Leslie Irvine aptly builds a sociological understanding of the importance of human/animal interaction in her book, My Dog Always Eats First: Homeless People and Their Animals. In her previous articles and books, she broadened symbolic interactionism to encompass the animal mind and self, extended analytic perspectives on animals to include theoretical issues of social structure, and examined the plight of animals in disasters as a window into larger questions of responses to disasters. My Dog Always Eats First continues her research agenda and extends symbolic interaction perspectives to cast light on the complicated and compassionate relationships that homeless people have with their animals, and she provides insights into how these relationships inform our understanding of homelessness.