Readers credit her articles for calling attention to dogs in need and helping to save lives.

Mary Schwager, aka Watchdog Mary, has won more than two dozen journalism awards for investigative, consumer, feature reporting, and writing, including 17 Emmys, eight Edward R. Murrow Awards, and numerous Associated Press honors. 

Mary has received five awards from the Dog Writers Association of America. One was for an article published in The Dodo about a stray dog joining a charity run and finding himself a new home. Another award was for a story about her beloved dog, Daisy: “Ode to Daisy: The Yellow Lab Who Stole Our Hearts.”

She also won three Cat Writers' Association awards for articles published in Catster Magazine. One was about a hero kitty who saved her owner from a fire. Another feature highlighted how veterinary house calls are making a comeback, helping cats and their owners avoid the stress of going to the animal hospital. And if you’ve ever wondered if your cat might need a lawyer, her third award-winning article has answers.

Mary has worked as a television reporter, investigative reporter, and investigative producer at network-affiliated stations across the country, including Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Boston, Massachusetts. 

Working in television, she's gotten high-profile interviews, gone undercover with hidden cameras, and done round-the-clock live shots during breaking news events, sometimes even reporting thousands of feet above the ground in a chopper. (While hovering over giant, flaming explosions.) 

She has chased after infamous criminals to get interviews, like Christopher Scarver, the man who killed serial killer Jeffery Dahmer in prison.

While on assignment, Mary asked William “Rick” Singer, the mastermind behind the nationwide college admissions bribery scandal, why he gamed the system.

Her "Consumer Watchdog Mary" videos aired nationally on "The Daily Buzz" morning show.

As a print journalist writing about money, trends, and finance, Mary's articles have appeared in Galtime.com, The Examiner, Huffington Post, Yahoo, and Fox Business News.

Now, Watchdog Mary is using her talents to report about animals. She writes for The Dodo, Grit Daily, Dogster, Catster, Just Labs, EnviroNews, and Celebrity Page TV.

She was also the Facebook Live roving reporter (some might even say the “rover reporter”) for I Love My Dog and its 5.5 million fans.

Some of her articles have resulted in changes being implemented in municipal shelters and animals’ lives being saved. She was one of the first journalists to write about a change in federal tax rules, which made fostering an animal for a nonprofit rescue tax-deductible. Even with the new additions to federal tax laws, fostering is still deductible.

One of Mary’s most treasured moments was meeting legendary conservationist and scientist Jane Goodall.

Watchdog Mary was also a state-licensed detective and conducted criminal and insurance fraud investigations after graduating from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Marquette Magazine (page 34) featured some of Mary's accomplishments. 

Mary is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Dog Writers Association of America, the Cat Writers’ Association of America, and Investigative Reporters and Editors. She is also a part-time lecturer teaching journalism at Northeastern University in Boston—and hopes to one day write books about rescued dogs and a memoir about one of her dogs, Solly.

She has always loved animals. Growing up, she had parakeets, chameleons, fish, guinea pigs, and dogs. In college, she and her roommate had a cat and a rabbit. The pair actually got along quite well. The cat would paw at the bunny's nose. He took it as a sign of affection and loved it. The two animals, both litter box trained, made for some wonderful moments.  

The very first dog Mary adopted was abandoned when she was three weeks old. Ever since she has adopted rescue dog after rescue dog, and so has the rest of her family. 

In her 20s, Mary started volunteering with rescue organizations, something she continues to do today. It’s often one of the toughest yet most worthwhile volunteer gigs you can have!

Follow Watchdog Mary on social media:  Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

One reader sent this note to Watchdog Mary: "I would like to extend a heartfelt ‘THANK YOU’ in appreciation of you, Mary Schwager, for being a true advocate for animals everywhere, whose voice is heard through your tenacious spirit, diplomacy, and passion, which reaches the hearts of those who join you for the sake of all the precious furbabies left behind in shelters. You give us hope and cause to continue to speak for the animals we love." -Elizabeth Barrera