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Animal Rescue Stories

Read heartfelt stories of rescue, and share your rescued animal stories with others.

Elmo: A Therapy Dog

Elmo: A Therapy Dog

In 1999 I received a call from my vet asking if I would be interested in rescuing a black lab. The dog had been wandering around and efforts to find his owner had not been successful. I went to meet the pup and fell in love with the skinny dirty dog. He was christened Elmo by my son Austin and has been a joy for our family ever since.
Elmo is a therapy dog with Hand In Paw in Birmingham Alabama. He has been a huge part in helping to develop a program at The Bell Center for Early Intervention. At The Bell Center he has worked with toddlers with developmental delays for the past five years. He has been the motivation for children to take their first steps and to say words when they do not often talk to humans. He moves through an obstacle course with each child pretending to jump on a trampoline, going through a tunnel and chasing balls throw by the children. As Elmo has gotten older, his favorite activities are playing with puzzles, shape sorters, and reading books, where his patient gaze helps to keep the children focused on the activity. He also works at Birmingham Speech and Hearing with a speech and language pathologist to encourage children with autism spectrum disorder to initiate speech and improve social skills. Even after experiencing major surgery to have a cancerous tumor removed in 2007 he has not lost his love for his work with the children. Rescuing Elmo has been a blessing to not only us but also to the hundreds of families that he has shared his love with.


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Elmo was featured as an ANIMAL HERO on The Animal Rescue Site in February 2009.
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Melinda C. Davis
Birmingham, AL
Mullet: An Animal Hero Who Loves to Mother

Mullet: An Animal Hero Who Loves to Mother

Our boxer Mullet has helped us save several baby animals. We had a newborn baby goat that was rejected by its mother. Mullet would wash it and lie with it. Ryan, the kid, followed her everywhere. Any baby animal will awaken Mullet's mother instinct. She even brings us bird babies that have fallen out of the nest.


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Mullet was featured as an ANIMAL HERO on The Animal Rescue Site in February 2009.
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Maiken
city not listed, Denmark
Turbo Smiles

Turbo Smiles

Turbo was rescued from the local animal shelter when he was six months old, and has been the light of my life ever since. Turbo is my rescue dog because he saved me from loneliness and depression; he has brought joy into not only my life, but is adored everywhere he goes. I have been taking him to my mom's assisted living facility and he is a big hit with all the residents, not to mention bringing my mother lots of happiness when she sees his big smile. He is known as the "Turbo the Walt Disney Dog" because he has such a great personality and looks so happy and Goofy all the time. What a wonderful partner I was blessed with! He is a loving companion and caretaker and a very happy dog, as you can see, he definitely smiles alot!

Phillis Funderburk
Wimberley, TX
Honey and Noodle

Honey and Noodle

Honey and Noodle appeared at the compost pile with their brother Mr. Broadnose. They were probably about three months old. I called the animal shelter as we live between two busy highways and was told they were not accepting any more kittens. They were at capacity. Our town has a program to reimburse if a cat is trapped, neutered and released and the lady at the shelter assured me they might have a shorter life but it would be a happier life. We trapped the three kittens, had them neutered (found out all were male), vaccinated against rabies and after the required three days indoors set them free. One month later Mr. Broadnose disappeared and we decided to bring the newly named Honey and Noodle inside. They are now the office cats.

Leslie Smith
Chester, NY
I grabbed Gadget!

I grabbed Gadget!

A friend and I were on the way to an estate sale one Saturday and saw a "circus" of dogs going on in a parking lot - an adoption day was being held by a local rescue group. We pulled over and I fell in love with a cute rat terrier and adopted her. Needless to say, we didn't make it to the estate sale. Gadget has been an interesting addition to my household. Gizmo and Sprocket are two other rescues I have adopted and the gang keeps things lively!

