Animal Rescue Stories

Buddy

Buddy was a rescue from CARE (Companion Animal Rescue Effort). They rescued him right before the pound was going to put him down. He is now a successful member of society and contributes by "working" for PetPals Animal Assisted Therapy. He has so much love to share with everyone and I am privileged to be able to share him with others. We love him so much and can't believe someone didn't want him!!! He's got such a deep soul, and his eyes show it. In his free time he loves to be the "little brother" to his older sister Mochi and torment her. It is so funny to watch them interact with each other. They remind me of how my little brother and I were with each other. Buddy is like how my little brother was to me.....I remember how he constantly bugged me. They say rescue dogs know that they were rescued and show it.....this is so true! He shows how much he loves us EVERY day.

Lili
San Jose, CA

Robusto a.k.a. Buster Brown

Our Robusto, aka Buster Brown was one of a litter of newborn kittens taped up in a box and thrown in a dumpster. Fortunately, a passerby heard their tiny cries and they were taken to our local shelter. We fostered the kittens with help from a surrogate mother cat. Buster Brown grew up big, strong and lovable. We can't imagine life without him!

N. Peavy
New York, NY

Rufus the Bunny

One sunny summer 2006 morning my husband had been saying he kept seeing a bunny playing outside, since we live in the suburbs I passed it off as a wild cottontail. Later that day I went shopping and when I arrived home I found a young gray bunny (maybe 3 months old)laying by where I park. I walked over to him, picked him up and brought him inside to keep him from getting hurt by any neighborhood dogs. Not knowing anything about rabbits I'm lucky he let me pick him up and that I didn't hurt him.(he was a bit wild) I am still learning and he is still teaching me new things about him daily. After not being able to determine where he may of came from my husband said let's keep him and named him Rufus. We knew nothing about rabbits so I got online and found out rabbits can be litter box trained so I learned all I could. Our local vet is a rabbit person and now Rufus is neutered and has full run of the house. We never imagined how much joy these critters could bring to ones life. Rufus is quiet a character and so much fun. A few months later we took in a little 4 month old female mini rex from a young couple who thought they wanted a rabbit as a pet but decided a rabbit wasn't for them. Her name is Sophie and we've had her for about 2 years now. Neither are ever caged but since I no longer work and am home most of the time it works out well. They rule the house but they are mannerly, they let us teach them what not to do. We do love our bunnies!

Kelly & Keith Gipson
Blanchard, OK

Regal the Cat

Regal was a stray I'd seen for several weeks. He'd come near for food but always ran away. He started to run not quite as far. In the meantime we had rescued a stray husky/Shepard mix with a Have-A-Heart-Trap. I set up a doghouse with straw hoping the dog would go in as we had minus 20 weather in Jan. Nothing doing, but we eventually found her a forever home. So I left the doghouse out for Regal as it was still very cold. With the opening facing the side of the garage, it gave good cover from the cold. We also bought a heated bowl so fresh water was always available. He had gotten used to our dogs going out. I could tell when he was in the house because our dog Xena would sniff the house. I knew he wasn't feral, no feral cat would ever sleep that close to people in a dog house. Then a miracle happened, Regal smelled canned food! One of our kitty friends from down behind has 3 legs so he gets canned once in a while. Regal could not take the smell of the canned food any longer. He let me pet him, he purred so loud the whole neighborhood could have heard him. I thought he'd been in fights as his ears were all messed up. He was roomed at the HS. A week later I visited him and found out he had not been in any fights but had FROSTBITTEN ears. He lost the tip of one and about one third of the other. In addition he was coming down with an upper respiratory infection. We got him in just in time! Now he is up for adoption and is a happy healthy 7 year old!!!

Pam
Dulles, VA

Charlie

One day at a job site, one of the residents told my husband about a dog she had found. A beautiful golden haired little mail Pekingese. My husband fell in love with him and told her if she couldn't find the owners we would take him. Even with our other dogs!
She called us after a few months of intense searching, to see if we still wanted him and my husband immediately brought him home. His regal behavior created his name and he immediately fell into the routine of the house!
Charlie is such a sweet, laid back dog that even the other dogs can't get mad at him! Charlie can take a treat or bone right out of the mouths of the other 3 dogs, WHILE they are growling and showing teeth and walk away with it...leaving them to heave a sigh and go get another one. Our one rescue, Hattie, is deaf and she just loves Charlie..and Charlie is the only one that can take Hattie's bone without a fight!
Charlie even got to be a model one time, doing a photo shoot with me as he sat beautifully on the deck bench during mass picture taking! What a pro and what a ham!
Charlie is the biggest mooch too, following my husband around trying to beg some of his meal! And of course he is really hard to say no to!
We are very lucky that Charlie came into our life. And I'm sure he agrees that he has lots of love in this family!

Janine
Seville, OH

Pupshky

My name is Pupshky. I was rescued from the highway and I am now living with 4 other dogs, all rescued dogs, and a Siamese cat. Find attached some of my baby photos.

Bow Wow, Chow for now.

Pupshky

F. Pretorius
Chatsworth, South Africa

Spike

This is Spike with Pieknine laying on his back. Spike was rescued from the M13 at Ichanga on a cold, windy day. It was a miracle that he survived as he was covered in fleas, had worms and mange, which made him loose all his hair. Pieknine was rescued from a rubbish dump in Chatsworth.

F. Pretorius
Chatsworth, South Africa

Peanut is the grand lady

I was at one of my rehearsals for a musical and heard a lady talking about how she had picked up a dog at the shelter but when she brought it home it had nipped at her baby and she was worried about taking it back to the shelter. She described it as a bigger chihuahua like terrier. Well I heard her and just had an instinct to talk to her about the little dog. I just couldn't let her go back to the shelter!
She brought the dog to the next rehearsal...oh what a sweetie and I fell in love and took her home. She fit right in with the animals we had then and has since become the "grand old lady" of the pack with the newest four. She is a very reserved, grand lady that watches over her domain and the rest of the family. A very gentle, loving sweetie.
Peanut jumps into bed, curls under the covers and then comes out, lays back with her head on my pillow, puts her paws over the blanket and sighs. She is ready to go to bed! Peanut is the one dog of our four that really thinks she is a people. She acts more like a little lady, even in the way she will take a treat. Peanut has been with us 9 years now and is very much a part of our family.
Peanut is the biggest "kisser" of the family to, unfortunately (for us) she has the looooongest tongue!! But we just love her to pieces!

Janine
Seville, OH

Smokie and Moose

Our Boys, Smokie and Moose, rescued us on a cold December day back in 1997, when they were appx 8 weeks old. They were walking down a heavily traveled country road in the snow and ice. After many weeks of trying to find their home, or a new home (together), we discovered what they already knew - they were home - with us!

They have lived very happy lives with us, and are our best friends, so we're making sure that they both enjoy every day to its fullest!

My heart breaks daily for all the lost and lonely animals out in the world. Please don't hesitate to help a critter in need!

Tamara
Central, SC

Buster Brown

I adopted Buster from our local shelter, and I'm very greatful to have found him. He is a sweet-tempered, beautiful Beagle-Basenji mix, who loves to run, play, and stand on his hind legs.
He has brought much love and joy to our home.

Wendy
Byram, NJ