Who knew "home" could be so far ? My sister and I went on vacation recently to our hometown in Danville, Illinois. She lives in Texas, and I live in South Carolina. But we grew up in that far-away small town. The day after we arrived, we went to visit the Humane society for old time's sake. We used to volunteer there on Saturdays as teenagers. We walked in to look at the animals and there she was in cage 17. She looked sweet and scared at the same time. I took her out and held her. That night I told my husband on the phone that we had found her and were trying to get someone to adopt her. And we did try. But nobody cooperated. I sent my husband a picture of her. We went back the next day to visit her, and every day that we were there, including 3 times in one day. That night when I called my husband, he had given her a name, and I knew he was interested. How devine ! I knew then she would be going home with us. So, on Saturday we sprung her from the pound. She was so happy, and my sister and I were, too. We took her to my friend Kathy's, where we spent the first night with her. In the morning we gave her a bath, and she spent the day visiting friends with us. That night we snuck her into our motel room, and the next morning we hit the road for home. Our other motel was pet-friendly, so she was ok to stay there with us. She now lives in South Carolina, where she has a " big sister". Our other rat terrier. We think Coco is rat terrier and Jack Russell mixed. But the two dogs love each other and run and play together every day now. She is having the time of her life.

Dodger was picked up stray and then sat at animal control for three weeks with no interest. I contacted my sister (who posts on Facebook for the shelter) about adopting. Another friend went and paid the adoption fee the day before he was to be put down. A few days later, my sister and I went to pick him up. We wondered if we were getting the right dog. Vet paperwork said he was 21 pounds when he should have been closer to 50. Dodger is now chunky at 60 pounds. Working on getting him to lose some weight, He is such a sweet boy. So well-behaved that he helped show our next rescue dog how to act in the house. Dodger and Rufus are now the best of friends and have taken to Jake (stray I found). I have so many stories, but figured I'd start with Dodger as he was the first dog we brought in to our home of now 4 dogs and 14 cats. The picture is from the day I got him. He is not that skinny anymore. :)

Last August, a scraggly, malnourished stray was brought into the animal hospital where I work. It had taken several days for him to trust anyone enough for them to catch him. The first thing we did was pull all the ticks off of him, give him a good bath and check him for heartworm disease. Unfortunately, he came up heartworm positive. The people who brought him to us could not take on the expense of treating this (it's an expensive treatment). Ordinarily, this would mean he would need to be either not be treated (not a good idea) or be euthanized. Our vet chose to allow them to turn him over to the clinic, and we would try to treat him. He began treatment immediately, but then he started coughing up blood and losing weight. It was determined he had caval syndrome. This is a terminal condition where a large number of heartworms clog up blood vessels in the heart, causing major damage to the blood cells. He also had adult heartworms in the vessels at his liver. It is recommended to euthanized dogs with heartworm disease this severe. I asked if it would be ok for me to take him home (so he would have some good memories of a loving home) until his quality of life started to suffer. We were treating him for his cough. He was doing ok. I took him home that weekend; we expected him to only live the weekend or maybe a week or so. At home, he fit right in (and that's saying a lot since I also had another dog, 2 cats, and 3 birds). He learned very quickly what the couch and bed were. It's now May and he is still going strong. He's only on heartworm preventative now (no other meds) and has no cough. I know I may still not have him as long as I'd hope, but at least I know he will have the best life possible. He is the happiest dog in the world and I am so grateful to have him in my life.

My husband and I love beer and decided to take a tour of the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, PA. We drove 2 hours and soon realized they weren't open on Memorial Day weekend. On the drive back we saw a yard sale, and I convinced my husband to stop so it at least we did something other than driving. At the yard sale, the local Hillside SPCA had a stand with pictures of adoptable dogs. My husband pointed out the picture of shih tzu. I eagerly asked the volunteer how far away was the shelter. It was only 2 miles, so I said to my husband, let's go see him. He agreed. At the shelter they brought out this 10+ year old, partially blind shih tzu who was missing teeth and had been completely shaved. The shelter worker explained that he was taken from a drug dealer's house and was so knotted that they couldn't tell his head from his tail. He was obviously not cared for at all and hearing that broke our hearts. At that point, we decided he needed to enjoy his remaining years and we knew we would love and give him a great life. So we filled out the paperwork, put him in our convertible and drove to the closest McDonald's to get him a hamburger and ice cream. We named him Willie and from that first day he and I bonded. He was with me 100% of the time when I was home. If I was in the kitchen, he was in the kitchen, if I was in the bedroom he was too. He was the sweetest most loving affectionate dog that I every had the pleasure to share my life. I lost my Willie 2 years ago and to this very day, I miss him dearly. Trust me, take a chance on a dog who is down on his/her luck, they will repay you with an an abundance of love.

I recieved a call from the vet office less than 24hrs after losing our 12yr old Siberian Husky, Jesse, to an aggressive tumor.

Vet said she knew we had just lost our husky the night before, but..... A family had just left a 5 month old husky with Parvo to be put down.

The vet believed that the dog was in the very early stages of the disease & could be saved if we would be willing to pay a portion of the treatment,

we could have her for no additional cost. We had 9 pets now, I was looking to downsize, but I felt that God was asking me to do this.

