Animal Rescue Stories

ANGEL YODA

I found this lovely cute angel cat in Playa del Carmen when I lived there and he instantly and irresistibly touched my life and heart!!!his name is YODA , because he was so sage and intelligent and special and I LOVED AND LOVE HIM SO SO MUCH!!!!I I brought him 3 years later to Argentina and he was the love of my life and he`ll always be.
This can be a tribute because my sweet angel died on Christmas after we both struggled so hard against a chronic diarreha that lasted 1 year...
Sorry this story is sad...I am so so sad..but I need to tell everyone that deep and endless inconditional love is possible and once you had it from an animal like Yoda, you are blessed.Thank God you gave me my YODA.

SILVINA
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina

Bambi my 'deer'...

John and I had fostered a very sick Chihuahua named Butters (and his girlfriend Pixie, a chi-mix with separation anxiety) ~5 years ago for 1 month. We gave him his meds every day, but he wasn't improving (collapsed trachea and respiratory infection). We brought him to the vet, where a wonderful vet tech adopted him. I was heart broken, but knew that Butters would be very happy going to work with her and living in a house with a large yard with cats and horses.

After that, I was determined to finally adopt a dog after fostering on and off for 2 yrs - and a Chihuahua was my breed of choice. Because of their small size, they require more attention than other breeds (sweaters on cold days, etc.), and I knew it was something that we could handle - not to mention their quirky personalities!. We found Punky Brewster (her name at Tony LaRussa's ARF) on Petfinder.com and we immediately drove to the shelter the next morning to adopt her. Her name is now Bambi, as she really does resemble a doe with her long sleek legs and fawn color. We hope to adopt more 'Chi's' in the very near future.

Christine L
Berkeley, CA

Dead Dog Walking

While my husband and i were living in Cape Town, we decided that our Dalmation needed a little friend after her big brother a beautiful Labrador had passed away. So began the search for a Jack Russel puppy. We tried the pet shops the newspaper, but to no avail, then we saw an advert in the local newsletter for the Animal Welfare. My husband phoned them immediately and asked them if they had any puppies, the lady said that they had a few :young dogs" and that we should come and have a look, which we did. On arriving at the Animal Welfare they showed us a few dogs, but there was one that I kept coming back too, a young Jack Russel cross. She was the saddest little dog I have even seen, ears down and didnt make a sound, my heart was hers, we adopted her. Waiting the 3 days to collect her was hard, as she first had to be spayed and micro chipped. She was only 9 months old, but had had a terrible life of abuse and hardship. She was terrified of men, hated the leash and would cower at the front door and not want to come indoors. But that was then, now she is a happy spoiled little girl with plenty of playmates, she loves to go to the beach and chase her ball. She has crept into our hearts and is part of the family, she loves her dad (my hubby) sleeps next to him every night. We have named her PETAL. Because of her near death experience, you see, she was one of the unfortunate puppies waiting to be euthanasiaed! we got to her just in time. Thus "dead dog walking"

Fond Regards

Michelle Midlane
East London, South Africa

Java the heart tamer

We found Java at the local shelter after our beloved first cat Onyx passed away. Java was just over 5 months old when we took him home. He had been at the shelter for a little over 3 months. The personnel at the shelter warned us that he would be a handful, energetic and a trick player. Being at the shelter kind of prepared him for our house full of dogs, mostly large, since we owned a dalmatian and a doberman and also boarded canines at that time. He fitted in immediately. He knew right away how to size their temper, how to stay away from the (rare) not-so friendly ones and how to seduce those who had never been close to a cat before. Java is now 6 years old. He heart-warmingly welcomed another cat in the family, Siobhan, consoled us when our Dalmatian and Doberman passed away, and taught our new great Danes, Charlotte and Aoife how to treat a cat with respect and affection. Java has proven to be a playful, attentive and loving fur ball.

Helene Deshaies
Trois-Rivieres, Canada

My Life with Omar

In June 2005, a 10 month old dog with serious burns was brought to the Animal Shelter in the Lake Chapala region of Jalisco, Mexico. The woman who found him said the vets in Guadalajara would not treat him.
Because my mom had worked for a hospital for burned children for 30 years, I knew this dog could have a life. As shelter manager, it became my mission to save this pup.
Originally, we named him "No Fumar" (no smoking in spanish), but when it became clear he would live, I changed his name to Omar and he became my boy.
Over the next four years, Omar was my constant companion, a loving and happy friend. He did have health issues but we fought them together and won!
I've never felt such total and unconditional love from anyone with two or four legs. My boy gave me joy every day.
In April 2009, Omar came down with congestive heart failure, the same condition which had taken my mom 2 years earlier. I knew I could have kept him "alive" for a little longer, but after watching how my mom suffered, I made the most difficult decision of my life and sent Omar to doggy heaven.
I have his ashes and he will always be in my heart. My time with Omar were the best years of my life. Ours was a story that proves love can overcome!
Yaya con Dios, mi hijo,
Dorothy DeMartin

