Ginny the dog, rescuer of almost 700 cats.

After Philip Gonzalez of Long Island, New York, adopted a dog from an animal shelter, he
discovered his new friend had an amazing ability: She could sniff out and rescue cats from buried boxes, dumpsters and other hard-to-reach places. Ginny's heroism has won her awards like 'Cat of the Year' in 1999 from a feline fanciers' club. Here's the story behind a man's - and a cat's - best friend.

Q:Ginny is a mix of Siberian Husky and Schnauzer. What made you pick her at the animal shelter?
A: I walked toward her cage to see a Doberman Pinscher. I stuck my hand in there. Ginny got up from the back of the cage and came up and started licking my hand. She was about 11 months old. Before she arrived at the shelter she had been locked up in a closet with her puppies for days.

Q:When did you find out about her fondness for cats?
A: The third day I had her, I dropped the leash and she ran into a vacant lot. There was a cat running towards her. I thought they were going to fight, but when they got up to each other, she started cleaning the cat. The cat loved Ginny.

Q:How many cats do you have?
A: Ten. The cats lay all around Ginny. She loves them all. There's one cat, King Arthur, who loves her a lot, but he hates other cats.

Q:Are all the cats in poor health?
A: They were in the beginning. Now they are healthy. A lot of them still have disabilities. Some have one eye, some can't hear, others can't see. Betty Boop has rear paws missing, but she's a happy little cat.

Q:How many other cats do you care for?
A: I feed over 200 outside cats at about 14 feeding areas. Each morning I give them food and filtered water. It costs about $600 a week to feed them. I also have them spayed, neutered, and get medical attention if they need it.

Q:This must get expensive. How do you pay for it all?
A: Costs vary. The most I ever spent on a cat was about $4,000. The cat had been hit by a car and needed to get its jaw wired and its tail amputated. Ginny was in the car when we saw the cat under a brick. We took her to the vet and she survived. We paid for it with the money from sales from the books I wrote on Ginny, "The Blessing of the Animals" and "The Dog Who Rescues Cats," plus people's donations to the Ginny Fund. The fund was established to help feed, spay, neuter and give medical attention to the outside cats.

Q:After a long day on the job, does Ginny play with a favorite toy?
A: She doesn't have one. She plays with the cats. They run around her, and she catches them and cleans them. They are her babies.

Q:Does she like dogs?
A: She likes a few, but doesn't like them that much.

Q:What do you think brought you and Ginny together?
A: Probably it was meant to be.