Patt W
Atlanta, GA
Saving Me

Saving Me

In 2007, I had major surgery for cancer and no longer had the strength or endurance to keep my 90Lb+ Rott/Australian Shepherd, Cody,(an SPCA-save), active enough to keep him healthy. So I went back to the SPCA in Dallas again with a 'check-list': Female; heavy enough to be able to withstand Cody's 'assaults'; naturally hyper enough to give him a workout. The SPCA has pens out in back that enable the humans to see if the animals will 'fit'. The first two did not mix well at all. However, Chrissie, a 35Lb Border Collie-mix picked up off of the streets of Dallas, absolutely fit the bill. The 1st day at her new home was no problem, as she got familiar with each room of her new home and then proceeded to wear Cody's hind-end off! She had him kneeling as she proceeded to show him how smaller dogs 'fight/play' by nipping his ankles.
Today, two years later, they are still best of friends and continue to work each other over in their own rough-and-tumble play style.
Thanks SPCA for giving me time to recuperate and be able to share my "puppies".

Ray Oldham
Irving, TX
Fleetwood & Mac

Fleetwood & Mac

My husband found a litter of kittens and their mother in a dirty crawl space by his work. He was able to get all of them out save and dropped them off at the Monmouth County SPCA to make sure they where healthy and would find a good home. We decided to keep the first kitten he pulled out and went to the shelter to pick the little guy up. As soon as we walked through our door he wanted to be with Fleetwood, our Golden Retriever. We just had to name him Mac. He loves Fleetwood so much and we always find them sharing the same bed and even the dog food! Since than we adopted another cat that followed Mackie home one night. We think we might have to buy a bigger dog bed to fit both cats and the dog.

Sylvia Miller
Port Monmouth, NJ
Missing you...

Missing you...

After almost 21 years of love and silliness, our beautiful Cassie passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Who would've imagined when she was adopted from a shelter in 1988 that she would give so much joy and exasperation, laughter and tears, happiness and heartache?! When she was young, Cassie kept us entertained by fetching paper balls and sitting up to beg. She always believed she was the queen of any house she was in, even if just visiting for a day or two. When my sister and Cassie moved in with me, Cassie immediately took over -- much to our delight! She had the strongest purr and the loudest meow of any cat I've ever known, with an extensive repertoire of "words" in her vocabulary. As Cassie got older, she allowed us to dress her in silly jackets and sweaters, even a devil costume at Halloween. I miss her furry little self on my lap while watching TV or on my bed at night. Dear Cassie, I hope you are young and silly again in your new life. Sal and I are missing you...

Patricia Lilley
Reno, NV
Francis

Francis

Frank (his nickname) and his three siblings were found in a pile of cement blocks next to a garage; their eyes barely open, no mother cat appeared. After calling my vet to ask how to care for them, I put them in a big cookie tin and drove them home. They were bottle fed every two hours until they could eat from a dish. At first, they were weighed every day to make sure they were gaining weight. We also had to wipe them off as there was no mother cat to lick them clean. That was almost five years ago.
Frank broke his leg when he was five months old. The vet put it in a splint, as the option of putting a steel rod in his leg was not financially feasible. I asked our priest if I could bring him to the weekly healing service at our church. The answer was yes. I carried him on my chest him a baby sling. His splinted leg projected awkwardly from an opening. At the altar, Father N. laid his hands on Frank's head and we prayed that God would heal him. After the service Father N. said jokingly "I wish all our parishioners could be so well behaved!" He healed beautifully and loves to play with the string toy every night as do his siblings Sinbad, Alley and Angel.

Leslie Smith
Chester, NY
Daisy

Daisy

Eight years ago, our son rescued a 7-month old mixed breed pup. We rushed her to the vet, who told us he had never seen such a terrible case of neglect. She should have weighed 40-45 pounds, and weighed 14 pounds. She was so emaciated she could not stand. He did not expect her to survive the weekend.

All weekend, we spoon fed her every 3 hours, kept her wrapped in a blanket to stay warm, and had to hold her up outside to do her "business."

Monday morning we took her back to the vet and he was amazed she had made it through the weekend. She grew stronger over the next several months, we had her spayed, vaccinations, ticks removed, and a tumor removed from the top of her head.

Now at 9, she is a healthy (well, slightly overweight) 60 pounds and brings joy to all around her. Our son is a long-haul trucker, and she has been cross country with him many times. When she is home with us, she likes nothing better than to be wrapped up in a blanket and cuddle by the fire.

Over the years we have had many rescue dogs, and they are the most wonderful dogs in the world.

Debbie
Olympia, WA