Animal Rescue Stories

Rainbow Bridge-sent

This girl is Pinky, a dilute tortie. I lost my heart-cat a few months before she turned up in the basement of the house where I worked. (I was a private-duty caretaker for an elderly lady)

Brought her home & decided she was about the same age as a kitten I'd adopted earlier in the summer. They bonded & have been like littermates since Day One.

Pinky acts just like my heart-cat did. Herding me to bed when it's bedtime, cuddling up with me under the covers to sleep. I don't miss Tigg quite so much with this darling looking after me.

Pam Barbeau
GREENVILLE, SC

Worth Waiting For

We were dogless for 2 years. We weren't sure that we could open our hearts to another dog but during the pandemic and with so much time on our hands, we were on a mission to find another dog to love. Otis had been surrendered in rural WV after someone alerted an animal welfare agency that he was being kept outside. He was found to have two ear infections, was Lyme positive, and was matted and dirty. We took a chance and drove the 2 hours to get this sweet guy. We discovered he doesn't know how to play and is afraid of squeaky toys, but during the week he has been with us, he has already bonded to us and stolen our hearts. We are so grateful he waited for us to find him!

Kathy Gressieux
PIKESVILLE, MD

Munchkin found her "furever home"

Years ago I looked out in our back yard and saw a tuxedo kitty hanging out there with our dog. I have a tender heart for animals, so I started feeding her. At first I thought she was a kitten she was so small, her legs seemed too short for the rest of her. She would flee anytime I got too close to her. Finally she allowed me to get close enough to see she was a female so I devised a way to catch her so I could have her spayed before she had kittens. I borrowed a humane trap and baited it with tuna fish and in a couple of nights I had her. I looked inside the trap and sure enough there was a black and white cat. I took her out to the vet and dropped her off to have her spayed, but the vet called later and said " Are you sure this is the cat you were trying to catch? This cat is a neutered male, and he is very well fed, not skinny like the cat you described, I I think this cat has a home and he seems well taken care of." So I went and picked him up and took him back to our alley. I set the trap down and opened the door and a black and white missile shot out of it and headed away like a streak, he never even looked back. Later that day the "real" rescue kitty showed up. She was very hungry and she came right up to me. I picked her up and called the vet and this time she did get spayed. Our vet said she had never seen a cat so skinny. She thought she was about 2 years old. I brought her home and she was my kitty for another 12 years. I named her Munchkin because of her short legs but that morphed to Munch cat. She passed from cancer and I sure hope she is waiting at that rainbow bridge.

Elaine A
CODY, WY

Yoda and Rio

I had been in Yoda's life since he was born. His mother was shot by a neighbor and had dragged herself back to her 3 kittens before she died. Yoda was my baby for more than 10 years when cancer took him from me. I cried every day for months. One day I received a call about a kitten that had been rolled by a truck. He has received a crushed sinus cavity, severe concussion and a fractured right eye socket. He was only 5 weeks old, according to the vet. He has healed my shattered heart with his love and affection. He has passed his 4th birthday. Nearly blind, he is truly Mama's little shadow and a great love!

Tammi Stewart
ABILENE, TX

Abused pit

My son brought home a puppy who was starving and had been beaten.. I cried when I saw her. Took her to a vet and she started getting better. Her name was Beauty... that turned out to be the greatest name for her. The vet said she would have lived only a couple of weeks. She is now 8 years old, and the best dog ever. She stays with my son, and gets all excited when she sees me... she's a blessing.

Cathy
WESTLAND, MI

Thrown out of a car and into my life

I am a foster home for a rescue group and I heard that they were getting a German Shepard male. I had been wanting to adopt a German Shepard that needed help with training and manners because I LOVE dog training classes. He was handsome but a handful! He didn’t even know "sit." His previous owners threw him out of a moving vehicle on a 2 lane highway. Luckily a Good Samaritan saw what happened and stopped to get him into their car and he was taken to a shelter. He did not do well in the shelter setting, and was starting to become aggressive with staff. I have a small female Pomeranian/Chihuahua and when he met her, he was so gentle, he never tried to be rough with her. He is such a good boy, but it has taken time and knowledge to guide him to be the well-behaved, calm dog that he is today. He is still cautious around strangers but he is slowly learning to trust. I do not let strangers approach him and he is good with that. I am so happy to have this big goofball in my life to go on adventures with ❤️❤️.