I had paid $200 for Jesse 8 yrs before & it was the best money I ever spent for a dog. I needed some confirmation from God, since I REALLY did not want another mouth to feed. So, I asked God that if he REALLY wanted me to take this dog, the vet bill would not be more than the $200 I paid for Jesse. We went to meet

dog and I spoke with the vet. She said that she would call me at home in about 30 mins and give me our cost to save the dog. I did not tell her about my talk with God. We went home, got the call. Vet quoted our part at $199.95. Good Lord, I hear ya! :-) Then the vet said that if the 1st treatment did not go well, it could cost up to $750 to save her. I told the vet that I already knew the 1st treatment would take.... AND IT DID! The vet called 2 days later and said, 'come get your dog'! :-) That was 2 years ago and Hanna has come a long way... and so has my husband in dealing with the grief of losing Jesse. No dog can replace Jesse... but Hanna has made it her mission to make her daddy happy everyday with her love and kisses. ALWAYS RESCUE IF ABLE..... there's no better HAPPY CRITTER KARMA! :-)

Comet and Dasher's story starts long before we adopted them. Their mother and father were dumped at a local humane society, she gave birth to 7 babies Christmas morning (hence their names -- the 9 reindeer). By the time they arrived at the shelter we adopted them from, mom had already been spayed, so they were bottle fed. For 4 years they sat at the shelter, they wanted nothing to do with anyone. When I saw their picture on PetFinder, I immediately fell in love. The shelter manager was hesitant about letting me meet them, for 4 years they had passed over EVERYONE. As soon as they sat on the 'meeting couch' with me, they immediately took to me -- climbing on me, sniffing me, etc. The shelter manager's jaw nearly hit the floor, she basically asked how soon we could take them home. When we brought them home a few days later, they wouldn't come out of their hiding box and barely ate. Thinking I made a huge mistake, I called the shelter for advice. Today, you would never guess that they were very timid. We actually have to walk around THEM in the hallway (they refuse to move!). They have ruled the house for 3 years now, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I had adopted a small black and white cat, Lucille from the animal shelter in Coeur d'Alele, Idaho and she was loving and sweet. She disappeared some months later and after 2 weeks I saw a black and white cat that I thought was her on the edge of the woods. I live in the mountains of Northern Idaho and there's wildlife all around. A cat has to come a long way to get here through coyote, cougar and bobcat country. I soon realized that this new cat was much larger than Lucille and didn't come when I called. I put food and water out for him and soon he was coming closer to the house. He was flighty and if something scared him he appeared to glide or skip over the ground to get away, thus the name Skipper. He finally got brave enough to come inside and I was able to get him in to be neutered. The vet determined he was about a year old. He's 12 now, though he still plays like a kitten and weighs in at 15 #. He has relaxed a lot as you can see by the photo. He loves to wait outside the door when he knows one of the other cats will eventually come through then he jumps out to scare them. He makes us laugh regularly. You just can't beat a rescue animal for filling your life with love and light.

Susan

Tazz has been an exceptional cat from the start, very personable with a strong presence. He belonged to a family member who left him after a divorce. He lived here and there, mostly outside in Montana and I think from his scars and torn ear that he had to defend himself more than once from other cats and dogs. Just before he came to me he was living outside in a camp where the temperature was in the single digits. At that time he was 17. I've had him 4 years now and he just turned 21. He is healthy and happy and brings us a lot of joy..

We got him some sweaters to help him stay warm in the colder weather. He joins two other household member cats who wandered here, 14 miles from town in the rural mountains of N. Idaho. Love goes a long way in keeping animals healthy and their love goes just as far in keeping us healthy.

On a hot day10 years ago on my way home from work I saw a little black dog in the road, looked like she had been hit by a car. I stopped and flagged down a car heading right toward her and told him what was in the road ahead. She was lying in a pool of blood, looking dazed. 2 young men stopped to help me, one a Marine who had a poncho in his car. We put her on the poncho and the young men helped to get her to a local vet. The vet said she was about 3 months old and in shock. He gave her some fluids and said she would have to go the emergency vet overnight. I lived 70 miles from the vet and the Marine offered to go back and take her to the emergency vet. When he got there the vet told him that she had imporved so much she could stay with him. The next day I picked her up (IV and all) and took her to my vet for further testing. Fortunately, she had no broken bones, just a laceration in her leg; but, stayed at my vet for a week. My vet told me that she had parvo, which she was able to treat. We already had 2 rescue "girls" and I tried to give her to people I knew, I was not giving her to someone I didn't know, she was too special. Today, 10 years later she is the best dog. Everyone loves her and she loves everyone. She is a talker, she talks to everyone that passes. The neighbors love her too and call her the Mayor of Sandy Ridge. (Katie is on the left, then Ashley and Carolina)

It was a hot summer day in August, 3 years ago. I was near my bathroom window and I happened to look outside, where I saw a small skin-and-bones tabby walking near the woods.Right then, I grabbed a bowl of cat food and water and I bolted outside so that I wouldn't miss her. As I approached the woods, I bent down with the food and water to see where she was hiding and found her crouched in terror under a small bush, just staring at me with her big green eyes. She looked to be about 2-3 years old and previously owned by someone as her coat was beautiful and clean. I decided to try coaxing her out with the food. It was a good hour before I could get her completely out and to my porch where she could eat, but it was well worth it. As she was eating, I noticed that she was spayed too! This cat was either abused and abandoned (she is extremely scared of brooms and loud noises) or she became lost from her original home. Either way, I decided that I would keep her if she decided to stick around; she did, and I named her Pumpkin (ironically, I found her in a state of starvation and now, she's around 15 pounds!) She is an amazing cat that is loved by everyone who meets her. She waits for me religiously everyday on my porch when I get home and trusts me completely.