Animal Rescue Stories

The Love of my Life

It's hard to tell, but Floyd only has 3 legs that work. Two summers ago, a friend that worked here called me. She was out to lunch and told me to come to the parking lot next door because a tiny kitten had jumped into the undercarriage of her jeep. Being an animal lover, I told my boss I'd be right back and I drove as fast as I could. When I got there I went underneath. A tiny Maine Coon kitten was there looking at me. He was dirty and bloody. His ear was bleeding on the surface and he looked like he had been rolled over. However, that was not the worst part, one of his front legs was dangling. I pulled him out and held him close. My friend told me she thought he was a bunny because he was hopping. We rushed him to the vet. One heartless vet said pay me $4000 or put him down. I was stunned. I took him to another emergency vet but when I got there, another emergency came in. I noticed another vet nearby. He was a sweet man in Farmingdale that helped me. He examined the kitten and told me that there was nothing wrong with him but that his leg would NEVER function. He said that by the looks of it, someone threw him out of a car window. I took him home with me to nurse him back to health. I filled the sink and put him in, the water was black. When I dried him off and put him on the bed, it was the first time he purred, he knew he was safe. Two years later, he is healthy, happy and the nicest cat you could imagine. His leg healed up near his body.

Nora R. Kennedy
Bellmore, NY

How we found our little baby

One day we were driving and we stopped to get gas. We opened our car door and heard a little meow. There was a little kitten looking up at us. We picked it up and it started purring - Oh So Cute! We went inside to pay and we said "Oh is that your cat?" to the person working there. They said, "No, she just showed up one day. We have been feeding her and she lives under the trash can." Then he said "Hey-do you guys want a kitten?" We talked it over and decided to try and find her a home(Yea-Right). We took her home and found out she was a he!
So anyway, he is now a 10 month old fat, happy-as-can be kitty who we named Sinclair. THE END!

Rose
Santa cruz, CA

Long Lost Sisters

I was drivng home from work on a hot summer day and I was approaching a dead cat in the road ahead. "Dumb drivers," I thought. Only the dead cat was a much alive puppy!! She was a ball of fur, flooded with fleas and ticks, whimpering. I hit the brakes, opened the door and she ran right up to me. She was another stray left defenseless against the summer elements, abandoned and alone. I tried for about 1 hour to find her a home until she rooted herself too deep in my heart to give away. That was how "Bailey" the shepherd became my first baby. Months later I was volunteering at the local dog pound, walking and feeding the dogs. After the first weekend of volunteering, I adopted "Dixie" the dalmatian. She had been abused and left out in the city, found underneath of a car. She was only 4 months old and petrified of people. If you came close to her cage she would shake, growl, and pee she was so frightened. I had to have her--had to save her. Turns out that she and Bailey (I am totally convinced) are long lost sisters. They play, eat, and sleep together. Once a husky attacked Dixie in the yard and Bailey came to the rescue, pinning the dog on the ground until I was able to run outside and break up the chaos (luckily no one was injured)!! They're my girls and I love them both with all of my heart. Both left alone to fend for themseves, they have become a part of my family and are loved more every day.

Katy
Stevensville, MD

I Love My Lucy

Two years ago I lost my best buddy Bruno, a Silky Yorkie after 15 years of his sweet companionship. A year later I decided it was time to get another dog and I went to our local humane society. That's when I found my sweet Lucy who had just been abandoned that day. She was four months old and had such warm eyes and a sweet loving face. I adopted her right then. She is so smart. I taught her to side down the different children's slides at the park and she loves learning new tricks. Her best new buddy is Wesley, a recently rescued West Highland Terrier from a puppy mill.

Linda Jensen
Redding, CA

Playful, protective and loving

This is Bart: 25 pounds of cheerful, big-hearted and loving dog. He lives with us in Montana where large dogs are preferred, which is why he remained at the county pound for so long. He was there so long that he was totally attached to the staff and paid no attention whatsoever to me when I first saw him. He was so cute, though, I returned to try again. The staff assured me that he was wonderful and begged me to take him. He was to be euthanized that afternoon!

How could I refuse? He protects us from chipmunks and moose that get too close to the house, alerts us to bears, loves to play and still has time to cuddle -- the perfect companion.