Susan B.
RANDOLPH, MA

Little deaf Simon

On a very hot summer day, exactly a month after I had to put my favorite orange tabby boy “Loaf” to sleep, I was on a jog around my neighborhood. I was about half a block away from the chain link fence that separates the neighborhood street from the freeway when a teeny, tiny little white puff ball jumped out at me arching his back! I looked around and found no one who I might be able to talk with. I scooped him up and started walking around asking the few people outside if they might know where this kitty had come from. No one seemed to care of have much information. Having had prior experience fostering cats I knew enough to guess, based on his white coat and blue eyes, that he might be deaf. I brought him home, cleaned up his dirty little face and gave him food and water. It was so hot that day! My husband and I walked around the area I found him daily for several weeks and still found no fliers or could find no people who might claim this little munchkin. I was determined not to get attached and keep him since we already had three kitties but alas, he was ours. It’s been 6 1/2 years since that day and I thank my lucky stars every single day. Our guy is so funny, playful, sweet and LOUD. He lets out loud meows sometimes and my husband jokes it’s because he likes the feel of the vibrations in his head! He still plays games and romps around the house daily even though he’s six. We assume it must be because he’s deaf as we’ve never had such a playful adult cat. He makes us laugh daily and has brought us many years of pure joy. We just adore him. The fact that he showed up on the one month anniversary of losing my cherished boy Loaf... just proves how special he is. A little gift from the universe.

Melanie
LOS ANGELES, CA

A Second Chance for Annie

Annie showed up at the school I worked at. You could tell she was old, super skinny, no hair on her back, fleas, and a tumor hanging from her stomach. The principal asked me to take her to the animal shelter near our school. Instead I took her home. Put her in the bathroom with food, water and a blanket, until I could come home and bathe her. Took her to the vet, he said she was at least 14 and would not have survived another week on her own. We had her for almost 2 years. She was the sweetest, most loving dog. We got her a t-shirt to cover her "dangly" as the kids called it. Everyone loved her. We had to put her down about a year and a half later, she could no longer walk on her own. But she knew she was loved and was part of a family.

Lynn Peterman
LAKESIDE, CA

Our Little Boy

We already had a 2 year old Maltese Shitziu who was wonderful and fun. My daughter called me one day and said that this person she knew had a Poodle, Bichon, and the dog was being abused. He was still a puppy, only 12 weeks old. So my daughter went over there and took the dog away from her. The owner, thankfully, gave him up. This little guy was so traumatized, he would just sit in a corner. He wouldn't let us hug him or cuddle him. BUT, he would cuddle to up our other dog. Our other dog became his savior... his big brother. It took exactly one month before our little one finally realized that it was ok to be loved; to play and to be cuddled. Now he is 10 years old and a healthy, happy pup. He and his big brother are very bonded however and cannot be separated. Here is a picture of the 2 them relaxing together. By the way, he also loves to play the piano. :)

Enid Berkovits
MEQUON, WI

Adopting Edgar

I was looking for a small dog to adopt because I have issues with my legs and was afraid if I adopted a larger dog I wouldn't be able to control him. I went to the Humane Society of Marion County and found Edgar. He was an 8 yr old chihuahua mix who had been in an abusive situation for years. At first, he stayed in a corner of my dining room and trembled so much it broke my heart. I decided to give him his space and let him come to me when he was ready. It took about 3 weeks for him to leave his corner and another month for him to sit by me. But every time I moved, he ran. I started to give him cbd oil and slowly he improved. Now it's 8 months later and he sits next to me on the couch!!! I thank God for Edgar every day. I was having my own issues when I adopted him and I like to think we healed each other. Because of the Covid quarantine we were together 24/7 so now he has a little bit of separation anxiety when I go out, but when I come back he dances around me and makes me feel so happy I have him. He sits on the couch and hides under his blanket at times with just his eyes peeking out. I call him my vampire dog, lol. I love this baby so much and I will never give him up.

Mary Lopez
OCALA, FL