We found BJ on PetFinders. A couple dropped him at the SPCA - underweight, with no hair on his ears or tail. They neglected to mention he was blind. His picture haunted me for days. I knew I had to bring him home. He's now a healthy toy poodle. People who first meet him don't even realize he's blind.
After a bad stormy day, a tiny gray kitten found us. She went under our backyard fence and walked right up to my husband. She kept meowing at him and following him around the yard. She would not give up. It was if as she was saying that I want this to be my new home. That was 2 years ago that Lucy became part of the family. She now enjoys a loving and safe home with her big fuzzy brothers Max and Zachary.
My best friend, Gracie (a rescue dog made up of much mixed heritage just like me!), died on March 3, 2008, 5 days shy of her 12th birthday. When she was 3, we rescued a 5 week old mixed breed little boy dog we named Dutch. When Gracie left us, Dutch was understandably very depressed as she had become his mother, sister, best friend, etc. I was not emotionally ready for another dog, but Dutchie was going downhill too quickly so I immediately looked online at the shelters in our area. I saw Millie's picture and loved her right away. My daughter wanted to join me to get a dog and she wanted to go to another shelter closer to her work. I agreed, even though I wanted Mille. On the way to meet my daughter, I said out loud, "Gracie, I know you will lead me to the right dog." When we reached the last cage at the very end of the last row in the shelter, there was Millie! She had been transferred to this shelter as no one would adopt her from the other because she needed to be spayed, had heartworm and was extremely timid as she had been badly abused. One week to the day that Gracie died, she led me to Millie (whom they had named Isis at the shelter)! She is now heartworm-free after treatment and has saved two hearts: Dutchie's and mine. I hope we've done at least as much for Millie. Thank you, Gracie.
Felix, who's 12 years old now, was a small furry pet, maybe 2 months old, when my father first found him. He was going around the small mountain village where my dad had a family house and they felt in love at once; Felix followed home my dad and both my mom and me couldn't help but love him right away! He was so sweet and very hungry too! Lately we discover that he had to be the "fruit" of a summer love between a wild local cat (big like a dog, grey like Felix) and a lovely Persian pussycat belonging to a couple of tourists. Well, we cannot be thankful enough for that because Felix has been with my family and especially with my father all the way through, he had Alzheimer's disease and Felix was his only contact with reality in the last period. Felix still sleeps on my dad's bed and continues to be our love.
Our animal welfare group, the NWSPCA, was just about to finish a very busy year when one final call came in...an abandoned seal on a near-by beach. We dispatched a volunteer inspector and located the seal after a short search. A small group of beach walkers had waited with the seal until our help arrived.
The seal pup was surprisingly energetic despite its ordeal. It is common for seals to leave their pups on beaches while they search for food, eventually the pup will learn to hunt for food itself. However while on the beach if the pup has any human interaction, this can cause the mother to abandon the pup, leaving it unable to fend for itself.
The NWSPCA has great support from the local community and following some quick calls, the Irish Coastguard and the local Lifeboat (RNLI) group dispatched their officers to assist in the transportation of the seal pup to the local lifeboat station. From here the regional officer of Ireland's National Seal Sanctuary arrived to bring the pup to their facilities.
Following their great work, the seal was rehabilitated and prepared to be released back into our community. Their seals are released back from the same beach they are found.
So at the end of February, we were able to contact all our members to let them know Sylvester was coming home. A large crowd of people, from kids to senior citizens, had turned up for the special event. Those in attendance formed a human passage way to the sea, ensuring Sylvester will be directed the right way. After a countdown, Sylvester's container was opened, and he emergered, following a quick look around, he pushed himself down to the sea. And with one last look back, he swam away starting his new life...Success!!
My mother cares for many animals. While I was visiting her, she said, "There's a soft grey kitten around here who I've been feeding." Sure enough, there was a lovely, tiny kitten, living under my mother's outdoor shed, afraid to come out or interact with people.
I spent lots of time sitting near her and talking to her, and eventually she came out and played and let me touch her gently whilst she sipped milk and nibbled her kitten kibble.
When I left to go home, Bridget climbed into my hand and came right along. She has been with me for more than a year now. She entered my life when I was having a sad, difficult time, and she helped to dry my tears.
She has since been my companion and playmate, guardian and caretaker, and when she's sleeping, curled up next to one of her favourite toys, an example to me of life's beauty.
I am not sure who rescued who. I think it was a case of mutual salvation.
Se ha muerto el 15 de Enero, era muy listo, yo le hablaba y me entendia todo, yo le decia por la calle a donde ibamos y entraba en la tienda antes que yo. Sabia lo perezosa que era yo para salir y me ladraba a las horas en punto de sus salidas, parecia un reloj y me hacia levantarme del ordenador. Porque me cuidaba mucho si alguien se acercaba,un dia tiro de la cadena para que yo subiese por un monte y asi no me cai, tengo muchos recuerdos y le echo mucho de menos, han sido 17 anos juntos. murio sin sufrir. esa foto se la hize tres meses antes.
adios Chuspi, siempre te recordare y te querre mucho.
mariluz
We adopted Rocky from a local shelter five years ago. The name was decided on after he punched his way out of the cardboard kennel on the ride home. Despite the violent origin of his name, he's a very peaceful cat and a great companion.
Kelsey is my 8 year old Yorkie who came to live with me when she was 5 - her previous owner "didn't want her anymore". One day we headed out for our 1 hour daily walk, got about a block away from our house & she plopped down in the grass next to a privacy fence & stared at me. I was asking her what she was doing when I heard the chirping of Cockatiels. I realized that the sound was coming from a very small concrete shed on the other side of the fence. It was an extremely hot Summer day and there were only 2 brick-size airholes at the very top of this shed. We knocked on the front door of the home but it was abandoned. We opened the shed door and found a cage containing 2 Cockatiels sitting on the hot concrete floor - no food, no water, and the cage was filthy. I took them back to our house, gave them fresh food and water, and watched them eat for almost half an hour nonstop. I introduced them to our 8 other rescued Cockatiels and now we're one big happy family! Kelsey's unusual behavior saved two lives that day. She's truly an angel from Heaven and I feel very blessed to be entrusted with the care of all my "babies".
We have 5 dogs, all from shelters. Besides the 3 pictured we have a Beagle/Huskey mix and a full blooded German Shepherd. The dogs in the picture are a Black Lab mix, Coonhound, and a Terrier mix. Shelters and rescue groups have the best animals around. Our Shepherd was very sick, and the shelter didn't think she was going to make it, thankfully because of their dedication, she did. I couldn't imagine our home without her. All of our dogs are children to us. Most of the time they talk back less than our real children...except the Shepherd. She barks and howls when it's time to eat and will not stop until she's fed. She's always instigating her "brothers" and "sisters" to do the same. They all have such wonderful personalities, we wouldn't trade them in for anything. I can't stress enough how much we love our family, and how thankful we are to the shelters for taking care of them before we were lucky enough to find them.
