Animal Rescue Stories

Rescue in the Park

Happened to be sitting in a quiet place in the park and saw several raccoons foraging for food. I noticed one of them was a little different. He walked like a raccoon and was part of the pack. I saw them every day and finally figured out he was a cat. I left wet food for him near a large rock where I would sit. Day after day, the food was gone. Finally, I noticed that as soon as I sat down, he would come out of a hole in a tree and wait at the edge of the trees for me to lay his food down. This went on for months. Finally, he jumped onto the rock and waited for his food. Eventually, he recognized the sound of my car and was out on the rock waiting for me. This went on for a year - rain, snow, sleet. It developed that he wanted me to pet and stroke him first before he would eat. Eventually, I was able to get him into a cage. He was a feral and went wild in my bathroom. I slept downstairs with him in a closed room. He waited for me to get comfortable, jumped up, and slept on my stomach. I finally found him a great home another year later. This was 10 years ago. He is still happy and thriving.

Sandra Watson
CINCINNATI, OH

The shelter named him Mowgli

I had been volunteering at a our local humane society for years and also fostering dogs for them recovering from surgery or not yet ready for adoption. A man brought in a Pomeranian that he had been trying to catch for a year because the neighborhood kids were abusing the dog. Mowgi was in bad shape and was immediately taken to the vet. His eyes were badly infected and he ultimately lost one. The vet thought he was about 8 years old and was probably hit by a car as he favored one hind leg but surgery was ruled out. His coat was sparse and skin was red so home he came with me. I could not put a collar on him without him screaming each time and I assume he had been choked. He had many issues to work on but was very sweet and never left my side. After several months, his coat came back beautifully and his leg improved from being on a joint supplement. Fast forward two years, the shelter said I needed to either adopt him or let them find a home. I already had two rescue dogs and didn't want the expense of a third dog, but I couldn't give up this adorable and sweet little guy especially since he fit right into my pack. He has enriched my life and I am so happy that he is mine.

Linda K.
POMPANO BEACH, FL

14 years old & at a shelter

We were told that Jasper was 14 years old & had to be surrendered because his owner was sick. Who knows what that means, except that a 14 year old dog isn't highly likely to find a home. I tried networking Jasper to my animal loving friends, but nobody would step up, so in the end, I did. Jasper has been with us for over 2 years now & has been a great addition to our family. He's arthritic, but such a happy guy that we usually call him "Puppy Boy". I hope whoever did such a great job of raising Jasper to be such a fine canine citizen knows that Jasper is a beloved member of our family until the end.

Carla
STOCKTON, NJ

My Highway Star

On November 1, 2017, which was unusually cold for our area (teens) I was on my way home from choir practice around 9:30 at night. I got about 1 mile from the church where I turn onto a 4-lane divided highway (US 411 in Tennessee). There are numerous businesses and plants along the highway so it is generally busy. In the middle of the road was a gray and white kitty huddled in fear that I almost didn't see and almost hit. I stopped my car, put on my flashers and got out. I got down on my hands and knees and approached the kitty, with my Miata blocking as much of the road as a Miata can. Fortunately, another vehicle (an SUV) coming from the opposite direction saw what I was doing, stopped their vehicle and shone their headlights on the kitty so I could see what I was doing. The kitty just looked at me and I almost grabbed it the first try but she backed away. I spoke softly to her some more and she came close to me again where I was able to grab her. I carried her to my car, got in, shut the door, and put her on the passenger's seat. I had no carrier and 25 miles to home. I was just hoping she would not go ballistic. She just laid the front half of her body on my lap and slept the entire way home. Since I had three other cats in the house, I left her in the garage overnight with food, water, a bed, and a litterbox. The next morning, I took her to my vet and left her for a check-up. Thankfully, her health was good. She was treated for fleas and worms and we found out the kitty was a she. It was determined by her teeth that she was about 6 months old so we made an appointment for spaying in the next few weeks. I named her Freyja (I was going to name her Setzer if she had been a boy after Brian Setzer the musician). In Norse mythology, Freyja's cart is drawn across the sky by two gray long-haired cats. While my Freyja is a gray and white tuxie, she does have a very bushy tail. I wasn't going to keep her but she is so sweet I could not let her go. She just learned how to meow this past Christmas, I'm not so sure that was a good thing. She is terrified of the other cats, and with good reason, the callies do seem to want to kill her! One of the older kitties died this past October so she only has two to contend with and one of those is 15 years old and the other has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (Sarajevo's rescue is also on this site). Freyja is still semi-feral but is a "beta" personality. She is so gentle, I truly don't believe she would have made it outdoors. She follows me around like a puppy and I am the only one that can pick her up. My husband can pat her but has to let her sniff his hands first and then only around her ear area. She will watch guests in the house, but not let them get near to her. I think she will eventually come around but until then, I will just enjoy my semi-wild cat.

