This dirty little guy was at the local animal shelter, so scared, so dirty, and so all alone. It took 4 baths before he could be held. I don't know where he came from but it obviously wasn't good. But he was such a little sweetie, so loving, so cute, we just couldn't resist him, He has turned out to be a very funny, smart dog that protects his family, loves all animals and is just pure joy to have in our lives!
One day, while taking my son to pre-school, I heard the terrified cry of a kitten in trouble. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, but was informed by one of the ladies at the pre-school, that there was a kitten stuck in the undercarriage of her Yukon. Poor Milo had gone for a five mile ride from her house, to 7-11 and then to her work. She couldn't figure out how to get him out from under her car.
That afternoon, they told me that they had rescued him from under the car, only to have him be terrified and run into the engine compartment of another car parked nearby. He was rescued again and when I came to pick up my son, we had a new kitten.
After getting him home, I found that he was so traumatized, that he didn't want anything to do with people. He would hiss and spit at you and was not the type of kitten to curl up in your lap and take a nap.
Now it is three years later and Milo is a happy member of our family of four, plus two other cats. Milo is best known for sitting in the front yard like a majestic lion protecting the neighborhood. He is still not a people cat, but will accept a scratch on the head and knows he has it made! He especially loves to talk to you when his food dish is empty. He recently has trained his owners how to open the front door for him, so he doesn't have to walk to the back of the house to the cat door. He has grown into a huge 14 pound tiger, a completely solid cat, not fat, just huge! We love our Milo!
It was a brutally cold November day when a female Border Collie showed up in my yard with a pup in tow. The pup was fat and sassy, but the mom was closed to starving. When I brought out the leftover meatloaf, she wouldn't touch it until the pup could eat no more. I couldn't get them to come in the house or the shop, so I made a windbreak by the door and put a thick blanket under it. She was still there the next day, and she let me know I had been adopted.Then they disappeared. I was really sad.
Two days later, they were back, and I knew I had a friend for life. We put up posters and asked everyone we saw if they knew who she belonged to. They said they belonged to an elderly alcoholic who had been hauled off to detox...and we were told to keep her, as she would have a much better life with us. He had left her and her litter penned up when he was taken away. Mom and her pup were the only ones who survived.
One day, the older man drove by and stopped to talk. Mom dog, named Gypsy now, hid in the dog house and shook uncontrollably until he drove away. She has been my constant companion ever since. I was an orphan, but she never will be. She comes first. Always will. Best dog I have ever been owned by.
A friend found a 4-week old Khol with 2 of her siblings wandering near a busy intersection. She was covered in parasites, starving, and her body temperature was so low (it didn't register on the thermometer), we didn't know if she would survive the night. 3 years later, she's Daddy's little princess. We call her Itty-Bitty because of her stunted growth, but she has the biggest attitude in the house.
I found Patrick at Petco on a Sunday. He was all alone and letting everyone in the store know that he was not amused. He was part of SPCA's second chance program. We had lost one of our cats due to liver failure and the others missed him as did I. Patrick has more than filled that empty spot in our hearts.
A friend found Lucky on Petfinders. He had been in the shelter for six months and was scheduled to be put down because he wasn't adoptable. We had to arrange for transport halfway across the state, but when I saw him I knew it was worth it. His big open face and pale eyes captured my heart. Now he is a beautiful shiny muscular black cat who serves as the class clown of our feline family.
After losing my dog of 14 years to cancer, I realized the hole in my heart may never be filled, but I had to try to fill in the hole in my life that only a dog could. My best friend suggested a family's 3 year old Chihuahua mix that was abused and trying to be given away. Even though I considered myself a 'large dog' kinda person, I decided to meet "Myah". A few days later I found myself excitedly greeting by an extremely overweight, much older looking dog. But I could not leave any animal in the hands of an abuser, so Myah went home with me. Since then, the sluggish, fat, but still happy dog has turned into a healthy, slimmer and playful bundle of personality I couldn't give up if my life depended on it. Renamed "Petunia" (after Porky Pig's girlfriend, which she resembles) she has since learned to play, fetch and what a walk is like. She knows that scolding does not mean hitting, and what a belly rub feels like. Not only has she stolen my heart, but the heart of everyone who meets her. I have never had so many dog-sitting offers when I go on vacation (there was only one offer to watch my cat as well). Petunia may not be the physically cutest or most beautiful Chihuahua mix, but her personality makes her shine. I always hear as she greats every stranger like her long lost friend, "what a cute little happy dog... her tail never stops wagging." Petunia has taught me that no matter where in life you are, in good times or bad, its okay to be a hopeless optimistic.
We adopted Marley a year ago from the SPCA of Chemung County. Now she is very well loved and cared for - she is our best friend and we love her dearly! We decided to get a cat from the shelter because we knew that they needed a home and we had just lost our kitten at the age of 11 months to feline leukemia and we were very sad. We knew that there was another cat out there for us and that we needed to find her, so we went to the shelter. When we saw Marley, it was love at first sight. We looked at other cats, but we were always drawn to Marley. So we brought her home and now she is like one of my children. She gets spoiled like my kids and is allowed to do as she wishes. She is the love of everyone in this house.
I adopted Cheyanne 10 years ago from the Humane Society. They had found her looking for food in a dumpster with a pretty severe cut on her nose. I took her home and she became my best friend from then on. She passed away on May 26th after we discovered she had a brain tumor. I will miss her dearly. R.I.P. Cheyanne.
In the pic Howie is the big one in the middle. The dog to the right is also a rescue. She was being kicked, hit, beat by her owner as a puppy and we paid him to take her away from him. She unfortunitly recently died at 3 years old due to kidney failure. But this story is about our Howie. About 8 years ago my roomate became partially wheelchair bound and we went to the pound to find a dog to train to help her. What we found was a 8 year old lab/ golden retriever mix who had been partially trained but whose owner had died and the family did not want him. He had been return to the pound 5 times already due to issues with getting into the trash and such and was scheduled to be put down if not adopted within the next two weeks. We requested him only to be told there was a hold on him. We put a second hold on him just in case. Two days later they called and if we wanted him he was ours. We brought him home and finished his training. He has been a life saver and one of the sweetest most loving dogs a person could ever meet or ever hope to have as a part of the family. Now at 16 years old he is retired and acting like a puppy half the time. Well when his hips allow him to. We do not know who much longer he really has as he has already outlived the life expectancy for his size and weight, but it actually still very healthy other than some cateracts and hip issues. Everyone love your pets as they are more than just pets but part of your family.