Dorothy DeMartin
Ajijic, Mexico

Dog shot with a pellet gun

I want to tell you about my story once again. My sister and I have found this stray dog who has been shot with a pellet gun in her spine.
She can not move her back legs and the bullet is still inside her body. The doctors told us they can do a rehabilitation until she can gets back to normal. There is hope. Please visit my site and see pictures of the dog, photos of the x-ray and the CT scan. Next week will be her surgery and after the surgery she will be in rehab. It is going to be a long process but I hope and pray she will recover. We really hope she will not need a dog wheelchair later. We also want to ask people to support us and help us find a loving home for her after when she recover. Please send an email with her picture or the web site to your friends. We need support and help for finding home for her. Also please pray for her recovery. She is such a smart and loving (approx 3 y o)doggy.

to see pictures of the dogs go to my site:

http://www.saveapet.co.cc/

Donika and Teresa
Sofia, Bulgaria

Oliver rescued me!

I found Oliver (Ollie) on Petfinder.com, he was with KitKat Feline Rescue, Charlotte, NC. Last year my Golden, Kasey, passed away at 14 & my kitty, Pumpkin, passed away at 17. Five months later my husband filed for divorce after 27 years. Not a good year! I waited until things settled down & 3 weeks ago I found Oliver online. Ollie was made for me-- he follows me everywhere, sleeps with me, makes me laugh! I love him already!

Mick
Waxhaw, NC

Chloe - Scratch first, ask questions later ....

A rather thin, hissy little cat had started waiting for us to put out wild bird food. It took a month or so, over Christmas and the New Year, but eventually I got her confidence and she started to come into the house.

Our vet said she looked very familiar - especially her attitude to the examination - hiss, spit, bite and scratch! She had a microchip, so it was off to the local MSPCA and wait for her to be reunited with her owner, who apparently lived a little further down our long winding road.

January passed, February and then, at the end of March, we were told that her owner had finally decided they didnt want her back.

Normally the MSPCA doesnt rehome an animal near to its original owner - but in Chloe's case they were willing to make an exception. She was a cat with a history. With at least four owners in the 4 years before we found her, she had become progressively more aggressive with each change of address.

Apparently she had first arrived at the MSPCA at about 6 months old, brought in as a stray with a clip out of her ear - part of her charactistic look, which was once done to show a cat was neutered. She then spent a long time with her first family, who were thought to have moved off the island. With quick returns listing things like "she is too noisy" "she runs through your legs" "she scratches when children pull her tail" "she hisses and bites" its no wonder she ended up so grumpy!

Chloe has lived with us for 8 years now and is a grand old lady of more than 12 years - she still scratches first and asks questions later!

Christine Thomas
Baldrine, Isle of Man

Baby Kitties Next Door

We spotted some baby kitties next door (at a hardware store) and I knew, even though I'm not a "cat person", that I had to do something about them. A friend of mine traps cats for a local organization and helped me figure out what to do. The mother cat was a great mom (very sly) and moved them to the other side of our house within 2 days; however, my son and I managed to catch 3 of the 5 kittens to start caring for them and get them into homes. Within a week, I had one kitten adopted out, and we had trapped the mother and two male cats nearby to spay/neuter them - and then caught the 2 other babies (so now we have 4 orange kitties!) and will have them all placed into homes this week. Although I'd never done this before, I've got to say that it was so rewarding and good for my kids to witness; we are up to fostering more animals in the future; maybe 3 times a year (it's not easy work so we can't do it continually) but I'd recommend it to anyone!! Spay and neuter your animals, get them their shots - and if you can't afford it, look for programs that will help you! These animals all deserve good people in their lives!!

Regards, The Solis Family

Alicia
Guadalupe, CA

"Cami" Flage

Unfortunately, I am allergic to cats, but when I heard of this poor baby kitten's fate of possibly being stuck in a paper bag and left on the side of the road, I decided to suck it up and drive on.

At first, my sister and I were going to foster the cat and bring it to a no-kill shelter the next day, but as soon as we saw her we knew she couldn't be given away. Plus, my nephews loved her instantly! My sister decided that this cat would be an early present for my older nephew who is turning 5 this year. He gave her the last name Noche-night in Spanish. So Cami Noche is her name.

Even though she is scared of my nephews right as they always try to be around her and she is still very little, she is very loving and playful...almost too playful at times!

We named her Cami because she is black with brown and beige, and her pattern is almost like the old Army uniform I used to wear before being issued the new digital Camouflage uniforms. If she were a boy she would have been named Camo!

Even though she is not MY cat, she is a joy to have around. And she loves me of course, purring loudly as soon as I hold her. The picture is of her sleeping on my lap. That was the ONLY time I could get an image of her being still. She is so hyper!

I hope that I can get over my allergy to cats and have one of my own when I am no longer living with my sister. If I can, I will always rescue an animal. It is so rewarding.

Jontell E.
Kent, WA