I don't really know where my new furbaby came from. She was rescued from a kill shelter, but I don't know where she was or who had her before that. I'm very curious because she's such a good puppy, and pretty well trained.
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Maya came from a cat farm nearby. We'd heard about it on the news but didn't put two and two together until the shelter told us about it. It was called Tiger Farm and the owner had something like 80+ cats roaming on her property.
Maya was teeny tiny when we first brought her home, and very timid. Now she's much bigger, is a long haired cat (we thought we brought home a short hair!!) and the friendliest cat in the world. She's a major lap cat.Bailey came from an abused home, and we've had her since 2009. It took her forever to warm up to us, but now she's my best friend. She hides when we have guests, but only recently started to come around my mom and sister which means she trusts them now, too. She adapted to Chloe very well, thankfully.
We adopted both from a no-kill shelter.
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My dog was not well taken care if in his previous home, he went blind bc they didn't give him eye drops daily (the kind you get from cvs), but other than that not sure of his backstory, sadly we put him down 3 weeks ago.
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I don't know the story behind either of my two adopted dogs. But I think one of them (Baby) was the dog of an elderly person who maybe passed away or had to move to a nursing home and was surrendered to the Humane Society. He was in the shelter with another dog who was adopted before he was. He is the BEST little dog! Actually, both of them are!
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My two kitties were rescued from a lady who was trying to "rescue" cats - but pretty much ended up having over 100 in a tiny house. She was evicted by her landlord and the cats ended up at the shelter. Poor things were so timid and shy at first, but opened up eventually. One died in surgery about a month ago
My dog was rescued as a puppy from some sketchy owners, but I don't know the whole backstory. We got him a few weeks later.
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My previous dog (her name was Tater) was a terrier/schnauzer mutt I rescued from a no-kill animal shelter in Idalou, Texas. It was summer and they had most of the dogs in large pens outside so they could romp around. When I walked up to her pen, the 5 or 6 other dogs in the same pen ran up to where I was standing. She looked around, realized that everyone was occupied, and then stuffed herself into the water pail because it was pushing the high 80's that day.
Smartest dog I've ever had.
The dog in my avatar is Max. My DH rescued him from the animal shelter a week before we met. He is part Sheltie (super talkative!) and part German Shepherd. I think his previous family couldn't handle his barking. I don't think they abused him physically, but the certainly neglected him.
He is now our permanent toddler. -
@lavender: Oh, I'm so sorry. Such a heartbreaking time.
My little girl comes with a very strange story:
A woman I was put in touch with via a rehoming website had bought our little girl from a private seller's ad. The owner said that she had gone through a divorce and had to sell her dog - a 2 yr old, pure breed Japanese Chin. They paid this woman £500 for her. When they went to pick her up - at a service station half way between the seller's house in Liverpool UK and their home some 100 miles away, the woman said she had forgotten the dogs papers and vaccination records but would forward them on. Well, the family got home with this little dog, only to find that she was really, really timid and was terrified of the other dogs in the house. She was also terrified of most people. She couldn't walk on a lead, she wouldn't eat. They persevered for a few days but she wasn't settling down in their manic 2 kids, 5 dogs, 2 cats household so they tried to contact the lady they bought her from to ask if they could take her back. The woman's phone was no longer available - and she never answered emails. Needless to say, the papers never arrived, either. I was looking for a companion for my greyhound at the time so I took on this tiny little dog and just fell in love with her. It's clear she has been bred from in the past and the vet could tell instantly that she was not a young dog - she was at least 6 when we got her and is about 9 now! She had a significant heart murmur and dreadful teeth. We think she was probably used for breeding then was sold to the first idiot when she started needing veterinary care - or had just stopped being useful for money making, I guess . During the last three years we have worked really hard with her and she has really come out of her shell - she loves other dogs and all people. We have another Chin now who she loves to play with. She's just a poppet, really.
Here she is, lying in daddy's arms!
