The True Story of Liberty Pearl’s Rescue from Saddam Hussein’s Bombed Presidential Palace

THE EYES OF LIBERTY PEARL

WENDY DALE YOUNG

Wednesday, June 26th at 7pm

Chaucer’s Bookstore is honored to host author and composer, Wendy Dale Young, and her rescue pup, Liberty Pearl, for a inspiring and heartwarming event and book signing. Behind the Eyes of Liberty Pearl describes the life of this brave four-legged survivor before she was rescued from Iraq.

By the time Coalition forces bombed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s presidential palace in 2003, human occupants had already evacuated the building. When U.S. Marines searched the rubble, they discovered a shaggy-haired puppy-a Coton de Tuléar- hungry and trembling with fear, but otherwise healthy.

Troops took the young dog to the Baghdad Zoo, where pets from throughout the war zone were receiving temporary shelter in abandoned cages. Months later, the little dog was brought to the United States, where Young, living in Southern California, adopted her. She tells her story in the new fact-based novel, told from the point of view of Liberty Pearl.

“Liberty had been through so much bombing and who-knows-what else, that she was a mess, psychologically,” Young said. “She would lie on her back and shake uncontrollably. She suffered from what seemed like post traumatic stress disorder.”

Young’s father was the late actor Alan Young, who was best known as Wilbur on the classic television sitcom “Mister Ed.” Young jokes that her dad talked to horses, but she talks to dogs.

“I still cry when I think of all that she went through,” Young said. “She’s just the sweetest dog; an angel with so much pain in her eyes. She still gets a little shy around some people, but she is doing much better.”