Animal Rescue Stories

The little dog that stole my heart

I do animal rescue and sometimes foster dogs for a local shelter. I got Missy the day after she was spayed and was to keep her until she was healed. Then I was to bring her to the offsite adoption center. The day arrived and she came down with kennel cough. So, the adoption would have to wait until she was well. This little pom/chi mix was so cute but was terrified of everyone. I am the only person she trusts. The day finally came that I had to take her to the adoption center. I drove there with dread. After we checked in, I was holding Missy and noticed that she was leaking urine so off to the vets we go. After many tests and much money, she is incontinent. Now who would want to adopt a dog that is scared of everyone and leaks urine? It has been a year now. I am still the only one she trusts even though I socialize her every chance I get. I even take her shopping to the hardware store. When I broke my leg, she was my constant companion. When I go to feed the horses or the potbelly pigs, she jumps on the golf cart to go with me. She goes everywhere with me, even the restroom. At bedtime, she has her bed and wears her diaper but she is worth the price. She is a constant companion and such a snuggle bug. It is hard that she doesn't trust anyone but this little dog has completely stolen my heart. She makes me laugh when she runs around the ranch in big circles or tries to help me garden. She is precious to me and has a forever home, my diaper dog.

Marianne Parker
Winchester, CA

The Whole Kitten Kaboodle

Somebody abandoned a small kitten near a busy street in town; I found her outside a store nearly starved to death. Although she ran from other concerned folks, when I spoke to her she literally jumped into my arms. It took a good deal of time and effort to nurse her back to health, but Kaboodle has brought so much love into the house in return that I think I got the better end of the deal. She's 4 now and spoiled beyond belief, just as she deserves.

Lesley
Sandusky, OH

right place

I had already taken my dog for a walk earlier in the day but I had to stay close by as I was taking care of my nephew who was playing in the neighborhood. My dog Maggie has a lot of energy and later in the day I decided to walk her around the block again.

I was walking down the road when I noticed a man stopped on his motorcycle He pulled up beside me and wanted to know if I knew who owned the cat that was hurt and was lying in the bushes. I rushed over to check out the kitten. She was hurt pretty bad. I hurried and took my dog home and grab a blanket. By the time I got back the kitten had moved behind the bushes and was between the bushes and a fence. The owner of the house was not home so I called my friend and between the two of us we were able to get the kitten out. I did not think she would survive the night. This was Saturday and I had to wait until Monday to get her into the vet.

My former Boss was always teasing me about rescuing stray dogs so I emailed him a photo of the kitten. I no sooner got off the computer and his wife called. They had just lost their cat and the one that I had found was a twin to the cat that had passed away. Of course they took the kitten.

Molly is so lucky in so many ways. Where I found her is not where I walk and had that man not stopped me I might not have even seen her in the bushes. She is in a loving home now and doing great.

Marilyn Bosco
East Liverpool, OH

TJ, Zoey & MK

All the kitties I've been blessed with in my life have either been strays or rescues. The 3 kitties that currently grace our home are no different. 3 years ago I was wrestling with whether or not to add another kitty to our family. At the time our dear Remi girl was fighting kidney disease & starting to slow down (we had already lost another girl to kidney disease as well). Our kids were 2 & 5 at the time & had always had a cat in their lives. They loved their kitty & I was concerned how losing Remi would affect them...especially since they constantly loved on her from sun-up to sun-down, but didn't want to add any stress to our sick kitty by bringing in a newcomer. Our neighbor walked over to our driveway with a little 5 week old orange ball of fur to "show" us before taking him to the shelter the next day. Needless to say, TJ became our newest family member at that moment! He was SO rambuncious that we thought it best to find a healthy, young playmate for him. Not long after Zoey, scrawny, all- black with bright green eyes, joined us after being rescued from a newspaper parking lot by the local humane society. 4 months later we lost our Remi which was very hard but made a little easier by having TJ & Zoey to love. A few months later a somewhat wild mother cat with her 2 babies appeared under my neighbors shed. After some time, we trapped her babies (now my parents' kitties) & then finally MamaKitty. Although she is still aloof she'll jump up on the bed for treats & purrs louder than any cat I've known. I'm still holding out hope that she'll come around someday!

Cassie
DuPont, WA

My Son Mimi

Mimi is a boy kitty adopted from my colleague, his mother said Mimi was destroying their furniture so he had to throw it over. At first I intended to help the colleague find a new host for the kitty, I failed. Then I asked the colleague to send the cat to my home. I called him Mimi, later someone wanted to adopt it, but I love the cute cat, and I am woried about he would not be kindly treated without me. Now he is more than 1 years old and I will live with him forever even if sometimes he is so naughty.

Karen
Ningbo, China

Posy

Posy picked us out at the shelter. We were looking for a younger kitty, but she was bound and determined to go home with us. Meowing until we picked her up, she was a love bug from the beginning. When we got her home, she proved to be a wonderful addition to our little family. She is our little cat dog and will come when called and knows her name. She has been part of our family for a year now, and everyone who has met her has fallen in love with her too.

Kaydee
Salt Lake City, UT

Jimme & Mykey

It was when my husband and I finally got our own mobile home in October 2000. I had so wanted to get an orange tabby cat because I never had that "color" before. So we went to the BH Humane Society to see if we could find one there. As soon as we walked into the cats department, there he was, the first one in line and meowing up a storm. He seemed to be saying "Here I am, the one you're looking for!" We immediately grabbed his card from his cage. He stopped meowing and had a look on his face like, "Oh thank you for choosing me". His card said that he was an orange tabby, 8 weeks old, his name was Foxy and he was found under a bridge and brought to the Humane Society. But, I had already had a name for him and that name was JIMME. After we picked Jimme, I remembered that my brother had wanted a kitten too. We decided to pick a blk/brn tabby kitten because he had the most gorgeous big green eyes, although at the time they looked sad. I was happy and after much paper work, we had our kitties! We took them home and delivered the blk/brn tabby to my brother. After a few weeks, it came to be that my brother could not keep the kitten so we welcomed the little ball of fur into our home for a companion and/or brother to our Jimme. They got along right off the bat, I think it was because they came from the same shelter. After observing the blk/brn tabby for a few days, I decided to call him Mykey. They both are going to be 9 years old this year and we love them dearly.

Dana L Schlecht
Eagle Butte, SD

How We Found Rocky

When our first kitty disappeared after five months, I was so heartbroken. We put up posters, searched the neighborhood and the animal shelters for weeks, to no avail. So we started looking for a new kitten, then we found out about the East Texas Animal Rescue Fund and there we found Rocky. As soon as I picked him up, he snuggled in my arms and I knew he was the one. That was about a year ago and not a day goes by that he doesn't make us laugh with his kitty antics. And who doesn't need a good laugh every day?

Mickie
Tyler, TX

A momma and 5 babies at Christmas!

My daughter and I volunteer for a local feline rescue facility. At Christmas a box was left outside in the cold in front of the store. Inside was a mother and five kittens. The cages were all full and we decided to foster this new family. A month later and we couldn't give them back! Momma Kitty, Taco, Star, Elmo, Reeces and Stella are happy as we are to have them in our home.

Maggie Ginn
Memphis, TN

Romeo & Juliet

Romeo (right) and Juliet were adopted by a friend in 2000, who then decided to join the Marines. Well, of course they couldn't take cats to boot camp, so I adopted them in 2002! Unfortunately, Romeo died from cancer in 2007. Juliet is a diabetic and patiently lets me give her a shot twice a day. She greets me everyday when I come home from work and sleeps with me every night. I would be very lonely without her!

Paloma Anderson
Cold Spring Harbor, NY