Animal Rescue Stories

I am Braveheart!

BraveHeart is an African Grey Parrot who touched the hearts of many people and feathered friends. Despite having his feet burned off on a stove he overcame his handicap and inspired many. He adapted and acted like any other parrot and loved to play. BraveHeart only learned to overcome all of this by the love and devotion shown to him by his angel we shall call Chance. Chance loved him unconditionally and helped him to lead a parrots way of life despite not having toes. BraveHeart quickly became a favorite of many and still to this day even after his passing, continues to help educate the world on parrot ownership and fight against abuse and neglect. He will always be remembered and continue to inspire others, for he is BraveHeart.

Marlene
Orchard Park, NY

Ma's Babies

Sadie is my pound puppy and has been with me for the past 12 years. Rose Bud, my Yellow Rose of Texas, was basically a stray that found her way back home to me after disappearing from the neighborhood for about 4 months. She joined her forever family in Aug '08. Mike Honcho also came from a pound and was 6 months old when he came home. They are all my precious angels from above and I treasure each one of them. My wish would be for all animals to be as loved and content as my angels. They have nothing to worry about except what's for supper! I love each of them dearly and am thankful for each day they are with me. They have all found their forever home and earned a forever spot in my heart!!

Laura
Newaygo, MI

Little Purrl

This tiny kitten we named Purrl was so small when we rescued her. The blue layer of the bed she's laying on is a washcloth. We found her in the middle of the road during a week of flooding rain. She was so small and dripping wet that she looked like a mouse. She stayed with us and never grew up to be very big. We found the rest of her siblings and found them loving homes too.

Ashley Stoudt
Lafollette, TN

Sally the Indiana Trailer Park Kitten

We rescued Sally from a trailer park in Indiana in the Fall of 2006.
She was tiny, weighing only 11 ounces. She was homeless and living under a trailer. We drove 300 miles to bring here home and fell in love with her the minute we laid eyes on her. Sally is still tiny, she only weighs a tad over 7 pounds, but what she lacks in size she more than makes up in attitude. She is full of love and sweetness. We love her very much and are so glad we adopted her. She is our beautiful little gray girl.

Mike Martin
Berwyn, IL

Love at first sight

I wasn't really looking for a dog, but the second I set eyes on Stella I knew she had to come home with me. She was all alone, 6 weeks old and 2 pounds with a skin infection in a kennel away from all the other dogs. I took her home 2 days later, and we have been inseparable ever since. She's 4 years old now and the joy of my life.

Laura
Bettendorf, IA

Adoption Is The Only Way To Go!

My husband and I have been supporters of rescue operations/shelters for years so when our 5-yr old lab passed away from lymes disease, we knew where we were getting our next pup from. So I started looking at shelters on-line and when I saw a picture of Biggs (the goof on the left in the picture), I knew I had to have him. Then I read his description about how he was named for his 'big' personality and I knew he was going to be a perfect fit in our lives. I was immediately on the phone trying to figure out how we were going to get him from KY to CT.

We have also done 'dog transports' in the past so figured maybe we could work out his transport to CT that way. Unfortunately, we weren't able to coordinate a run fast enough for my eager self, so we hopped in the car and drove down to KY to pick him up!! He's now happily soaking up the sun and wrestling with his 11-year old sister (the cutie on the right, who was also a rescue) and having a ball with a family that loves him more than life itself :)

Heather Franklin
Bethel, CT

Trina Louise

I was looking at the Shelter websites after Hurricane Katrina. I found this little skinny rat terrier that was wandering the back roads. They called her Touring Terrier. She only had two days left to live. I called my sister in Lafayette and told her to go get her. She was an older dog, but so sweet. I named her Trina (after Katrina) and she lives a life of luxury with her 3 fur sisters.

Myra LeBlanc
Marrero, LA

Batman and Binky

Two years ago, I lost both of my cats (14 years old and 12 years old) within two months of each other; one of kidney disease and the other of a tumor. I was heart broken! Being a vegetarian, everyone kept telling me that I, of all people, should have another animal in my life. One of my girlfriends saw a dog from the OUR HOUSE OF HOPE K-9 RESCUE in Gurnee, IL. I thought it wouldn't hurt to call them. Soon I was called within a week and told the dog had been adopted, but that there was a 6 year old Pomeranian for me. Binky was with a breeder being caged for all of her life just being the baby maker. When I met her, I immediately fell in love with her! She's such a passive sweet dog and coming from being a cat person to a dog person, I knew I needed a dog somewhat cat like, which Binky is! About two weeks into having adopted Binky, I felt so guilty going to work and her being alone in the house. I was told that there was a perfect dog for me....a puppy Chihuahua from the same breeder whom had Binky! I didn't want the puppy growing up in a breeder situation, but was hesitant on a puppy. I immediately fell madly in love when he crawled under my chin and fell asleep. He and Binky now play together, lick each other, and when Mama comes home, they both wag their tails furiously to greet me with kisses! I now have two little ones who desperately need me now. No longer do I go home to an empty house, because I have two of the best friends that I could ever ask for!

Suzette A. Baeckelandt
Gurnee, IL

The cats who came to dinner

One evening about 15 years ago, as our son was in the kitchen of his Brooklyn apartment, a cat came in the door, obviously expecting a welcome, which he received. Soon named Kook, he maintained a good relationship with his new guy. About a year later, another cat, much abused and injured, was in the yard, and my son picked him up, took him to a vet, and nursed him back to health. He became Zeke, the Beta cat.

They were settled to live happily ever after, but after a while, 9/11 happened, and it wasn't long before our son lost first his job, and then his apartment, and was offered a room with a friend who was allergic to cats. So we drove to Brooklyn to collect the two cats, and brought them to make their home with us. Kook took a while to acclimate to country life, but enjoyed going outside to sit under a bush and smell the flowers, and Zeke liked to stay in and keep our home clear of small rodents.

One of Kook's favorite places was the middle of our king-sized four poster bed. We tried to discourage him by keeping our bedroom door closed, but he soon discovered that from the balcony over one end of the room, he could 'fly' right there. He sailed over just about as soon as I'd snapped this picture.

They kept us entertained and we kept them fed until each died, about 4 years ago now. We still miss them!

Margaret Webber
Sharon, CT

Natasha Has a Forevever Home

I volunteer and foster for the best cat rescue group on the planet and every Saturday one of the volunteers goes to a kill shelter in Philadelphia to rescue as many cats & kittens as he can so they can be put in a foster home until they are old enought to be spayed and adopted out.

A few weeks ago he came back with several litters of bottle baby kittens that our foster moms took home but there was one small kitten that had been surrendered alone and after one look at her I just knew she would be more than a foster kitten for me.

I named her Natasha and she is the sweetest kitten I have ever had. I have two other cats that were not getting along very well and she has brought peace to our household. She is a great playmate for my 8 month old cat, Sophie and even my 12 year old cat, Leila loves her. Leila has never slept with any of the cats in the household until Natasha came along. She will now share her bed with her.

Carol Andrew
Little Egg Harbor, NJ