Ahrendt, Delilah (Anna) 1975(?)-

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AHRENDT, Delilah (Anna) 1975(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1975, in Chicago, IL; married; children: two. Education: Wright College, associates degree; attended University of Illinois and Culinary School (Portland, OR). Hobbies and other interests: Kickboxing.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Hillsboro, OR. Agent—c/o New Horizon Press, P.O. Box 669 Far Hills, NJ 07931. E-mail—delilah@delilahahrendt.com.

CAREER:

Writer. Has worked as a teacher's assistant.

WRITINGS:

(With Rose Block) Canine Caper: Real-Life Tales of a Female Pet Vigilante, New Horizon Press (Far Hills, NJ), 2001.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

An historical romance about a small mining time.

SIDELIGHTS:

Delilah Ahrendt is the coauthor, with Rose Block, of Canine Caper: Real-Life Tales of a Female Pet Vigilante, an account of Block's crusade to save mistreated and abandoned dogs. Block, who worked as an accountant before becoming a full-time dog rescuer, has stolen abused dogs from their homes in order to get them medical care. Such actions have resulted in threats and arrest, and her desire to keep her personal information and family's location a secret.

Block's activism began when she discovered a puppy and its emaciated German Shepherd mother, tightly chained and bleeding from the neck. Although she and her husband Bob were estranged at the time, he came when she asked for his help. Together they expanded their search for dogs in peril, and grew close again. Writing in School Library Journal, Claudia Moore recommended the book for more mature students because of its "grisly details, violence, and the lack of feeling that humans can show to the animals in their care." A Publishers Weekly contributor felt Canine Caper read "more like an adventure novel than a memoir."

In an interview with Rose City Romance Writers, Ahrendt said Canine Caper "could be perceived by many as not being a romance because it's nonfiction. But I really think it is. It's about a woman rediscovering her love for her husband, which she thought she had lost, while also rediscovering her love for animals, which she'd had since she was a little girl left in an orphanage."