These are my Grand-dogs... Now, Oscar is totally in love and absolutely possessed with Vanessa, but has accepted his sister, this Pitbull pup. I thought he'd be jealous. But not. He waits his turn. Amazing! He's a curtious gentleman!
It was a normal day, till my wife called me. Her voice was calm but somehow strange. She told me, she had to get an animal, TODAY! It wasn't loud just emphatic I got a errie chill, so I started home immediately. I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know what it was. I entered our home still talking on the phone and told her let's go. We were headed to the shelter. When we arrived to look at the adoption candidates, they picked each other out. I don't know how.
The attraction was obvious. They needed each other.They were meant to be together. Papers were signed and money exchanged. My wife had a new friend. Chloe, a polydactyl kitten. A "Hemingway" cat.
As we were leaving,since it was closing time, The lady at the shelter said to Tammy,my wife,"I'm so glad that you took her".My wife being curious, asked why. The woman at the shelter replied,"today was her last day". You see our shelter regularly euthanizes animals that have been there for too many days or when they are full.
Our fight for this kitty had just begun. Our residence is an apartment that has a no pet policy. This is a strict rule. We were threatened with eviction. With legal wrangling and arbitration, Chloe became a legal "companion animal" like a guide dog for the blind. Now protected by the constitution, Chloe is a part of our family tending to the emotional needs of my disabled wife when my son and I are not there. She "barks" not meows, she plays fetch better than any dog,and after a year, still nurses on my wifes lip daily
I'm glad that I listened to my "inner voice" that day. It has made a huge difference in our lives.
We got Oscar, our 4 year old Dachshund, by accident. He was given to my Aunt after being rescued from a miserable life in Minnesota but he only had eyes for me. Lucky for me, my Aunt realized this and evenutally officially gave Oscar to me instead of me having to steal him.
Just recently we rescued Chata, a 1 year old PitBull. We took Oscar to the vet for his yearly check-up and there was the picture of Chata. She was taken to the vet and was never picked-up. One of the technicians at the vet tried to take her home but she was too much for her and her other animals so we decided to give her a chance. After a few tense days we all fell in love with her...even Oscar!
My oldest dog came down with couch potato syndrome leaving my lab/hound mix with no one to romp with, so I decided it was time to add another pup to our lives. I was cruising petfinder when I saw a sad hound dog face that stole my heart. There was one problem, he had an identical brother that I couldn't bear to leave behind. I had an ulterior motive when I asked my friend (another dog lover) to accompany me to the shelter to adopt Icarus. Now Icarus and Moony have loving, forever homes, they still get to wrestle and play together and that 'sad hound dog look' has all but faded away! It was one lucky day for these boys when I spotted them on petfinder.com!
This is Cash.. He was found as a puppy, chained up, beaten and starved in the backyard of someone's ramshackle house. They used pit bulls for fighting. When we rescued him, he was scared and unsocialized. In the beginning we were a little afraid that the cruelty and aggression he suffered from humans as well as other animals would scar him for life. I've had pit bulls before though, and know what sweet, loving dogs they can be. With lots of patience and love, Cash has turned into the most sensitive, affectionate, loyal dog that I can imagine. He follows my husband and I around everywhere - he even sleeps under the covers with us in bed, his head on a pillow, making little grunts when he's content. Neither one of us realized that a little dog could make us so happy.
When Rudi (left) was about 11 years old, he lost about 85% contact with his best dog friend of over 9 yrs. Shortly afterwards, Rudi became depressed. I couldn't get him up in the morning and he layed around bummed out most of the day. He wouldn't even walk much anymore......which is his favorite thing to do.
I understood he missed his buddy and figured he would eventually move through it. I tried to give him extra attention and stay upbeat, but it wasn't working. 2...4...6... months passed and Rudi kept getting worse. So I sought out to find Rudi a new dog buddy.
In my first trip to the local animal shelter, I was immediately drawn to the only dog in the kennel that wasn't barking. I squatted down next to his kennel and put my hand up on the gate. He walked over, sat down, leaned into my hand on the gate and rolled his adorable eyes at me. I stuck my fingers through the fence and he just melted as I petted him. I knew he was the one. I brought Rudi to the shelter on 3 separate occassions and walked the two of them together. Rudi started to get a "skip" in his step and they got along great.
The decision was made and Toby (right) hopped in the back of my SUV with Rudi and plopped down with a look on his face that said; "OK, I'm ready to go home!"
As it turned out, Toby has this happy-go-lucky personality and in just a few weeks, Rudi's depression completely lifted. Rudi and Toby had become fast friends. Within 10 weeks, Rudi was back to walking up to 2 miles. In the end, we needed Toby as much as he needed us....we are a happy pack.
We found Hotrod trying to steal the dog food out of our dog's dish.. She was only a few weeks old and had been abondoned by her feral mother. I was afraid she was going to drown trying to get a drink out of the big dog bowl! We named her Hotrod because her front legs are shorter than her back legs and she looks like a hotrod car. I brought her into the house and have spoiled her rotten every day!
We got our first house and to make it a real home we still needed that special someone to complete our family. We had been looking a long time for that perfect family member. Then we saw this beautiful pup that had been waiting for 2 months at the shelter to finally have a family of his own. A few months later this skinny but lovable kitten started to hang around our house. Now these two think they are lap pups and love cuddling together.
Smokey was an older cat when my first child came along. He tolerated her, but wasn't thrilled. When I got pregnant a second time I knew it would be too much for him and I knew older cats had very little chance of being adopted at a shelter. Besides, Smokey had been my only baby for 14 years and I couldn't let him go to just anybody. Through Critter Connection, I found Smokey a wonderful home where he is still spoiled rotten by a sweet single lady whose cats had just died. I still go to visit Smokey, and his adoptive mother and I have become friends. I am so grateful to have such wonderful agencies working to help beloved pets find good homes. Keep up the good work!!!
It took me a year after the loss of my 13 1/2 year old companion Eddie (redbone mix) that I adopted from the SPCA in 1995 before I even thought about another adoption. Through your site I was able to locate the Oswego, NY shelter and saw a picture of a yellow lab stray they named "Mel". I arranged to meet him at their facility and fell in love with his kind eyes and playfulness. Two days later I brought him home and named him "Toby". My veterinarian said he is between 3 and 4 years old but he acts like a puppy, and greets me at the door each night with his favorite toy, a green octopus that I bought at PetSmart. I want to thank your site for all that you do and especially the volunteers at the Oswego shelter.
