Animal Rescue Stories

Read heartfelt stories of rescue, and share your rescued animal stories with others.

Silly Lizzy

Silly Lizzy

Our crazy little girl Lizzy found us on 10/16/06, she was a tiny ball of fur and all alone and crying under our car in the driveway. She behaved very feral when we first 'tricked' her to come inside but with lots of love and plenty of treats she has turned into a silly and very affectionate little sweetheart. We are so glad she found us!

JoAnne Carter
Kamiah, ID

The Three Amigos

The Three Amigos

My two old gentlemen cats died about six months apart. When my heart was ready, three kittens whose mother had been killed were offered to me by my vet's office. Simon, Garfunkel and Johnny Cash became part of my family. They fill every day with joy. They bless my life!

Renee Prusi
Negaunee, MI

My Dallas

My Dallas

I had put my best friend, "Carly", down in January of 2004. I didn't think I would ever get over that loss. A few months after losing my dear Carly, I decided to go to an animal adoption that is held every other week at a local orphanage which is hosted by the Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society. Why I felt the need to go is beyond me. When I got there, I walked around with no intention of getting another pet. But, when I saw Dallas, I knew he was my dog. He seemed to know it too! He came running at me and almost strangled himself on his leash. The foster mom could not believe his reaction to me. She had not seen him do that before. He was only two months old then but I knew he was special! In my heart, I think my Carly sent me to the adoption and pointed me right at Dallas! And, I thank her every day.

Judy
St. Clair Shores, MI

The best dog ever!!

The best dog ever!!

We adopted Shasta from the Portland Oregon Shelter. She was about a year and half old and had already been returned to the Shelter twice! We took her home and she was the prettiest,goofiest,sweetest dog ever! She passed away about a month ago at age 16. We will miss you every day until we see you at the Rainbow Bridge. I love you velvet ears!

Michelle Cattapan
Placerville, CA

Precious

Precious

I ran into the pet store on a Friday afternoon to buy some dogfood for my old Schnauzer and happened to notice dog adoptions going on. I looked over and saw this beautiful little girl in a cage. I walked over to her cage and petted her. She just licked my hand. I talked to the lady from Petfinders about her. I walked away almost crying, reminding myself that I didn't want any more dogs right now. I had just lost my sweet 9 year old Molly (schanuzer) to complications from congestive heart failure. All I could see was my sweet Molly in a cage at the vet hospital.
It ate at me all weekend, so I called on that Sunday morning to see if she had been adopted. Luckily for me, she was still in a foster home. I took her home that day. We think it was an uncanny coincidence.
She is such a joy. A loving dog, sociable, a good companion to my older dog, grandson and me.
My Precious was a rescue dog. A breeder had decided that she didn't produce enough pups in a litter, and had taken her to the vet to be put down. She is only 1 year old! I am telling everyone I know her story so that they, too, will get a rescue dog instead of from a breeder.

W. Stern
Kansas City, MO

Missy & Mr. C

Missy & Mr. C

We adopted Missy, the gray on gray tabby, in 2003 from a pet rescue group. We adopted Mr. C in January of this year, 2008, after losing our other rescue cat, Spunky. It has taken a while for our Missy to accept Mr. C and she has finally started paying with him as you can see in the photo. Playing must be on her terms, not his tho! Both cats have become our friends. They sleep with us, curl up on our laps and play with us. They have us well trained. Missy will sit on one of us in the morning if we sleep too late or she wants something. Mr. C talks to us all the time, making it perfectly clear what he wants. They have many other ways of getting things from us. We even grow catnip for them. We could not imagine being without either of them at this point, they are such an intregal part of our lives.

Marsha
Kennewick, WA

My Little Princess

My Little Princess

Lxa was found by my youngest son tied with 2 foot of rope to a tree in an empty lot at midnight with no food or water and in August. He could not leave her there so he brought her home. She stole his chicken enchilada on the way home. I came home the next day from a trip and she was sleeping on my side of the bed. When I saw my son that evening he told he how he found her and that he would find her a home. I told him she found her home. That was 11 years ago. She is a great judge of people and she is the LITTLE PRINCESS of our home with our other dogs and cats.

Kay
Neodesha, KS

Buddy Holly...Born to Run

Buddy Holly...Born to Run

After our English springer, Holly, passed in her sleep, we were heartbroken. A friend that volunteers at the Humane Society told me that my favorite type of dog, with freckels and floppy ears was at the shelter. I told him that I wasn't ready to adopt another dog. My husband said, "Let's go check it out." That was all it took, one look at the sad eyes won my heart over. We named him Buddy Holly, after our other dog. He has all of her traits. He could never replace her in our heart, but he made his own space in our life forever.

Melanie Zysk
Palm City, FL

Tuxedo Tom

Tuxedo Tom

Tom was a stray that we started feeding in exchange for "rodent control." When an opposum took up residence in our garage with him, we decided to bring Tom into the house with our other 4 cats. It took a little adjustment on everyone's part, but he is now a happy house cat.

Carol
Maplewood, NJ

Abby & Kali Ma

Abby & Kali Ma

Abby (part Canaan/part Border Collie) was close to going to a shelter because of "herding" and "nipping" little kids. She was kenneled for long periods of time and had socialization issues. Coming to a childfree home, with many trips to the off-leash park, have made her a friendly, happy, healthy 2-year old. Kali Ma was too much for a small woman to handle in the pouring rain at the off-leash park in West Seattle. She was desperately looking for a home for the pure-bred German Short-Haired Pointer she had adopted just the day before! We tried getting her new owner - without success. Then, after 3 short days, we (and Abby) fell in love with this goofy, flap-eared 1-year old. They share their home (and our bed!) with 5 frisky felines. We have a BLAST with them! There is nothing more rewarding than owning a rescued animal . . .

Kate & Kaare
Seattle, WA