Maeve Meets Finn!

The day we brought Finn (top) home he loved his sister Maeve immediately. They are both adopted from different animal rescue sites, but they look like brother and sister. They are such great dogs and we love them both as if they are our children!

Ellen McCabe
Rutherford, NJ

Bitty Cat and Dexter

Bitty Cat (14 yrs old) lost his best buddy & Dexter (13 yrs old) lost my Mom and came to live with me. They seem to have bonded in their time of need. They can be found sleeping together most nights while I watch TV

Jo
Florissant, CO

Whiskas

I found Whiskas when I was just a little girl. It was the middle of winter and it was extremely cold outside. I woke up early that morning and as I went downstairs, I remember hearing a strange noise coming from the front door. I opened it and saw a tiny little kitten, desperate to come in. My mother was convinced he came from a near by park and had lost his way from his mother, but I noticed a tiny bowl of milk and food in the bushes. Someone had left him there in the cold during the whole night. We've been best friends since then and I don't know how my life would have been without him by my side.

Chiara
Sao Paulo, Brazil

Hootie Happy Dog

One day I was simply "driven" to look at the JRTs on Petfinder.....and after a few pages I saw a cute young JR boy looking up; but, not at the camera. It seems his "owners" had turned him into a High Kill Shelter to be euthanized with a note saying he was "too near sighted to be good for anything". Well, Hootie came to live with me and I took him to the Vet to have his eyes checked, got an Opthamalogist friend to refract his eyes for a prescription. Now Hootie enjoys seeing clearly through his "prescription Doggles", chasing his basketball and living with my other Rescue Russels, a dog that "came with the farm" and a rescue Cat. Hootie sleeps next to me and is a WONDERFUL dog in every way.....and I think he is good for EVERYTHING! Thanks to a marvelous Volunteer in that shelter who took him to a Foster Hootie has a chance to be happy AND "see"......

Joanie
Southern Pines, NC

Princess Braveheart

About 6 months ago, the rescue I work with, Pink Paws Rescue and Adoption, had gotten a call about a cat that desperately needed to be rescued.

This tabby and white girl had gotten stuck up a very tall tree, requiring the owner to call the fire department to get her down. They set up the ladder and one fireman went up to get her. She calmly allowed him to pick her up and carry her back down the ladder. They reached the ground and he put her down. Not one instant later, the aggravated owner (extremely angry his cat had caused him such 'embarrassment'), came over and kicked her so hard he broke one of her back legs. The fireman immediately scooped her up and told the man that if he was going to treat this cat like this, he didn't deserve to have her. Luckily, the man readily the fireman take the cat.

Unfortunately, the fireman lived in an apartment that did not allow pets, so he called us. We agreed to take her in and took her straight to the vet. The ex-owner had kicked her so hard, he'd actually shattered her leg bone. The leg had to be amputated, there was no way of repairing it.

After some therapy, love and a special kitty friend, the 3-legged lady (named Princess Braveheart) showed us just how special she was. She learned to walk on only three legs and even played with her foster.

Luckily, she was adopted not long after her recovery- this time to a very loving family who continue to call her their brave little Princess.

Bree
Simi Valley, CA

My Binxter

I first saw Binx (pronounced like Binks) at the petshop not far from my home. He was free of charge (I don't know what happened to the other cats, but I think they went to the pound), and I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. I knew I had to have him. My last cat Gabriel ran away when a dog chased him, and knowing I couldn't have animals in the last house I lived in, I thought it was pointless to try and get another cat. So, I waited, until I moved, and then I waited some more. I saw Binx at the petstore, and I knew I had to bring him home. I don't know why, but the first time I saw him, I loved him. I've always loved cats. Always, and I always want at least one around. So, I brought him home. Shortly afterwards, he started showing signs of an upper respitory infection, and off to the vet we went. He was so small. Underfed. Not properly cared for. But a few days later, he was as good as new, gaining his much-needed weight, and now, nearly a year later, he is my pride and joy, my baby. He is well-fed, maybe even fat, extremely ornery, and well, crazy. But I love him with all my heart. All my heart. And I pray that he will be at my side for many more years to come.

