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Remember the day you found your best friend?

Or was it the other way around? Did she find you?

Maybe she was a Pet of the Week picture staring at you from a newspaper or TV screen. Perhaps you spied him in a shelter kennel and he threw himself at the gate to reach you. Or maybe someone handed you a furry bundle and that was it: You weren't looking for a pet, but you weren't looking to go head-over-heels, either.

Loving your best friend as you do, you wonder how anyone can hurt a trusting animal?

Ten New York tough guys (and their "den mother") wonder the same thing. In the new book, "Rescue Ink" by Rescue Ink with Denise Flaim, you'll read about them and their dogged work, saving abused animals.

When confronted by a six-foot-two tattooed biker-type guy with a gruff voice and biceps the size of a small child, you almost expect to get mashed. At the very least, you hope for a chance to skitter away with your life intact. But if you're an abused animal and the big guy is from Rescue Ink, you have nothing to fear.

If a dog, cat, rabbit or horse is in trouble, it doesn't matter if the animal is in a suburban home near Manhattan, a small apartment in Queens or a brownstone in Brooklyn, the guys from Rescue Ink don't back down from anything.

Rescue Ink prides itself on an "in your face" way of saving animals: Confronting uncaring owners is commonplace, and cross-armed stare-downs work wonders. If the situation is more delicate, members are pros at negotiation and can be extremely generous with supplies and information.

Although Rottweilers and pit bulls are favorites with these burly guys, there are cat "experts" on the team, as well as a member who lives with a big pack of tiny dogs.

There are stories with happy endings in "Rescue Ink," including that of Rebel, originally called Ribbon because his ears had been torn as such.

Spike, once all snarly teeth, is on his way to becoming a trustworthy pet.

One "nervous-looking Lab" was turned over after an anti-puppy mill rally. Formerly abused pets found new leashes on life because of Rescue Ink.

If you're a pet lover (and really -- would you be reading this review if you weren't?), when you're done reading this book, you'll thank God there are people like the guys in "Rescue Ink."

Although most of the stories here are cringe-worthy (but with happy endings), I really liked the messages that the rescuers and Flaim offer: Take responsibility for your animals; give them training, proper care, and protection; love them like they deserve to be loved; and spay and neuter. Readers wanting more information will find tips at the end of this book and hints of a Web site that, while not included, is easy to find.

Dog and cat lovers in particular will eat this book up, but any fan of the four-legged will want it, too. "Rescue Ink" is a book to fetch.

"Rescue Ink" by Rescue Ink with Denise Flaim, Viking, $25.95, 244 pages.