There's something wrong at the Glenwood County Animal Shelter and fourteen-year old Nell Lyons is determined to find out what it is. Ordered by the court to perform community service for something she didn't even do, Nell spends her time at the animal shelter filing papers and cleaning bird cages. In the meantime, she's missing her riding lessons at Wishing Well Farm and she's lost her babysitting jobs. All because she and her friends were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Things change when Nell uncovers a plot to steal dogs from the shelter - and with the arrival of a neglected horse.