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When Zeus was itty bitty, some people found him outside their apartment. They took him in (thought he was a girl and named him Luna), and were planning on keeping him. However, he had BAD fleas and they couldn't figure out how to handle them and the fleas were getting all over their apartment, so they took him to the shelter.
Then, along came DH and finds this timid little white kitty and thought he'd be a nice calm addition to our family...
HA! This cat is crazy! But, we love him and he's super sweet. A great cat...he's a little mama's boy, too.
He doesn't really care that DH is the one who bought him.
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We adopted her from the local SPCA. She was found in a dumpster with a broken tail.
She had a really bad case of demodex mange after we adopted her. Was VERY nippy as a puppy. We're really glad we adopted her in lieu of the family before us with 2 young daughters. We just don't think they could have afford ot spent the money it took to get rid of the mange. Or the time to train her to not bite.
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Darla (lilac point Himalayan) was given up when her original owners had a baby. Then I had a baby and learned that she is absolutely fabulous with babes and is the gentlest sweetest cat that has ever lived.
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My DH got our big dog from the pound. We have no idea where he came from before that.
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I got Callie from the humane society in Milwaukee, but she was a Hurricane Katrina rescue. She was at a shelter in Louisiana when the storm hit and I was told they had to leave all the animals there when they evacuated. She was stuck in standing water for days before they could come back in to get the animals. She is the most faithful dog though, and I never have to put her on a rope in our yard; she always stays in the yard, even though it's not fenced. She's obviously not a big fan of thunderstorms though.
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i've had my cat since she was 6 weeks old. i took her and her sister home when a stray cat had kittens near my friend's house. we had to put her sister to sleep shortly after olive was born, but alas they never got along except when they were kittens anyway.
smokey is now 12!
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Roo was a stray. I was at home for a half day and I heard the most pitiful meowing outside our apartment. We lived on the second floor, and this poor kitten was meowing for help. I had a bit of cat food, so I took down a bowl and fell in love. My husband wasn't wanting it though. He noticed she had been burned and was limping, but still no, until the next morning when we woke up and she was asleep outside of our door. We took her in immediately. I gave her a bath that day. A few days later, my husband took her to the vet, where we learned that she had been burned on one side, her whiskers were singed away on the other side, and someone had kicked her hard enough to break her leg at the hip joint. Her leg never truly healed; the muscles have formed a false joint around her hip, and the ball is still in the socket. She's such a good cat though, and boss of the other two.
Autumn and Bea were adopted from the Humane Society. Autumn was a kitten when we adopted her as a companion for Roo. She was fostered. I don't know Bea's backstory, but she appears to have come from a good home and is a very good dog, but she doesn't like certain dogs in the neighborhood, so I have to be careful when walking her.
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Our current cats both came from other military families. Stanley came from a family that was caring for a friends cat after they had to leave the country and she popped out kittens. Oliver came from a family who went on vacation and came back to their cat pregnant.... so basically, our kitties came from irresponsible owners. I hope both got spayed after.
We rescued a mutt when I was in high school, a belgian shepherd/collie mix. She was very skinny and very skittish when we first got her. She is terrified of kids and wary of men She was obviously abused. We found out later that we got her the night before she was scheduled to be put down by the shelter. She's a fantastic dog now, super cuddly and loving. She's 80lbs of lap dog.
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My dog was originally from a puppy mill; she was left staked out in a backyard by her owners until she was two years old before going to rescue. I adopted her six months later.
My cat was part of a litter of kittens who were found in the trash. One eye became infected and had to be removed; that was done at the cat sanctuary and I adopted her soon after.
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Our cat was from a shelter. We adopted him at 7 years old. He was brought to the shelter (the first time) after his elderly owner died. Then they think he was adopted, then abandoned in a vacant apartment. So he went back to the shelter. I wanted to adopt the cat that was at the shelter the longest, and it was him! I love him so much, but he is getting old and is in heart failure so I'm trying to be the best cat mom I can while he's still here.
