Animal Rescue Stories

One Lucky Cat

Lucky was feral and just 4 weeks old when heard in the bushes of my mother’s house next door. He’d been crying for 24 hours. She didn’t want to tell us at first knowing we didn’t need another pet. She finally called us to tell us.

We went to get him. I picked him up and he did everything to get away from me he was so scared. I wrapped him up in a towel and noticed he was covered in fleas. He looked up at me and I saw he had 2 different colored bright eyes. I looked at my husband and said he wasn’t going anywhere.

After bathing him twice to get rid of the fleas, feeding him and putting him in a crate, he slept for days. After getting treated for ear mites he was all better. All the love and food had made him our favorite pet and yes, his name is “Lucky”.

LeAnn Jones
WAXAHACHIE, TX

PC the porch cat

Every morning I would find her asleep on my porch furniture, and when I opened the door to grab the paper she would take off. I’d see her around the neighborhood and many times she’d come close like she wanted to be petted, but if you got close, she’d take off again. I was pretty sure she had once belonged to a family that had lived up the street, and when they got a dog the 4 cats they had took off. I’d seen the dog chase the cats on multiple occasions. One very hot summer day as I was working in the yard I saw the dog chase her under my car. She looked very thin and hungry. I’d started calling her PC for Porch Cat. That day I shared my tuna with her and brought her some water. After that she’d come more frequently hoping for food. I bought some cheap dry cat food at the store and left some on the porch for her. When the weather turned cool she started tentatively coming into the house. It wasn’t long after that that she became a permanent fixture! That was 3 years ago and PC is a wonderful addition to our house! A loving cat who prefers the indoors during the cold winter months!

Linda
HOUSTON, PA

The Right Home

One summer many years ago, my husband arrived home from work accompanied by a 3 year old bassett hound surprise. I was 8 months pregnant with my second child and my first baby was only 13 months old. Rosie had been abandoned by a coworker, so my husband thought it would be a good idea to have her join our growing family in our 800 sq ft home.

As hard as we tried there was no smooth transition for Rosie. She was a fierce defender of her new territory. Unfortunately, this meant vicious barking at any movement occurring outside our home. Rosie was particularly on alert for the daily mail delivery on our front porch. Unfortunately, this daily invasion always coinsided with daily nap time for my 13 month old. Nothing I tried could deter the deep, loud defense of our tiny home. I tried putting her outside in the backyard while the baby slept, but Rosie wouldn't have it. She barked and howled nonstop until I relented and brought her back inside.

Inside, all day, when she wasn't barking, she was
essentially tied to my feet. When I fed the baby her bottle, Rosie would lay on top of my feet. When I stood at the stove or the sink, she would settle in right behind my legs. I was literally tripping over this dog constantly. Did I mention that I was 8 months pregnant?

Finally, just before I was due to give birth to our second child, I told my husband that
I just could not offer the attention that Rosie so desired. With soon to be two babies, I just couldn't handle what was clearly Rosie's big needs. We agreed that it was not the best time to bring a dog into our crazy lives. We decided to take Rosie to the local dog shelter where she could be adopted by someone who was able to devote to her all the attention that she clearly needed.

We brought Rosie to the shelter and the workers got her settled in her temporary home. We were filing out some paperwork before leaving when I questioned the shelter worker about adoption procedure. That was when he casually mentioned that the shelter was full of animals and if Rosie wasn't adopted in 8 days, she would be euthanized! We had never even been in a shelter before and had no idea that that was a possibility.

On the drive home both my husband and I felt completely terrible. Rosie had not come into our family at an exactly opportune time and had caused problems that I didn't know how to remedy, but she didn't deserve to be turned over to die! We were almost home when we turned the car around and headed back to the shelter.

Yes, yes we rescued the dog that we had just within the last hour dropped off to be adopted. Yes, yes we paid the shelter adoption fee to adopt the dog we had just within the last hour dropped off to be adopted. Rosie, none the worse for wear, enjoyed her short field trip and remained safe and unharmed.

I gave birth shortly after and now commandeered a newborn as well as a 14 month old. My hands were quite full. I continued to trip over this big bassett, baby in my arms now. Two babies awakened from naps now.

Happily, this story didn't end there. Shortly after we "adopted" Rosie, my husband came home with another coworker who just happened to love bassett hounds. This man fell in love with Rosie immediately. Even better, he lived on a large property with his own young bassett who loved to run and play and romp in the huge yard. The three of them hit it off from the start and Rosie finally had her dream situation with lots of space, attention, companionship and play.

Rosie's new dad reported occasionally how happy both he and Rosie were. He always told us she was a great dog. Finally, it was clearly meant to be.

Shirlee
RICHMOND, TX

rescued is the best

Maxx and his 4 siblings were rescued out of a barn when they were approximately 3 months old. He was the last pup rescued; it took them a week to catch him. We had been talking about getting a dog and as soon as we saw his picture, we knew he was the one. The 1st time we went to see him he had just had a bath and was scared because it was storming. We went and picked him up the next day. He was already potty trained. He loves to go for walks. He's a mama's boy. He won't go to bed till I do, and he sleeps in his bed in our room. He's become a major part of our lives. Love him.

barb f.
NORTH VERNON, IN

Thrown out on Highway

As I was driving home one evening I came upon a deceased puppy laying in the road and it broke my heart, but out of the corner of my eye I saw the tip of a dogs tail go under the guardrail. I rushed home and got my husband and we drove back to the area and he removed the deceased puppy to the side of the road while I looked for the other pup.

