influential lobbyists and corrupt politicians who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo."