Animal Rescue Stories

Annie Angel

Two years ago I was working in my yard when a pitiful flea bitten grayish puppy came up to me and put her paw on my leg. She had been severely neglected. I had intended to find her a good home since I already had two dogs, but I fell in love with this sweet adorable puppy and decided I couldn't part with her. Turns out she is a purebred Bishon and was about 18 months old at the time. She has personality plus and is more affectionate than any dog I've ever had. She loves to cuddle. I can't begin to imagine life without her.

Sharon Wyatt
San Antonio, TX

Our new companion

We just recently adopted Buddy from our local Humane Society (where he was called Batty). He is a one-year-old black lab mix, 62 pounds of pure energy. He is such a happy dog, and has already enriched our lives in the four short weeks he's been with us. I can't help but smile and be happy when I watch him racing around the yard, bounding after a tennis ball, ears flopping away. It's been a couple years since we lost our last lab mix, and we didn't realize how much we had been missing. It is wonderful to have a dog as part of the family again!

Tiffany Morton
Longmont, CO

Very Lucky Kitty!

I saw a tiny, dirty kitten walking out of a barn in upstate New York, and he was heading right for me. I picked him up, he settled into my arms and looked in my eyes, and the rest is history! It turned out that his mother and three siblings all died, one by one, in tragic farm-related accidents, and Kady was the last one left. I went home to NJ without him that day, but couldn't get him out of my mind. I knew I couldn't leave him there, especially since he was clearly in need of medical attention. The following weekend I went back to the barn and brought Kady home (after asking permission, of course). Although he is FIV positive, you'd never know it. He's an awesome, energetic, loving, vocal and playful cat, and I thank God every day that I rescued him. He looks at me with such love and happiness, and he lays in my lap every chance he gets. I wouldn't trade him for the world!

Patty Antol
Piscataway, NJ

Kanika

Little did my husband and I realize a year ago when we got Kanika at our County Shelter, that she would be my life saver today.
Shortly after bringing her home, my husband found out he would need a bone marrow transplant that would take us to another state for four months. Little Kanika, as well as our 10 year old dog and two rabbits, were left with a house sitter and not much attention during this time. After returning home in October, we found out that the transplant did not work and my husband's cancer was back with a vengence. He spent another 10 days at the closest VA Hospital which took us away, once again, from our beloved family of critters.
On Thanksgiving Day our 10 year old dog Jessie, also a shelter rescue, passed away unexpectedly and two weeks later my beloved husband of 30 years also passed away.
Kanika has become my friend, my companion, my passion and all those things that only "real critter lovers" can appreciate. I don't know what shape I would be in today without the love from this little black ball of fur, but I can tell you she saves my life everyday with her antics, her purring, and her joy of life. I am truly grateful that I have Kanika in my life today. And so thankful that my local shelter has a "no destroy" policy.

Andi Bickel
Ocala, FL

ChiChi: Best Dog Ever

I went outside one night and there was something very small running around. I thought it was a guinea pig until I got closer and realized that it was a very small dog. It was love at first site. She had some kind of small red ticks all over her stomach. I took her to the vet. She weighed less than 2 pounds and was infested with worms. The vet told me she would have died if she'd waited even a couple more days for treatment. She has been with me for 13 years and everyone that knows ChiChi loves her. She is truly a special dog.

Marsha Presley
Russellville, AL

Our Little Man

We have always been partial to Rottweilers. When we had to send our baby girl, Zoi, on to the Rainbow Bridge, we learned through our friends in rescue of a litter of Rottie pups in an animal sheter about 60 miles from us. We were there the next morning when they opened the door...and there they were..three little brothers. We chose our new family member and brought him home...the wonderful folks at the shelter tried their best to convince us to take all three! .As the weeks passed by this little "Rottie" began to change in appearance....his Mom may have been a Rottie but his Dad was certainly a BLOODHOUND! He is our huge Baby Boy now....he is about 90 pounds of bouncing baby Bloodhound and a joyful addition to our pack of two other dogs. His name is Zach but to me he is my Little Man who happens to be a bed hog and stole our hearts.

Joni Tilley
Winston-Salem, NC

All she wanted was love...