We looked for a couple of hours, but couldn’t find him. As I went back to the truck, he howled, he could see me but was to frightened to come out of woods. We went home.

I had to work the next day but as soon as I got off I went right back to look for him but again he was hiding and would not come out. Again he howled as I left. It poured rain that night and I slept very little because I was afraid he was injured.

Next morning I was determined to find him so I returned to the area and decided to climb over guardrail and up the steep hill where the road had been cut
through. There he was, under a small tree above his deceased littermate’s body. Could not convince him to let me touch him. This went on for about 2 hours. I decided to go home get food and water, as I started down the hill, he followed keeping his distance. Once we reached the bottom I reached out and barely rubbed his nose, taking a step closer, I patted his head and one more step allowed me to grab all that loose skin on his neck. We went home. Follow up trip to vet we discovered he had a broken leg at birth-6 weeks, never set so one leg shorter. Subsequent trips to orthopedic vet said leave alone, still going to get third opinion as arthritis will set in when older and his rear hock wobbles like a bad knee. He is a redbone coonhound and so very smart, 3 days and house broken. He has 2 cockers and a 12 year old rescued white shepherd to keep him company. Living life much better than the person who threw him out to die.

Marylee Schanen
ALBANY, KY

Reeka beat the odds

I came home from work later than usual that evening. I found the bottle of horse medicine open on the bed. Reeka, my dog, had got on the counter, opened the cupboard, got out the bottle, opened the child-proof cap and ate 42 Equinoxx (prescription NSAID) pills, meant for one a day for a 1,300 pound horse. I live in the country, but rushed her to the emergency vet, it was a long 30 minutes to get there. When I arrived they let me know that with such as overdose, there be almost no chance of survival and the treatment would cost thousands of dollars. I responded “I have to try”. I left Reeka in the ICU, hooked up to IVs and looking sad, scared and alone. My heart was breaking, but I said goodbye to Reeka that evening, telling her to fight with everything she had and I would see her the next day. I went home and recounted the pills remaining. They are prescription, I knew when I bought them and how many had been given to the horse; sadly 42 pills were re-confirmed as missing. I hardly ate or slept the next four days, visiting Reeka in the ICU and telling her she would pull through and be that 1% chance of survival. As the days went by, I visited her daily and she slowly improved. Finally the day came when her blood panel came back with no internal organ damage and she came home. The vet said there are only a handful of cases in the world where a dog survived such a bad overdose of NSAIDs, but Reeka beat the odds and is my miracle dog. The Equinoxx is now locked up and I put child- proof locks in all my cupboards.

Mandy
SILVER SPRINGS, NV

Moose

I found moose in a trash bag. He was a runt and born without a tail, so the breeder stomped on him and put him in the bag. I found him in the nick of time. He was severely dehydrated and couldn’t walk or stand; we had to teach him. Today, 10 years later, he is so loved and spoiled. He has an attitude and can be sassy, but I wouldn’t have him any other way

Debbie
WINONA, MN

My Sweet "Jazz Purr"

She came into the Vet hospital where I worked, very weak and anemic from the 100 + fleas we got off of her, followed up with a blood transfusion. Her sibling had already passed before they arrived for care. She was only a few days old but a feisty little gal. Her owner couldn't keep her because Jazz needed more care than the owner was able to do. So, I adopted her (as we did with lots of patients that needed some help). I bottle fed her every 4 hours, medicated her, cuddled her and was her mama, assisted by my pittie mix, George, who thought she was his baby. She used to drive him nuts with worry when she was old enough to hide under things, where he couldn't see her. George would whine till she came out and he always allowed her to have his huge bed, while he put only his head on it to watch her. She loved to fall asleep on my chest after eating and having a sponge bath and she had the most awesome, loud purr. We always listened to Kenny G and other Jazz music. Hence, her name, "JazzPurr". She was so special and so beautiful. Black long hair and LONG white whiskers. Never has a kitty touched me as she did. She sensed when anything was wrong and came running, flopping her heavy self on me and giving me kisses. She lived 14 years, but we lost her to renal cancer, way too soon. I sure do miss that sweet baby girl. I could only submit one photo, so decided on one of her kitten pictures instead of her as an adult.

Jan Henry
BELLINGHAM, WA

Adopting Gigi

I had lost my 18 year old Pekingese the end of June. I wasn't sure if or when I might get another dog. My son kept insisting I should consider getting one, and in mid-August I did look at a few rescue sites just to start considering adopting an older dog somewhere down the road. Low and behold, a rescue close to me sent me a picture of the sweetest little dog. The rescue owner said the little dog was so scared and timid, so I decided to go and visit her the next day. Her story was she had been in a high kill shelter in another state and then in a foster in that state and then brought to the state I live in. I got to the rescue and she immediately warmed up to me and was no longer as scared. The rescue owner said even if I didn't adopt her she was glad I had gone since I brought her out of her shell. It was clear by her actions someone had abused her. I decided right then and there I was going to adopt her and I am soo happy I did. She is the sweetest lovable dog imaginable. She is 18 months old.

Mary
BRIGHTON, CO

Lionel!

One day while volunteering at my local animal shelter I saw an officer bring in a severely malnourished and very frightened dog. I took him home with me that very day and found that he could not even stand up very well without toppling over. I took him to the vet right away. Ater treatment and plenty of rest he became the sweetest boy ever. I am so glad I brought him home with me!

Loretta Johnston
LANSING, MI