Animal Rescue Stories

Allie

We rescued Allie in August of 2008, at around five months. We had no intentions of getting a dog . . . she chose us! Her history was sad and all too familiar. She had been abused, abandoned, and alone for who knows how long. She had never been in a house, and had little to no housebreaking or leash training, nor any social skills with people or animals. Today, she is healthy and strong, loving life and nearly everyone who crosses her path (she's still a little shy at times)!! She is fully engrained in our family life and loves her feline siblings, and her humans!, as fully and unconditionally as any dog could!

Kimberly Strawska Hackett
Cincinnati, OH

Lily...The Best Dog I've Ever Had

Lily is a mix between an Amercian Staffordshire Terrier and a Boxer.
We rescued Lily the Summer of 2005. She was one of 5 abandoned puppies that the Humane Society of Springfield, Missouri took into their care.
(I was having problems with staying home alone with my bipolarity and other mental disorders, and my husband was working at the time. So my therapist told me to get a dog...the best advice ever!)
We walked into the building and I was overwhelmed by how many abused, malnourished, and abandoned dogs the animal shelters rescue and care for!
Well, to make a long story short, she looked up at me with her big brown puppy dog eyes, just 8 weeks old, and I knew she was the one.
I took her home and she's been my baby ever since.
I encourage everyone to consider adopting before buying a full-breed dog. I can honestly say that I've never owned a more well-behaved, loving dog than Lily. She's an angel from Heaven. I've owned pure-bred dogs, and they were fine, but Lily is the best of all of the dogs I've ever had.
She's my therapy dog as well as my baby! She licks away my tears when I cry. And I trained her to do many tricks, including "high-paw" and dancing.
You don't have to buy a full-breed dog to feel the rewards of unconditional companionship.

Vanessa
Cabool, MO

Fosters, Yeah Right...

So called 'foster cats' Frankie and Moxie came into my life in a sneaky way. I thought I was trying to help and be the "foster" cog in the system, but I fell in love. Both of these cats were doomed to sad lives until they found me. Since then, they have blessed me with joy beyond words. My life would never have been the same without them! They are spoiled rotten and live every day bathed in love. PS: I don't foster anymore.

Traci Rosvall
Dallas, TX

she'll never be an astronaut

... but she is the smartest kitty I have ever had. One day a family who owned no cats heard meowing in their walls. The fire department found a nest of newborn kittens. Evidently a feral mother had found her way in to give birth, had gone out ... to get food?... and had never come back... hit by a car? Only two of the kittens were alive. A wonderful animal rescue angel fed them with eyedroppers and nurtured them until they were ready for adoption. Playful was born with a virus infected eye. The vet told me "she'll never pass the test to be an astronaut... but aside from that, she'll be fine." She is eternally curious and ingenious. I try to be sure that the rest of her life is happier than her first days.

Dorothy Barnhouse
San Francisco, CA

Our perfect kitty

We saw Fraulein on our local shelter's website and we immediately went to pick her up. She was a stray and to this day I can't imagine who would abandon an amazing cat like her. She is so sweet and gentle, a real pleasure to have!

Beth G.
Eureka, CA

Miles & Mitchell

Miles our black "tom" cat adopted my husband just before Christmas 2007. He's a big boy of almost 18 pounds. He came to us from Angels With Paws animal shelter. He had been in the shelter for 7 months. Mitchell the orange tabby came to us a year later when he adopted me. He's our little itty bitty kitty of 8 pounds. He came to us from the Table Mountain Animal shelter. He had been abandoned in a foreclosed home. The cats and our black and yellow labs complete our family.

Cheryl Wilson
Lakewood, CO

Matai - My Gift From God

This is the story of Matai and he got his special name. Matai is Hebrew for "Gift from God". I treasure Matai because he represents two special beings in my life. I found him as a kitten who had been dumped on a country road and he was so scared his claws were literally gripped tightly into the road asphalt. I had to pry them free to rescue him. The day? It was the evening of the day my Mother died, August 26, 2004.

He was so weak he could barely stand. When I took him to the vet in the morning, the vet said from his teeth he was 8 weeks old and we weren't sure if he was going to make it. Exactly 8 weeks prior on July 2, 2004 my beloved Siberian Husky, Kimo (Canandian Champion Last Dance of the Midnight Sun) turned to look at me, howled and he died in my arms from a heart attack or a stroke. Matai was born the day I lost my beloved Kimo and rescued the day I lost my beloved mother.

Several weeks later I was told that a lady who lived near where I found him, saw someone throw a mother cat and her kittens out of a moving car. She thought she had found all of them. There was another one in the litter that looked just like him so we are certain he was from that horrid dumping. Only a miracle can explain how a 6 week old kitten could survive with no food or water for 2 weeks.

God had a reason for this precious little life and I am so very thankful God saved him as a very special gift just for me. He truly was a gift from God.

Sc B. McKinney
Alton, NY

Lovely Leona

My very special one eyed, orange cat named Rooster Cogburn had to be allowed to pass due to his many medical problems. I very much missed his snuggling. So I would go to the local shelter to pet the cats that were there. One weekend we went for a drive to nearby town, so we stopped by their shelter. And saw a pretty cinnamon little girl, she gave snuggles! But she was young and our other orange shelter cat is about 12 years old. We went home and thought about her for a week and went back to get her. She has been with us only four weeks so far and I really cherish the snuggles that Lovely Leona gives.

Susan Daily
Eugene, OR

My Little Swiss Miss

Missy came to our family in 2001 by way of Frisco, a rescued 3 week old kitten that my daughter found who needed a Mom! My Vet "loaned" us Missy who had been found on the streets of Dallas nursing three kittens. Missy was in rought shape! She was VERY thin and had dull/ugly fur and none on her ears or on the top of her head. Her paw pads were like coarse sandpaper and all her nails were a broken/crumbly mess. She was also somewhat feral and did not purr the first year. We won her over with lots of love and FOOD! Today, she is the most beautiful cat I've ever seen, SO sweet and the QUEEN of our castle. I call her "My Little Swiss Miss".

Deb Walley
Carrollton, TX

Saving Bandit

When Bandit was 8 weeks old, he was found by my daughter's friend being abused and she managed to take him. We went to see him and he came home with us. Because of the abuse, he was brain damaged, but he never let that stop him. He was the most loving, sweet 100 lb lapdog. We nicknamed him "MooCow" because he would amble around the yard. We lost him in May 2007 at the age of 7 and he's missed each and every day. Having had Bandit, our lives have been enriched. He was one of a kind!

Ann
Goose Creek, SC