Psycho B. came to live with us a little over a year ago. I had originally gone to the animal pound to find a small dog for my mother, who had recently lost her poodle of fifteen years and was heartbroken. I tripped on a dish that someone had left out in the aisle and that is when I found Psycho B.. She was just curled up in a little ball not making a sound only trembling because to me she didn't understand why she was there. I bent down to take a closer look and my heart just melted.
I have an eleven year old pitbull and had recently lost her ten year old mate to illness. My fifteen year old daughter and my female pitbull were both at a loss so I thought maybe Psycho would be a good fit. I waited until my daughter came home and asked her about the small bundle of fur I had seen, we went to the pound and the instant they saw each other it was LOVE!
They are inseperable now, the vet estimated her to be about six months old when we found her and she was not to get any bigger. We still aren't sure what breed she is but to us she is just one of the family : )
I did by the way find a suitable companion for my mother as well. Bo went to live with my mother, he is a dachshund beagle mix and spoiled beyond belief!
Thanks to Dr. Nathan Metz in Ada, Ohio for taking such great care of all of our animals and being a fantastic person who genuinely loves and cares for animals!

Eagerdove Watkins
SpringChurch, PA

My baby

This is 5 & a half year old Patch. He is the baby in the house and gets away with murder:-) He is really the king of his castle...I had to rush him to a vet last night as he was having a hard time breathing, i felt so helpless and sorry for him, it really stressed him. All the animal hospitals were closed and had big emergancy numbers printed on the wall but when you contact them there is now answer or they refer you to someone else that is not in the same area... Not much help they are...I finaly got hold of a vet, first he was a little grumpy as he is not my vet, but quickly got over that... All i wanted was that someone will help patch, i'm very grateful the he came out to help my baby...He is a real blessing. For that i will support him in future...Patch is feeling better. Thank God for that, but we didn't get much sleep... I'm just happy i could be there for him...I love him so much i will move mountains for him...My hubby always use to say "you can't love an animal" but let me you tell you he tells patch everyday "daddy loves this little boy"... Just comes to show animals can melt even the most hard-hearted if they are given the chance...I love all animals but this little boy of mine stole my heart, he is my everything... A big thank you to my mom for driving me and to Dr Blunden from Park animal hospital Sunward Park Boksburg for helping patch...

Mommy loves you Patch and always will:-)

Cindy Mendes
Boksburg, South Africa

Miss Queenie(Beans) and her best friend felix!!

This is about Miss Beans. It was back in '08 and I was working at the shelter in Superior, WI. It was around the time we had a huge outbreak caused by ringworm. This took forever to get rid of, we also had to give all our animals medication and sulfur dips to stop the spread of this fungus. I had been cleaning and bonding with these animals for many months now and for some reason queenie, who was a shy, quite and a little bit fearful of people kind of cat would just look at me everyday. She had been sulfur dipped at least a few times and was just getting stressed to the max. Well like most shelters we had to downsize and she was on the "put to sleep". I realized this and the day she was scheduled to go into the vet, my coworker called me, while I was in class, and so I rushed from my school and ran into the shelter with my checkbook in my hand. I saw her sitting in a carrier with these scared eyes, I couldnt take it! I adopted this beautiful female calico cat, who has 3 torti colored paws and 1 all white; she is now still a little bit shy but just loves to eat, sleep, and play on her little couch we have for her! (There should be a picture of her on it) Best cat ever and nothing but a sweetheart!! Please adopt from a shelter, they turn out to be the best!

Amber
Duluth, MN

Twice Rescued

We prepared for a puppy, but didn't know that there had been a fire in the building next to the shelter the night before we arrived. In an attempt to save the animals, they were quickly pulled out of cages & crammed into nearby cars. Imagine the noise, smoke smell, confusion, and high emotions. All the animals were saved, but traumatized.

I was 12, and the puppy was to be mine - I had my eye on a big, bouncing black & white sheep-dog type. My Mom took me aside, and with tears in her eyes pointed out a little brown puppy huddled in the back of the cage, saying "She needs us." For a moment I thought I was going to get TWO puppies! <Chuckle>

It turned out Mom was right - Cinnamon needed lots of love and security all her life, and got it in our family. She had also apparently been abused by a man or men, and the only 2 she would ever allow near her were my Dad & Grandpa, who both doted on her. I'm convinced she was meant to be ours. We honored her memory by doing it all over again with Maggie - but that's another story!

Rachel
Atlanta, GA