Susan Anderson
CLEVELAND, TN

The cat who came in from the cold

I encounted a large, scrawny tuxedo cat outside my building one really cold night in Nov 2011. He wanted to come inside but was extremely cautious- he looked like he was a dumped house cat.i fed him almost every night for approximately 4 months all the while putting up posters to find out if he belonged to anyone. I finally picked him up one rainy evening without any resistance and brought him immediately to my vet. I brought him home after someone who "adopted" him brought him back and the vet called me to come and pick up "my" cat. I named him Thor after the comic book warrior-my first boy cat- he's become my constant shadow, resident love bug and all around wonderfully affectionate cat. Seriously, he doesn't leave me alone - he can be a bit of a bully towards my 2 girls at times but they all tolerate each other. I knew he was mine when he entered my house and breathed a sigh of relief?! To top it all off - the black smudge on the bottom of his chin is in the shape of a heart! Yes, I picked up a sweetheart.

DP
FOREST HILLS, NY

The Chug Who Stole My Heart Without My Permission.

I already had Chula, another rescue Chug, and didn't want a second when Roo came into my life. (I had been dog sitting him for a week for my cousin, his foster mom.) The elbows on Roo's front legs are fused into a bent position, which means he can't straighten them out. (Vets think he might have broken them coming through the birth canal.) He can walk and run, more like a kangaroo than a dog, but gets tired after awhile, which is why I modified a baby stroller for him to jump in and out of. Roo and his Roadster, with me as his Roober Driver, have walked so many miles since summer of 2012 that we are now on our third stroller. In addition, Roo, Chula and I spent a year traveling around the United States, and last summer drove all the way across Canada and back to the West coast, after spending one month in Newfoundland. Roo is an inspiration to disabled people who meet him and, along with Chula, also volunteers at Assisted Living, where they both make many people very happy.

Jane Margulis
WALDPORT, OR

Chatty to Charley Beans

My roommate and I were living in an apartment complex that allowed pets. Unfortunately, many people moved away and left their cats behind to fend for themselves. I began feeding the strays.
My little boy kitten so wanted to make friends with the strays but most were not friendly towards him. One day I heard this black and white cat just meowing and crying. That is how I came to refer to it as Chatty. I didn't know if it was male or female.
I noticed the other strays we're not very nice to Chatty. Chatty had a lot of scratches and looked like he was the loser in a number of cat fights.
Chatty was receptive to my kitten's attention. Chatty even allowed me to pet it. Eventually, I was able to see that Chatty was a male.
One day there was a party across the court yard and I heard the people commenting on the noisy cat, Chatty. I grew concerned that somebody would do something mean to him because of his crying. I left my apartment door open and Chatty (who I had begun calling Charley since I knew he was a him) would walk in, but as soon as I moved he would run away. Finally, I got the door closed. He was extremely upset and scared. My kitten showed him a good hiding place--under my bed. After hiding there and being fed under the bed for a couple of weeks, I moved the food on to the dresser. He would sneak out to eat but remained under the bed. Then, one day I saw him getting down from the bed as I entered my room. It was long after that he began sleeping with me.
I already had two cats and a dog and was not looking to take in another cat. I contacted all of the local rescues, but they were all full. I placed an ad on Craigslist (I know, I know that was very dangerous). A young want answered my ad. I went to visit and check out the home. She was very animal friendly, so I brought Charley to her. I told her if there was any problems to contact me and I would take him back.
After a couple of months I texted her to see how he was doing. She said he hadn't moved from under her bed except to eat late at night. She asked me to take him back as he seemed just too scared.
I went back and got him, fully intending to take him to the local Humane Society. He HID and was nowhere to be found. By the time he was found, caught and in the carrier it was after 4:00 pm on a Saturday. I thought it was too late to get him to the Humane Society and assumed it would be closed on Sunday. I promised my roommate, I would take him on Monday.
I worked odd hours and would nap during the day. When I woke up, Charley was laying in my arm looking as calm as I had ever seen him. My roommate came in to wake me up and saw this. She just laughed and said "you know that cat's not going anywhere." I was crying, and said "so, it's okay if I keep him". She just laughed at me. She KNEW it would break my heart to give him up again.
Over time I began calling him Charley Beans because he had the stinkiest farts and poops. With regular, good food, that has greatly improved, but the name stuck.
I really tried to find a home for Charley Beans, bit he decided he liked mine.
I've had him now for 6 years. He's come a long way from that scared cat. He is just the biggest lover boy, who enjoys my hugs and kisses on the head. It took months just to get him to leave my bedroom. It's still his favorite room but he roams throughout the house and even comes out to love on my roommate occasionally.
The "kitten" now, bullies Charley. My girl cat and Charley are friendly. Sometimes Charley is a little too friendly. It's not always smooth sailing but I've never regretted my first rescue and foster fail.