We got one of our dogs from my husband's employee's mom who was taking care of a dog her sister bought before realizing how much work it was to take care of one. She wanted to keep it, but with four other pets and four kids it was too much, so we took him.
Our other dog was a stray my brother-in-law found. He was in bad shape, but my brother in law nursed him back to health.
I love to hear stories of people adopting pets!
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Our Hudson was adopted from the humane society when he was two months old. He was brought in with his sister who was adopted before we get there. They told us he was a Rottweiler/Chow mix and would be 40 or so pounds...fast forward six years and he is 100 pounds and has no Rott or Chow that we can see. Our best guess is Golden Retriever and German Shepherd, although he really looks like a Leonberger too...he is just the best dog and I can't I,whine our home without him.
We adopted our cat Ruby from a friend who had a stray have kittens in her barn. We got her when she was tiny and so timid. Now she is insane! She is a crazy animal and tears around the house at lightening speeds before crashing on the couch for a two hour nap. She's very entertaining, but she has some issues with peeing where she shouldn't...
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our dog casey was a death row dog. She is the sweetest pit ever! she has her ears cropped but not her tail. She looks rough around the edges but was never bread. Whoever had her trained her really well. We have no idea why she was given up. we like to believe it was because they to.
She was adopted a couple of times and then was given back. She has a lot of UTI flare ups. We ended up adopting her after being foster flunkies. Last year she was diagnosed with spleen cancer and we had the mass removed and shes doing well but her health is declining again and we're hoping its just another UTI.
Our cat Ozzy was also another death row save. He was just 4 weeks old with conjunctivitis. he was rescued by another rescue and I saw him sleeping on his back at an adoption fair. I had to have him and contacted the rescue and fostered to adopt. They have been with us ever since. They're also the best of friends.
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My ridgeback was found when he was 3 months old, running around a wooded area. He wasn't in bad health, but they assumed he was beaten by his demeanor.
My great dane was found hanging around a gas station, rope around his neck that he had chewed to get free. He had mange, giardia and was skin and bones. It took several visits/tries to catch him because he was so skittish and weary of people. He was only 7 months old and it took 4 months to nurse him back to health.
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We rescued Boo from a high kill shelter in a very rural county. She was found in a small town about 10 days after our area was hit by a tornado. She was only a puppy, and we think she may have been outside during the storm. She is still afraid of running water and high winds, but other than that, she is awesome. We have had her for over two years, and she is one of the best things tohappen to our family!
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Our little Leah is adopted. She came from a family of 6, and the father passed away unespectedly. He left behind his wife and 4 kids and she coudln't deal with all their pets among other things. We were happy to do anything we could to help and she's been with us for 5 years now!
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I saw my first cat on PetFinder.com and immediately fell in love with her and her little black beauty mark on her face
I called the place that was fostering her out and they told me to come to an adoption fair and meet her. We met in person and I was completely in love with her so we took her home that day! We got our first cat together after my DH's cat passed away. We were walking past Petco and saw they were having an adoption fair so we decided to check it out. We were looking for a kitten, but we saw this little orange tabby guy and asked to hold him. He just sat sweetly in my husband's arms for about five or ten minutes and we just knew he was the one. The poor guy had been waiting for a family for so long because even though he was young (he was less than one) he has some scar tissue on his eye that I guess put people off. He is the most awesome cat ever, though, so we got really lucky!
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I currently have 2 rescue kitties.
Kodi, the tuxedo, was given to me by someone who found him and who heard I was a *cat person* . . . when she handed me the trembling ball of fur, I put him in my hoodie and never looked back. He is, to this day, a mamas boy.
Keetna, the torti, is a super outgoing girl I adopted from my friend's Vet clinic. She reminds me of the little kid in Jerry Maguire, who was standing on the luggage carousel high-fiving everyone as he passed by them. She has singlehandedly (pawedly?) turned my DH into a cat person.
When LO is older, we would also like to rescue a pup pup to add to our family.