Jamie Teague
Fort Smith, AR

Rescue in Progress

A couple of years ago, we started feeding an orange and white feral cat. He was an unneutered male, and we started calling him The Dude. Last spring, he suffered through two separate abcesses on his head from cat fights, and I decided before this year's breeding season, we'd get him neutered. By late summer last year, he finally began letting me approach him and pet him without the enticement of food. He figured out how to use the cat door to come into our garage, so we started feeding him there, and he slept in there most nights this last winter. He's very good-natured and gets along well with all of our other cats.

We were finally able to trap The Dude a few months ago and get him to the vet for exam, vaccines and neutering. Turns out he's FIV positive, but we decided he's just too sweet to be put down, so we'll take care him as long as he's with us. The domestication process with him progresses in baby steps. Last week, I was petting him in the garage and, twice, he let me pick him up and put him on my lap for 5-10 seconds, so I'm encouraged. Hopefully, by next winter, we'll have him staying in the warm house, instead of the cold garage.

T. Gage
Salem, OR

From Deep in a Well to a Mile High

The very day that we had to euthanize our first dog, a racing greyhound named Pronto, thousands of miles away five galgos (Spanish greyhounds) were pulled from a 100 foot well in the Spanish countryside. It was the end of the rabbit hunting season and the galgos had been thrown down the well to kill them. This is one of the terrible ways that the galgueros (hunters) dispose of their dogs. Miraculously, a passerby who had stopped his car in the countryside heard their barking and alerted a local shelter, Scooby Refuge. I followed the story of their dramatic rescue and recovery and, incredibly, a little black and white girl rescued from the well joined our family in Denver, Colorado, a year and a half later. We adopted Prisa through Galgo Rescue International Rescue. It took time for Prisa to acclimate to life as a treasured family member from her near-feral state. But now, after six years with us, she is content and secure, loves to hike with us, has a great sense of humor and enjoys the comforts and love we shower upon her!

Judy Greenfield
Denver, CO

Sweet Lily

One morning, the manager of the cat shelter saw a man carrying an all-white cat. When the manager came to the window, he threw Lily into the middle of the four lane busy street outside. I'll be forever grateful to the shelter manager, who ran out and truly rescued Lily. When I was visiting the shelter the next week, I picked Lily up and she immediately fell asleep in my arms. I fell in love.

Lily is deaf, toothless and clawless. Despite her hard life, Lily loves all people. Her favorite thing is to be held upside down like a baby. But she's scared of my other cats; because she can't hear them, she thinks they "sneak" up on her!

Lily knows sign language for "come" and "no" but, being a cat, she pretends not to see me sometimes - usually when I'm trying to show off her skills. Lily gives me all the love in the world - animals in rescue are just waiting for their chance, too.

Lisa MIllman
Chicago, IL

Maisy, The Smiling Ambassador Dog of Goodwill

After our 15+ Springer Spaniel,Maisy,went to the Rainbow Bridge, I was going to "wait awhile" to get another dog. And I was "definitely" going to get another Springer. Then my niece came to visit. For fun, we decided to "just look" at the dogs at the local Humane Society. Half hour later, we were on our way home with a 3 mon-old black "cocker spaniel" puppy! "Maisy" had come in as a stray.

Six years later, Maisy is a beautiful 60 lb girl - certainly not a cocker spaniel-probably a Setter mix? We call her a super model, she's got glossy hair, long legs, but is a tad low on smarts. Took almost a year to housetrain her. She's afraid of thunderstorms, vacuums, brooms-anything with a long handle.

But she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. She actually Smiles at you (freaks some people out when she shows her big white teeth!) She loves people-especially kids-other dogs and cats.Maisy has welcomed, not only the two additional rescue dogs we've adopted, but 40+ more foster dogs we've had. She is a gentle, accepting leader who immediately puts the other dogs at ease when they arrive. Oh, if all people could be as gracious as she is!

I never thought I could love another dog like I did my first dog,Millie, but I have! I read stories where someone loses their pet and says "they're not going to get another because they don't want the pain from the loss again." But think of the Love and Joy a new pet will give you and the new chance at life you will give them! If that's all that is stopping you, I say - Run, don't Walk to your local shelter/petfinder.com and enjoy owning a pet again!

Karol
Circle Pines, MN