DALE SMITH, Publisher
Born and raised in Kansas City, I graduated from Hickman Mills High School, trekked off to Europe after graduation and came back to attend SMSU. After college, I owned my own business, got married, had three kids (Courtney, Kyle and Luke), got divorced, sold my business, began working in the publishing and advertising industries and got married again; to Stacy. All the while I owned Arabian Horses, a pot-bellied pig and the more traditional dogs and cats. One day the company I was working for decided to eliminate its KC office, gave us a severance package and told us to hit the road. Instead of going to work for someone else – again, Stacy and I decided to take the money from the severance package and start Paw Prints. Stacy was traveling for her job when we cooked this up and I called her one night in her hotel room and told her I’d collected our first check from an advertiser and it was time for her to quit her job. We did it!

Email Dale at dale@pawprintsthemagazine.com

STACY SMITH, Editor-In-Chief
Growing up in Overland Park (Shawnee Mission South, in case you were wondering) gave me two things as a kid and then a teenager preparing for adulthood: 1) a bunch of well-grounded, Mid-western values, and 2) the desire to get as far away from here as possible as soon as I could! I chose to go as far as Tucson, AZ to attend the University of Arizona and soon after graduating moved on to spend the next ten years on Los Angeles, CA working in Hollywood. Upon returning to the KC area in 1999 with my Siberian Husky, Lab mix and two cats in tow, for what was supposed to be just a few months, I decided to give the Midwest another try. The move became permanent when Dale and I got together and eventually married in December of 2002. (Oh, did I mention that I then became step-mom to three teenagers?) Since then, we’ve collected several more pets and started a pet magazine – this one. I still look at him sometimes and say, “Honey! We publish a magazine! How wild is that?” He just looks at me and laughingly says, “I know, Honey. Pretty wild.”

Email Stacy at stacy@pawprintsthemagazine.com

Our Monthly Contributors:

Stuart Tarlowe
Stu Tarlowe, 56, a native of NYC, has been an "underground" d.j., "repo man", Boardwalk Pitchman, show pro, sales trainer, wordsmith and joke wrangler. He describes himself as an entrepreneur, raconteur, boulevardier, pundit and curmudgeon, but has often been described by others as a jerk, putz, moron and ****head.

He's a lifelong German Shepherd Dog aficionado, has owned GSDs and a Shiloh Shepherd, and is a Life Member of the Shiloh Shepherd Dog Club of America. He lives in the KC area with his GSD "Arrow" and two housecats, "Caprice" and "Lucky". He has been writing for Paw Prints since the summer of 2004.

You may contact him at stu@pawprintsthemagazine.com

April Rosenthal is the mother of four dogs: Caleb, Jack, Marianne, and Carolina. Miss Rosenthal moved to Kansas City from Louisville, KY in 2002. She came with two dogs and a dream of a better life. About her pre-Kansas City days, she says, "I learned to write as a journalist in the US Navy. I used these skills while studying at Indiana University, but stopped writing after graduation. A few years ago, I had the urge to start writing again." When asked why she loves to contribute to Paw Prints, she replied,” I love animals, especially dogs. And the magazine gives me the opportunity to explore various aspects of the Animal Kingdom." Besides her contributions to Paw Prints, Miss Rosenthal is currently working on a novel and several short stories.

You may contact her at april@pawprintskc.com

Dr. Kent Kraus, DVM owns Tomahawk Animal Hospital in Overland Park. He acquired the hospital after working there for several years as an Associate. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Kansas State University’s College of Arts & Sciences in Manhattan, Kansas; he continued on to Kansas State’s College of Veterinary Medicine where he earned his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 1991. Dr. Kraus has served two terms on the Kansas City Veterinarian Medical Association’s Board of Directors and is currently an Executive Committee Member on the Pets for Life, Inc. Board of Directors. His relationship with that organization has been on-going since the early 90’s. He is a co-author of the Pets for Life Veterinary evaluation of temperament testing & physical exam.

You may contact him by email at vets@pawprintsthemagazine.com. Please make sure to put Dr. Krauss’ name in the subject line.

Dr. John Teeter, DVM received his undergraduate degree from Kansas State University and went on to receive his DVM from there in 1981. Later, he was tapped as K-State’s “2002 Outstanding Veterinary Alumnus”. He is currently a partner at Nall Hills Animal Hospital where he has been practicing since 1983. Dr. Teeter’s participation in the Kansas City area’s pet community includes having been President of the Kansas City Veterinary Medical Association and is now serving as Chairman of Kansas State University’s Pet Trust. In addition to his “pet projects”, Dr. Teeter is involved in Boy Scouts, SCUBA dives and is, of course, enthusiastically involved in his daughter, Hannah’s, high school activities.

You may contact him by email at vets@pawprintsthemagazine.com. Please make sure to put Dr. Teeter’s name in the subject line.