Does saving a life always mean preserving it, or does it sometimes mean letting go? When Gail Gilmore's beloved dog Chispa is diagnosed with Canine Cognitive Dysfunction, her first instinct is to do everything possible to bring the symptoms of this neurologically debilitating condition under control. But treatments fail, and Chispa's symptoms worsen. Faced with emotionally complicated questions and difficult ethical decisions, Gail repeatedly visits the one place where she believes she might find the spiritual guidance and wisdom needed to make the best choice for Chispa--a tiny, extraordinary church in St. Johnsbury, Vermont called the Dog Chapel. Within the chapel, its walls deeply layered with overlapping photographs and notes from thousands of previous visitors to dogs loved and lost, Gail finds both answers and peace in the wise words of the unknown people she comes to consider her tribe. A story of unconditional love and devotion, Dog Church is also a story of finding comfort in faith and the ways in which the emotional threads of love and grief can bind complete strangers together for brief moments in time in ways that are ultimately life-changing.


Gail Gilmore is a career advisor at Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a volunteer for Missing Dogs Massachusetts. She lives in the Boston area with her spouse and two Puerto Rican rescue dogs. Dog Church is her first book.