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I got our cat at the shelter when he was a kitten. His first family became homeless and had to move into a hotel so they couldn't take him. Also they had named him Kiki and he is definitely a boy! We wanted an outgoing cat and he is exactly that.
We found our dog on petfinder. She was at a very rural rescue place. She was in a litter of puppies of a farm dog that got pregnant unexpectedly. When we got here she was absolutely covered in fleas and beyond terrified of everything. The first day she didn't go potty at all because she was so scared. She didn't come out of a corner for a week either. When I finally got her out on walks, she would run all the way home as fast as she could if she saw another dog. We have worked very, very hard with her. Now she is a sweet girl who loves other dogs and is friendly to people. We
them both!Pics are of each of them on their first days home.
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They find us and we make it work. Our dog was found eating out of a dumpster on the Navajo reservation as a puppy with his siblings. My clinic neutered him for a rescue and I fell in love.
Two of our cats came from the same rescue, my husband picked out an orange from them before we started dating and our tortie was a foster fail that I ended up keeping, since I bottle fed her and fell in love with her attitude.
Our tabby was dumped by neighbors whose house foreclosed. These idiots left her out in our 110+ degree summer. I brought her inside during a really bad monsoon storm. My husband fixed her up at his clinic but she never made it to the no kill shelter, we kept her.
I have 2 sulcata tortoises that were an impulse buy for our school by an old boss who knew nothing about them, but they don't do well indoors, so they live in our backyard.
I also have 2 mice that are well trained for my students to handle if they are scared of mice. I call them my lovely lady mice.
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Our pup came to us via an all-foster rescue. They got her from a high kill shelter in Kentucky.
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My two girl pugs came from a puppymill in Indiana. AMISH puppymill. They do horrible things to dogs in the midwest and treat the animals as a crop for profit, but that's another rant for another post.
I had just lost my pug Oliver (who was from a breeder) and was dating hubby and we started volunteering with the local pug rescue. Our first assignement was a transport (where you drive one leg of a trip to move some dogs.) We got the girls... they had no names then but Sophie was SO ALERT and coudln't stop looking out the front window and wanted to be in the middle of everything. The previous driver said Dixie was crazy but she just curled up to sleep next to me, to the point where I had to check she was breathing! They were going to separate homes but I felt they were a bonded pair so I messaged the rescue, asking about them and if we could adopt them when we moved at the endof the month. We were approved and we did! Sophie came to us with the name from her foster mom, and clearly had just been bred, she was VERY saggy in that area. Dixie came to us with the name GRINDLE from her foster family which we changed immediately!
Harley was from the rescue too but came with vet papers/information. His name was Sir Harlem and he clearly wasn't given much vet care. His teeth are still so bad (at age 11 or 12) but I'm selfishly terrified to put him under since he should have had the pug nasal widening sugery but never did
I always wonder what life used to be like for them and can't help but feel sad about it. But I'm glad we can give them a good home now!
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Love the stories !
@JamieLee: @bunnylove08: @MrsSCB: @mrs. 64: Orange cat club! Gotta love the gingers!
@kiddosc: awww, great story! Katrina really did a number on pets, I was working at a no kill in Denver when it happened- so many pets got displaced. I recently saw an msnbc documentary on it, been a long time since I cried that hard.
@Cherrybee: swoon, such a cute baby! Life is good now!
@bunnylove08: love the pitty's, they get such a bad reputation but are the greatest dogs.
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My dog was left in the side of the road in a box with her litter. It was only 11 degrees!
We adopted her at just 10 weeks. She had been with a foster family through the shelter.She's wild, but we love her. She ate Sophie this week AND peed on the couch. Wtf?
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@Mrs Green Grass: Sophie had it comin . . . just sayin. ;P
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@bunnylove08: My very first rescue was a tabby . . . I found him in a shelter on his back, sleeping in a cat hammock. When I walked by, he popped one eye open and meowed at me. I took him home that day.
them both!Reply
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