Animal Rescue Stories

Living the life of Riley

This beautiful tuxedo cat with no name lived in our neighborhood all last summer. I tried not to befriend him, knowing that he would easily win my heart. I already had two spoiled female cats who ruled my house. After a tropical storm in September, I found this soaking wet kitty bunkered down underneath the tarp at our woodpile. I brought him into our basement family room - away from our other cats. He let my niece towel him dry. He was famished, eating two bowls of food. After his belly was full, he cried to go back out. We didn't see him again for a week. This time he was crying at our back door to come in. He spent the night in our family room. A week passed where he spent the days wandering the neighborhood, but by dusk he would walk through our garage into "his" room. When the mornings turned cool, he didn't want to go out anymore. That's when I knew he had adopted us. We named him Riley because he went from being a stray to living the life of Riley. He now has the run of the entire house and gets along tolerably well with his sisters. He still has no desire to leave his comfortable home.

Robby
Forestdale, RI

Our Miracle Girl

We found Shelly in the Animal Shelter. She was one of a litter of 5, and the only one that looked like she did. All the others were brown and smooth coated. She was terribly skinny, the runt of the litter and literally starving to death as she was not big enough to push her littermates out of the way in order to nurse, and weighed less than a third of what she should have. She as just SO cute we had to have her. After a few weeks home, she started developing these lumps on her body. Before we removed them, they were benign tumors, we did a pre anesthetic blood screen and her kidney values were way off. A trip to an Emergency Internal Specialist proved that she has underdeveloped kidneys with less than a third of them functioning. She was given less than a year to live! I was heartbroken, but husband being the optimist he is, says, "her eyes are just too bright, she will be with us a long time". He was right! 12 years later, she still has a spring in her step and is a cherished member of our family, keeping my husbands feet warm at night under the covers.

Syd
Charlotte, NC

Sandy

It was an extremely cold night in February and I had let Buddy, our gray and black tiger, out for a few minutes. When my wife went to let him in she heard a weak meow from the end of the porch. There sat a skinny young cat. He was dirty and sick looking. My wife called me and I picked him up and placed him in her arms.
The next day we took him to the vet. Other than being half starved, ear mites and bad case of worms he was alright.
Today Sandy is a picture of health and fits right in with our other cats.

Jim Johnson
Providence, RI

Butch

Butch came to me on a hot summer day in July. A boy at work told me that they just got a "stupid dog who won't even eat a chicken mcnugget" and did I want it? I said yes, and his father brought Butch to me. When he pulled his car up on that hot day, I looked into the passengers seat, then the back, and I was wondering, "Where is the dog??" He stopped his car, got out, walked around to the TRUNK, and opened it. Inside was my little Butch, so sad, his head down, and I almost sheiked, "give me the dog!" It took about six months before he was comfortable and happy and trusting. But after that he was the best dog EVER! Soon he actually craved attention and petting. He had to learn to walk on a leash, at first he was terrified. In fact, he was scared of everything, but later learned that not all people are cruel and unfeeling. At age eight he died of cancer, on my 40th birthday, and he left a hole in my heart. Now we have Sammy, but I will never forget my Butch.

Sunny L.
Long Beach, CA

Sammy

This is our Sammy. We think he's part fox terrier (my husband calls him a "fox terrorist") and part whippet. We found him on Petfinder.com after the death of my beloved Butch on my 40th birthday. Sammy had been found in Madera County, wandering the street with his sister at age five months. Now he is so happy to live with us on Naples Island. He sleeps in our bed, loves to play ball and he even gets to have his girlfriend come over to play. He takes walks on Second Street, goes to the dog beach, and rides in the car. He has brought us a lot of joy. He has four cat friends at home andnow we wish we would have gotten his sister too, when we got him. I want to urge everyone to spay and neuter all of your animals, never, ever buy from a breeder of any kind, or from a pet store. Only adopt. There are too many animals that need us. We cannot support people who make the problem worse.

Sunny L.
Long Beach, CA

Callie

Callie was abandoned and the shelter that had saved her, was going to put her down. The noise and activity of the shelter was far more than her Border Collie brain could handle. Fortunately, the people from "Paws for Life" in Chesapeke City, Maryland, saw through her distress, and knew that there was a wonderful spirit waiting for a home. They gave her an extra chance, where normally there would have been none.
Because of them, I now have a dog of a lifetime. She is a talented sheepdog, and is showing great promise in agility, and best of all, she brings joy into my life every single day.

Martha Grace
Newark, DE

Grocery Store Pup

I was fundraising for Wolf Run Wildlife Refuge at a local Kroger's when this elderly woman came to our table and asked if we took in dogs. I told her yes and she proceeded to hand me a skinny little fox terrier puppy with the cutest face I had ever seen. He smelled of smoke and had scratches all over him. She informed me that she has purchased him at a cock fight! (Why was she even at a cock fight?!) That was a week ago and my little Riley is already the new man in my life! He and my other dog, Zeus, play non-stop!

Danielle Bunch
Morehead, KY

Bi-lingual Rescue

When I saw Riddle at the shelter, I knew he had been abused but he looked up at me with those sad eyes and I had to take him home.
He had skin and emotional problems so we starting working on both of them right away. It was then I realized he didn't understand English and must have been raised in a Spanish speaking home. Because I'm an animal communicator, I started using more telepathy on him with pictures to get my meaning across. Then I added words with my pictures and in about 3 weeks he was understanding every word I was saying.
Now he is very much part of the rest of the family and fits in well with our other dog Chub and the 4 cats. I'm starting my own rescue ranch and I know Riddle will help me with any other bi-lingual rescues we might get.

Shirley Scott
Walla Walla, WA

The Best Dog

Dixie is a Gordon Setter, a very rare dog in Maine. We got her from a Shelter/Breeder in Kentucky. Dixie was shipped on a plane to come to Maine. Once Chris had freaked out that she wasn't there by 12:00 midnight, she finally arrived. We went out the Exit and in the car I let her out of the crate she was shipped in. It was very dark out so I couldn't see what Dixie looked like. I kept on petting her then I reached around her rib cage there was a huge bump. I work at a Vet so I knew that wasn't normal. When we got home it woke up my youngest child Sarah. Our other three dogs were barking and jumping around in my bedroom. When Dixie finally stopped pacing up and down our hallway I saw her ribs. No one said that she was so skinny! Our Dixie, though she was skinny, she was the best dog on the face of the earth!

Malissa
Waterboro, ME

Mischevious rascal

When I moved out on my own, I managed one month without a tail wagging at me. Then I went to the local SPCA, where a Husky dog greeted me with a smile and a bounce, and picked me. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! The list of things that Tamaka has chewed or dug up goes into hundreds! He was also a complete embarrassment in dog training classes. But I would not trade him in for anything! He has been my lesson in patience and unconditional love. He is now 13 years old and still acting like a puppy, and he steals the hearts of all who meet him.

Olga
Johannesburg, South Africa