Bio

Eva Saks, Editor. A Sundance Film Festival filmmaker and student Academy Award winner, Saks has extensive writing and directing credits for television, film, theater, and the Internet (Disney, Nickelodeon, PBS, Discovery UK, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Sesame Street, ComedyNet, CBS, etc.). She was Editor-in-Chief of Casting Call Magazine, a founding editor of The Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities, and an editor of The Yale Law Journal (she went to Yale Law School and practiced in NY and California). Saks has sold articles to publications ranging from Playboy to The Riverdale Press to Raritan to Johns Hopkins Theater Journal. As well as undergraduate and law degrees from Yale University, she has a Master of Fine Arts from New York University Film School. An animal-loving director, she has worked with dogs, ducks, zebras, rats, elephants, horses, chickens, raccoons, rabbits, monkeys, goats, and an insolent cow. Saks is deeply committed to animal rescue. She produced and directed Unbridled, a documentary short about rescued horses and rescued horse women. She is actively involved with dog rescue, especially Shetland Sheepdog rescue. Her first dog was a rescued Sheltie, the great Momo  (Essex My One & Only). For the story of this extraordinary dog, click on the Editorials tab above and read the entry of May 6, 2011. Currently, she is the proud owner of three rescued Shelties: 3-year old Hobby (Essex My Sunny Valentine), 4-year old Sally (Ha-Dar Center Stage), and 10-year old Buddy (Essex Welcome Waggin'). She invites you to friend her and ALTERNATIVE PET on their Facebook pages.



ALTERNATIVE PET was founded by Eva Saks and Leslie Rugg in 2010 to address topics too controversial for advertiser-driven, mass-market publicatons. Saks and Rugg first worked together in 2007 on two Public Service Announcements for no-kill animal shelters starring Laddie, the 9th generation Lassie, who was managed by Rugg. Saks wrote and directed, and Rugg wrangled the star. Rugg and Saks found they had common interests in canines, culture, and critical inquiry. They began writing together and published fifteen articles in one year. Their work appeared in AKC Gazette, Animal Wellness, The Bark, and Fido Friendly – as well on the websites of The Bark and Tigertail Foods. (To read these articles, click on the Publications tab above.)

Together, Rugg and Saks have several book projects in the works, including:
* The Dog Ate My Cookbook! Tasty Meals You and Your Dog Can Share
* The Name Game: The 21st Century Guide To Naming Your Pet
* Petiquette: A Manners Guide For The Discerning Dog Owner
* Men Are Dogs / Women Are Bitches: How to Find a Mate as Nice as Your Dog



Leslie Rugg, Contributing Editor. Rugg published, co-edited, and wrote for two canine specialty magazines, Rare Insight (about rare dog breeds) and The Collie Review. She also wrote for mass market/pet magazines and all-breed/show world magazines, including AKC Gazette, AKC Family Dog, Dog & Kennel, Cat & Kitten, and Bird Times. Other credits include five co-authored novels (Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster). Rugg appeared in the Animal Planet/ Discovery special “Hollywood's Top Dogs” as an expert on canines and on the internet/radio program Animal Talk Naturally, speaking on “What is the Right Food for our Pets?” For several years, she managed Laddie, the 9th generation Lassie, and his trainer, Bob Weatherwax. Her nuclear and extended family pets have included 12 rough Collies, 2 smooth Collies, 7 Poodles, 5 German Shepherds, 1 Weimaraner, 1 American Cocker Spaniel, 1  red Golden retriever, 1 Brittany Spaniel, 1 Shepherd-Husky mix, 1 Papillon, and 1 Pomeranian; 1 Siamese cat and an assortment of other cats; 1 Dutch hare and a few Hooded rats. Her Collies have competed in Conformation and participated in Herding, Obedience and Agility. She is an active member of South Bay Collie Fanciers and has volunteered for Southland Collie Rescue. She has a BA in English from UCLA and completed her MA class requirements in English and American Literature from Claremont Graduate School. Her current Collies, Kipling and Kirby, reflect her literary bent.



 

Eva Saks with her first dogs: Hobby, Momo, and Brome
Leslie Rugg with her first dogs: 
Prince Blackjack and Merryoaks Bruce