Going Home: The Lost Story of Chief the Fire Dog

Based on a little-known snippet of New York City history, Going Home: The Lost Story of Chief the Fire Dog is the heartwarming story of a destitute dog’s quest for home, family, and a sense of self.

After the stock market crash of 1929, the dog’s financially devastated owner abandons him on the outskirts of New York City. While adjusting to life as a stray, the dog discovers New York City Fire Station Engine Company 203. Among the firemen, he finds a family and a name—Chief.

Chief becomes the station’s beloved pet; then, fire dog, and finds in himself the heart of a hero. But one day, Chief’s life is interrupted by tragedy, leading him on a journey that ultimately takes him to his true home and to the mother and family he never knew. He learns that life has many lessons—but it is love that matters in the end.

Chief’s story offers healing to children who have suffered loss or pain. As a psychotherapist and pediatric nurse for more than thirty years, author Charlene Kate Kavanagh knows first hand that emotional needs of children are often forgotten in times of grief and suffering, whether personal or universal. Going Home reaches out to them and anyone whose world has been lost in a moment.