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Animal Rescue Stories

Read heartfelt stories of rescue, and share your rescued animal stories with others.

Pippi Ratbone Finds Her Forever Home

Pippi Ratbone Finds Her Forever Home

I was on the internet looking for a particular breed of dog as a companion both to me and to the family Boxer. I was familiar with PetFinder, so I started there. In searching the dogs in my state, I came across a little homeless dog who looked so sweet and so cute, I read about her, and she seemed likely to be a good fit in our family. She wasn't the breed I was looking for, but I did research on her breed, and there was no problem. I immediately put in my bid for adoption on this little rat terrier. There was a happy ending for all of us...Pippi came home. She's a delightful dog who loves her family and never fails to make me laugh.

Chris Frederick
Pasadena, MD
Clydie's Story

Clydie's Story

Clydie became ours when we adopted him on acreage where boys who should know better were throwing sticks and stones at him. At one point we saw him limping and realized that something thrown had injured his front leg. We coaxed him to our yard and fed him during a cold winter in a large wooden box with food & warm milk. We had 4 other cats at the time and could not bring him into our home. After a sad loss of one our pets we welcomed Clydie into our family. Sadly we only enjoyed him for 10 yrs. before he passed away. In that time this sweet feline gave his love freely and showed his appreciation for us adopting him with his sunshine personality. We loved him and miss him a lot! He got his sweet face into the 2009 Alberta SPCA calendar for August!

Eileen
Elnora, Canada
Monster

Monster

Dottie (aka Monster) is our rescue dog. A coworker of my mother's had rescued a dog that had been hit by a car after having puppies. Her vet said that the puppies couldn't have been more than two weeks old when she was separated from them. My mom's coworker fostered Hynie (Dottie's old name) and found what she thought was a good home for her. Six months later she came home to find Hynie tied to her mailbox with no water, food, or shade on a hundred-plus degree day. The dog had been starved, beaten, and abused. Since the coworked couldn't care for her long-term, she set out to find another home. Since my family had another dog (Bingo) we were her first choice. My parents took Bingo to meet Hynie and they got along great! They brought Dottie home and she continues to annoy and love us to this day. Dottie is Springer Spaniel & Dalmation and still has some issues with her past abuse. I look at her and wonder how anyone could be mean to this dog, she is the sweetest, most loving dog I have ever seen. She doesn't really get along with other dogs but people are her favorites. She is affectionately know as 'Monster' because she gets into the garbage (leftover habit from being starved), barks constantly and at everything, and licks herself until she is raw (if we aren't around). But she is in her forever home and we will take her as she is.

Kim
American Canyon, CA
The best 'prize' ever

The best 'prize' ever

On the 4th of July in 1996 a park ranger at our campground showed up with a box full of puppies (15 in all). She was trying to find good homes for the newly weaned litter of her two dogs. My mom fell in love with a little guy and her friends told her that it didn't matter what she wanted to name him, his name was Bingo (because the group was playing Bingo when the ranger arrived). At the time I was deathly afraid of dogs but once I saw him the fear melted away. Bingo was Sharpei, Bull Terrier, Chow, some kind of retriever, and Dingo (he was prettiest mutt ever). Looking back now I can't remember why I was so afraid. He opened my eyes to the joy of living with dogs. Bingo passed away in April of 2006 (just shy of his tenth birthday) and I will always love and miss my Bubba, my baby, my 75 pound lap dog.

Kim
American Canyon, CA
Romeow

Romeow

Romeow adopted me when I heard him meowing under the back porch. He was very thin and obviously the male tomcat in the neighborhood. We used to joke that he used up eight of his lives fighting whatever he could in the neighborhood (including possums, a rottweiler and numerous other cats). When he began having trouble seeing he became an indoor cat (and boy did he get spoiled). Right before Thanksgiving 2007 he decided to stop eating and went from 15 lbs to a mere 9 lbs. The vet told us it was a thyroid problem or possibly cancer. Two weeks before Christmas that year Romeow let us know that he was done fighting. He spent twelve of his fifteen years making me the happiest person on the planet and I will spend every day of the rest of my life missing him. I can't wait until I can have another huge orange tomcat choose me.

Kim
American Canyon, CA
Love doesn't need ears

Love doesn't need ears

A week after my husband brought Daisy (a catahoula leapord dog) home from a hunting trip, we realized she was deaf. I came home from work one day and called for her, only to find her with her head caught in the garden fence. My heart dropped because, not knowing she couldn't hear me, I thought she must have strangled herself in the fence. When I touched her, she woke up and I got her tiny head out. She now knows hand signals and is a wonderful addition to our family. I feel we were meant for each other. Had she stayed to become a hunting dog, who knows what would have happened when they found out about her disability.

Jennifer R.
Georgetown, TX
My little man!

My little man!

We had recently lost our mini schnauzer of 11 years to pancreatitis and didn't know if we could love another yet. I had been in contact with the St. Louis Schnauzer Rescue and became aware of a mini schnauzer named Turek they had recently received. I went to meet Turek and fell in love with him from day one. I brought him home the next day and he has been an angel from heaven. We renamed him Turk and he has become the biggest part of our family. He is the most loving dog...he will actually hug you and put his Schnauzer arms around your neck. He will always be my little man and an angel from above!

Linda Raters
O'Fallon, MO
Year long wait

Year long wait

Wheatie is a retired racing greyhound who won many races during his career; after his retirement, Greyhound Angels Adoption took him in. However, unlike many other greyhounds, Wheatie does not like other dogs which hampered his ability to be adopted. After looking at GAA's website, we went out to the kennel to meet the hounds and Wheatie was at the top of our list. He won us over instantly! Even though he doesn't like other animals he is a big lovebug when it comes to humans. He loves going for trips, long walks, and snuggling on the couch. It was worth the wait!

Kathy Quick
Galloway, NJ
Lewis

Lewis

This is my Lewis. When I arrived at the shelter to finalize the paperwork for the chow (Deniro) that I had picked out, there was a sweet pup in the next run who was lying all alone and unspoken for when most of the other dogs had been adopted out. He licked my hand while the attendant told me that he had been picked on by the other dogs. That was all I needed to hear. He came to live with Deniro(left),Auggie(right), and Annie(asleep on the couch elsewhere). Now its walks, rides in the car, chew bones, and lots of fun. I am so happy that I brought him to live with us.

John Rowland
Winston Salem, NC
"Fab Labs" Give Back to the Greater KC Humane Society

"Fab Labs" Give Back to the Greater KC Humane Society

Almost two years ago, our Labs - 9 puppies - were left in a box at the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City's (HSGKC's) booth at the Plaza Art Fair in Kansas City. HSGKC helped find all of the adopting "parents." We created a group called the "Fab Labs," and we have kept in touch and celebrated their milestones. Last year, you might have seen many of our unruly puppies on Gary Lezak's Pet Telethon in Kansas City. This year, in addition to showing up with our (better behaved) pups, we presented Gary and HSGKC with a $1,200 check that will help the Humane Society continue their wonderful work. We knew that it was especially important this year because hard economic times mean that more pets are left at the Society's door (and other places).

Beth Schwartz
Lenexa, KS