Jenny
DUPONT, WA

My true Angel

In 2002, I choose to move in with my parents due to their health problems becoming worse. After a few months I decided I wanted to find a companion, so I went to the Monterey SPCA. Every dog was jumping and barking at their kennel as if to say adopt me, adopt me. However, there was one who was cowering and peaking through the dog door to the outside.

He was truly beautiful. He was a German Shepherd and a Belgian Tervuren mix. He was approximately 4 years old and was brought in as a stray and later determined to have been abused and neglected. I got into his kennel and talked with him and tried to bribe him with some treats. Within a few minutes he carefully came to me, sniffed me and then layed down so I could rub his belly.

When I took him out to the front, everyone was surprised. They told me that in the four months that he had been there, he would not allow a man near him, and yet he was walking along side of me. So, on May20th, 2002, he came home with me. I choose the name Altan.

The first week was rough. He took over my closet, but that was for a protection and a safe feeling. In the ten years he was with me, he went just about every where with me. And when one of my parents fell, or had a stroke or some other medical problem, he would alert me.

In June 2012, I took him for his yearly checkup. Everything was fine, but in about ten days, a large growth in his jaw formed. When I took him to the vet, they told me he had a very aggressive cancer, and they could remove it, but he would lose 1/3 of his jaw. So I said no. They give me medication to make things easier for him.
In the short time left, we did his bucket list. Everything he enjoyed we did. Then on July 4th, 2012, he gave me that look that he was ready. So the next morning, I fed him eggs with cheese, bacon, sausage, steak and hamburger. At the vets, we had some special time privately together, and then eye to eye, with me holding him, he went to sleep for the last time, crossing the Rainbow Bridge.

He was everything to me, and what Iwill miss most about Altan, is everything!

Anthony Rodriguez
MONTEREY, CA

The most amazing kitty came to me

Angel Eyes was brought into the shelter in Colorado where a kindly neighbor had trapped her when her people had left her outside in the February snow and moved away. They took her in and she had her babies adopted out but nobody wanted her. That May, i went to look at the cats on a whim (had one already). On my third visit to her, i took her home. She was such a handful that it was tempting to return her (which i have never done btw) My studio apartment was filled with her 24/7 crying for many days. Had to put her out in the car so i could sleep. She hung over her food defensively and i could feel how hungry she had been. But she and my older cat tolerated each other and shared peacefully. One day, like magic, everything got better. i made up a little song for her and promised her that she would never be cold or hungry again. Seventeen years later, that is true. She lives in a nice house with another rescued kitty and stays indoors in the sunshine, safe from the coyotes.

She has been the most amazing cat. When my other dearly loved 20 year old girl passed away a year later, Angel Eyes came out and sat next to her and mourned. She would hardly eat for days. Then she started doing some of the loving gestures the other cat did and she became a great comfort to me in my relentless grief. When i had major major surgery in 2010 she became even more loving, shadowing me everywhere and healing me with her purr. Even non cat people say she is beautiful. She is the sweetest, most loving cat ever.

How could anybody abandon her so cruelly? Their loss was my gain. Every day now with her is a blessing. She could leave me any time now-she has good days and some not -so -good days. Her hearing is gone, but everything else basically works. i am devastated by the thought of being without her, but i know that is the price we all pay. The day we bring our furbaby home is the day we know we are going to cry someday. Love is worth it!

marie moonbeam
MOAB, UT

For the Love of Fatso

Fatso, the cockatiel, somehow squeezed through the patio window of my high rise condo in downtown Honolulu in an attempt to eat some seed I had left out for a wild cardinal. We were devastated! A day later and many miles away Fatso landed on a gentleman's shoulder who was eating lunch in a park. Soon the two were eating together. Then, the man took Fatso home. Shortly thereafter, the man responded to an ad I had posted in the newspaper - one of my many desperate attempts to locate our dear missing Fatso. We immediately arranged a meeting to determine if the bird was really "our" Fatso. It certainly was! After giving the kind man visitation rights, we then happily and gratefully took Fatso home where he lived happily ever after! Just another example of every day miracles and the angels who live among us!

Jan Liftee
HONOLULU, HI