Gerry
Polebridge, MT

24 hrs. until she was to be put down

We had rescued a white german shepherd and had her for 2 weeks. It turned out that she had a hole in her lung from kennel cough. We had to put her down. It just killed me. I rescue so as not to kill. So the same day I checked the computer and found this poor little shepherd that had been severely abused and left out in the desert to die. She was found and was going to be put down the next day. Someone at the shelter saw her and new she was a young one and put her name and picture on the computer. I contacted them immediately and saw her the next day. She is now happy and healthy and loving her new home life. Please save animals. It is the best thing to do.

Paula Heitzer
Tonto Verde, AZ

Genna's happily ever after

I work at JFK airport and a year and a half ago the Port Authority decided the feral/stray cats were suddenly a threat to aviation - after DECADES of being at the airport. They rounded up as many as they could, despite much protesting, and then stopped. Every now and then they get a "complaint" and go round up whoever they find.

One such kitty was Genna. I got a frantic e-mail that if we didn't get this cat within the next day or two, she'd be put down. A friend of mine, who has a colony that took in about 8 JFK cats that we managed to trap and relocate, agreed to take this one into her colony as well. Her paperwork said she was "aggressive" and her personality was "severe". Oh boy! Oh well, she'd be going into a wonderful colony and that would be no problem. Only problem is she came to us sick. VERY sick. She was so sick that she was peeing and pooping right where she lay and we were able to syringe medicate her no problem what so ever. After a several days, she was well enough to use the litter box. We wondered when the Tasmanian Devil would reappear, but she never did! She is the sweetest thing!

She remained in my friend's heated shed for 3 months. I wanted her badly, but have 5 already and couldn't. I tried to find her a home with no success, until I finally tried Petfinder. The one and only response I got was the best home I could ever possibly find for her! They love her to death and I am so happy for her! A once terrified and sick kitty finds the happiest ending ever! Thank you Kathy, you'll both be blessed!

Norma J
Valley Stream, NY

From Kuwait to Texas

When I lived in Kuwait I saw this hungry lil kitten each morning in a yard that was surrounded by high walls, too high for a kitten to jump or climb. He was nothing but skin and bones. But he was shy and ran away and hid in a hole in the wall when someone came, and other (faster) cats ate the food I left for him. I saw him licking water drops from plants the gardener watered in the morning, which was the only nourishment he got. But it was May and hot (way over 100 degrees) and water dried off fast.
Then I saw him dragging his hind legs when he tried to run away, and I knew that this is one of the last signs of starvation when the hip muscles give out and the hind legs quit working, and the cat usually dies within a day or two.
So I went inside the yard, and with the help of the gardener who I gave some money to help me, we cornered the little black thing, just a skeleton with black fur stretched over it and big eyes. And I took him home.
I tried to feed him, but he was too far gone already, too dehydrated and starved, and he didn't want to eat or drink anymore. So I got a little dropper and literally "force-fed" him some milk, every two hours like a little baby. After two days the tongue came out and licked at the drops.... and a few days later he started eating by himself.
Of course, we took him home with us when we returned to the US, by then a healthy big cat who weighed 16 pounds, all muscle. "Fritz" is now 14 years old and happily living in Texas.

Ingrid Ruble
Copperas Cove, TX

My Dudley

Found Dudley in the flower bed and our dogs were trying to drag him out. He was so tiny, so skinny, so wild and so scared. A little abandoned fellow that was about to get eaten by the dogs. Coaxed him in a carrier with a can of cat food and the rest is history. He is a house cat and rules the other 2 cats and his master too. He is one of 18 cats that I have "adopted" and he is very special to earn a place inside.
I also have 15 horses and 4 dogs. Nearly all of my animals were adopted or rescued. Expenses of so many make it hard sometimes but I cannot imagine my life without them. I am a senior citizen and I will have them as long as I can buy their food.

Helen Bottoms
Midway, TX

My Unsung Hero

Animal abuse is a very common act in Bangladesh. Hector has been a victim himself. I found him, barely a few months old, lying in the middle of a busy road. He had been hit and run by a car. I brought him home. Its been 4 years since that day and Hector has never failed to make me realize how lucky I am to have found him.

Nabila
Dhaka, Bangladesh