Animal Rescue Stories

This is our 3 legged wonder dog

This is Kismet (which means fate).
I went to the humane society in 2002 because it was my birthday and I wanted a dog. My husband was still living in CA working and I was living in AZ because we bought our retirement home there. I was lonely and needed a friend. I was looking for a small dog. As I passed cages I stopped and talked to each dog. When I stopped at this cage this pretty little face looked up at me but didn't get up. I could see she was bigger than what I was looking for so I kept going. As I was coming back that pretty little face had stood up and I saw she was missing a complete leg... all the way to the hip. I told her "Come on let's go home". She had been hit by a car, left for dead, someone else picked her up and took her to the vet. He saved her by amputating. She is amazing and has no idea she is missing a leg. She is faithful, spoiled rotten and a complete joy. Best birthday present in the world. We love her and can't imagine our lives without her. She is a full time camper as we are traveling the United States for the next 4 years. She loves every minute of it. She is a Catahoula and the softest dog I have ever met.

Terri
Prescott, AZ

Jack, my wife's best friend

Our daughter had seen a dog that had been abused and desperately needed a home. She decided to get him and give him to me as a surprise birthday present, even though we already had 3 other dogs. When we got Jack he was afraid of everyone as well as our other dogs. My wife took the lead and got Jack to sit with her on the couch. She just sat with him for hours trying to help him feel at home. He now follows her everywhere and if she goes behind a door, he waits for her to come out. Jack is always at her side and she is grateful for his sweet spirit every day. Over the last 2 1/2 years he has adopted one of our other dogs as his brother, doing almost everything Gizmo does. When I am walking them and they are ahead of me, when I call them, they turn in unison like a dance team would. Jack is still cautious of strangers, but he does not bark at everyone when they are 50 feet away like he used to. As you can see from the picture, he feels perfectly at home with me now too. He brings such a loving sweet spirit to our home and has become my wife's best friend. He loves unconditionally as all dogs do and he is not afraid to show it to us.

Larry Ottesen
Fremont, CA

Beautiful Indeed

During the first year after my beloved 14-year-old German Shepherd died I thought about someday adopting another, but the sadness of knowing that it wouldn't be her kept me from taking any steps toward finding another. One day I happened by accident to see an ad in the newspaper under Lost and Found, needing a home for a "Beautiful German Shepherd".

I didn't know that the ad was from our local humane society, brief and understated as it was. I kept the ad for several days and thought about calling, but hesitated, unsure if I could bear to move ahead without my darling girl. After a week or so, I telephoned, and after a substantial interview, which I now know was to screen out callers with motives, I was invited to meet the dog.

He came home with me that afternoon. He barely fit into my car, he was so huge, and was quite utterly wild and untrained. I learned that I am his fourth owner; none of the previous three had time for him, and at least one abused him badly.

Such a pair the two of us are, together for six years now, and inseparable. At 91 pounds, my sweet boy is now the gentlest, most obedient, most cheerful and loving companion you could ever imagine. How lucky I was to see that newspaper ad, and how near I came to missing out on the great happiness of life together with him.

Linda
Pocatello, ID

One of Andrew's Angels

After hurricane Andrew hit southern Florida in 1992, strays were picked up and taken to the local shelter. The West Palm Beach animal shelter was trying to find their families but ended up with 200 + dogs to find homes for. I live in St. Petersburg which is about a five hour drive from West Palm Beach. I had a dog and really didn't want to adopt another one but I agreed to ride with a friend who was a member of the local dog club and was going to pick up some dogs to help find them homes up here. We drove down and she picked out three dogs and I found a friend in Butterscotch. She got that name because she was mostly white with tan on her ears and around her tail. She was about six months to a year old and extremely shy. She was as far back in the corner of the crate as she could get. I kept telling myself I don't need another dog but I couldn't stop thinking about her and when it was time to leave we left with four dogs. I renamed her Muffy. I introduced her to my other dog Buddy. They got along great but Muffy was very shy and would hide most of the time. If someone came to visit she would go hide under the bed. I gradually trained her not to be afraid and after years I saw her finally accept people. To make a long story short, last month Muffy died. She was 18 years old. I will always miss her, Copper (a Poodle I later inherited and who became Muffy's protector) and Buddy. I enjoyed spoiling all of them. I know they must all be angels now!

S. Brunk
St. Petersburg, FL

My Pepper

I just wanted to show off my beauty and share the interesting story of how I found her and had to save her. I was sitting at home one Sunday morning, watching the local news when they brought out this puppy named Stephanie. She was found abandoned with her mother and 10 brothers and sisters. As soon as our eyes met, that was it. I was in love instantly. So, I went to the Houston Humane Society and walked around looking for her but she wasn't in any cage where the other dogs were. As I started to cry, I asked the receptionist about Stephanie. She went to the back and brought her to me. She had a respiratory infection and was being treated so she was in a special quiet part of the facility. I adopted her immediately and since she was sick, I had to wait a few weeks to take her home. But, I worked not but a few miles from there so I went on my lunch break every day to play with her and bond. I changed her name to Pepper cuz well, it's another of my fav things (jalapenos) I love her so much and she loves me back. She is the sweetest most loving animal and I am truly blessed to have her.
The Humane Society had so many animals it was heartbreaking. I'd take them all if I could. Enjoy the pic.

Barbara
Houston, TX

Jazzy's Story

One August morning of 2002, a little orange tabby kitten wandered up to our house. We had lost our Sheltie, Brandy, two years back and we hadn't had another pet since then. We gave the kitten some milk and we knew that he didn't belong to anybody so we kept him. We named him Nosey, but the vet told us it was a girl so we named the cat Jasmine. And THEN the vet told us they were wrong and the cat was a boy, like we had thought to begin with. We didn't want to confuse our cat too bad, and he was already used to the name Jasmine, so we shortened it to Jazzy. Today Jazzy is six years old, going on seven, and a very big cat with gorgeous yellow-green eyes. At night he roams around the neighborhood and in the daytime he loves laying around on the floor in my room, or curled up in the old brown chair. We also have a dog, Joey, who Jazzy is surprisingly protective of sometimes. Jazzy can be moody sometimes, but we love that fat cat.

Kellie
Theodore, AL

Slinky - Our Loveable Weiner Dog

The first time we saw Slinky at the Humane Society shelter, we fell madly in love with him. We just couldn't resist those beautiful chocolate brown puppy eyes! Slinky was 3 years old back then, a bit on the thin side and was very shy. The adoption process took 3 whole days. I just couldn't wait to hold him again and to finally call him our pet baby. When the day finally came, I was so filled with joy! The first few months were hard on him. He was still getting used to my husband and me. His previous owners gave him up to the Humane Society because they couldn't afford to take care of him anymore. Now it's been a year & 2 months since we got him and we couldn't be happier. Slinky has brought a love into our lives that we will cherish forever! I thank God for giving us Slinky... for he's our little angel.

Apresa Family

Cristina
Houston, TX

Two for the price of one...

After my Lab Jersey Girl was hit by a car, I wanted another dog. I went to the shelter and they had two litter mates, one girl and one boy. I couldn't decide, and couldn't leave one behind, so I took them both. Bonnie is the white, and Clyde is the Red. Both have had some major health issues from mange to reoccurring ear infections. Bonnie had full knee replacement at 10 months, and Clyde recently had a root canal and crown on his bottom left canine. Now they are TWO and finally healthy (except for an ear infection here and there). They are my $10000.00 pound puppies, and I wouldn't change a thing. They make life so worth living!

Terri Sullivan
Port St. Lucie, FL

Cush

My fiance and I had recently moved in together and I was dying to get a pet. Mark had never had a cat before and was pretty sure he was not a "cat person" but agreed to meet the big beautiful boy I spotted on PetFinder.com. Cush was sweet & gentle but the shelter told us he had been there for awhile because he slept through all his interviews. We took him home and he has come out of his shell and Mark is the proudest cat owner ever. Adopting Cush into our little family was the best decision we have ever made!

Whitney Bruce
Chicago, IL

A "Happy" Rescue

Happy came into our lives at about 5 months old. He weighed 7 lbs. He had been abused, neglected, and his leg had been broken (the vet said it was the worst break he had ever seen, right at the growth plate). We were told he might lose the leg.
Happy never knew he had a problem or that he was different from our other dog, Gypsi. He played with her like any puppy would. The giant cast never stopped him for a second. We took him to the orthopedic surgeon and prayed for a miracle. After about a month they took the cast off and his leg had healed. Not perfectly, its slightly crooked but he's not in any pain. When he's standing still it looks like he's in the third position ballet pose.
Happy came to us with that name and we decided not to change it.
It seemed like a good omen, and as it turned out it was. He is the happiest. most grateful little dog you could ever meet. We are so blessed to have him.

Linda
Ocean Gate, NJ