Lucy is our foster failure dog. We had just lost our 2 collies and the place we board them, which has Golden Acres Rescue, called to ask if my husband and I could foster a dog they pulled from death row in Memphis. She was a street dog who is now a family member, and is a great dog!
At an isolated cabin in the Appalachians, the last thing we expected to hear was a meow!
Tamar, at eight weeks old, had been dumped in Pisgah National Forest. She was alone, scared, and hungry, but managed after two days without food to find people, scrabbling onto our porch and begging for food, attention, and love.
She spent the next few hours alternating between purring on my lap, purring at her food bowl, and purring on my lap again. Her terrible experience had done nothing to dim the love in her heart, and very soon our plans to foster her turned into plans to keep her.
She had so much fur between her toes that we thought she was polydactyl, but as she grew, the truth emerged. First her tail poofed up, leading to her adolescent nickname of “Appalachian Squirrel Cat,” and by the time she was full grown she boasted a luxurious long coat, complete with tufted ears.
Tamar has been a miracle. She’s learned to help me through panic attacks, is the only cat we’ve ever managed to leash train, and the local sports teams mysteriously have better records when she joins me on the sofa to watch the game.
Pisgah is 500,000 acres of wilderness. An abandoned kitten found the only inhabited cabin for miles - and we found a love that will last a lifetime.
We were looking on the internet for foster puppies and found the cutest little 9 week old beagle mix. Went to see her and fell in love with her. We found out she came from a high-kill shelter in Tennessee to NY State. When we met her she was running around in the house and came over and stuck her nose in my purse, so we named her Rosie for being so Nosy.
Douglas was found with another dog on a busy highway... the other dog was adopted quickly but Douglas was not and started shutting down. He rubbed his head into the side of the crate until he wore the fur off! I decided to foster him for Newnan Coweta Humane Society and instantly fell in love. He had two different type intestinal worms, heartworms, and was walking on his front paws due to knee issues... after heartworm treatment we decided for ACL replacement on both back knees. He is now my Ambassador for all of my other fosters...he welcomes them and lets them know they are in a safe home.
We had lost the last of our four cats last fall to kidney disease. They were all rescues and loved to ripe old ages from 16-20 years. In March we saw a Facebook post from a cat rescue with photos of two cats who looked like our last cat. They had been locked in an apartment with no food or water when the tenants had been evicted, and fortunately were rescued. We took them to foster and quickly adopted them. We had been wanting tuxedo kittens like our first two that had passed, and in late April we saw a post about a litter of kittens that a lady rescued after their mom was run over by a car. They were four weeks old and there were two tuxedos. Needless to say we took them both and they have saved our sanity in the midst of the pandemic.
Having lost my little rescue Teddy a few months back to a seizure, I was looking for an older dog because I’m no spring chicken either lol. My city shelter had not one, but two little approximately 10 year olds who had been found wandering together in a parking lot. These two little girls, Zoey and Zelda, have made the last four years such a joy. Sadly, due to a chronic collapsed trachea, I lost Zelda this February. Zoey and I were devastated and miss her so much. Now Zoey, at approximately 14, is having health issues. I can’t stand the thought of her leaving me, but I know that when it happens I will again find a senior fur baby to share my golden years.
Please consider adopting a hard-to-place older dog or cat.
Bella was born August 7, 2012 in California. Her first name was Cherokee. In late 2013 she was given up. She was adopted in December 2013 and renamed Bella. In March 2017 we were looking to adopt a husky, because our husky had just passed away. Bella was being given up again. We drove 500 miles one way to pick her up in Pittsburgh. She has been with us ever since. Bella is loved and spoiled very much! She is in her forever home. We rescued each other! She is a great dog!
I went to a Cocker Spaniel rescue site to look for a dog. It was at an abandoned kennel in the middle of central Florida. The dogs were kept outside in the kennels, and the "rescuer" didn't take very good care of them. I brought my current Cocker Spaniel with me, and when she saw how small she was, she said she had a small female that we might like that she rescued from a humane society in Palm Beach one day before she supposed to get euthanized. She brought out a smelly black and white Cocker that had long matted hair. Her legs were yellow up to her knees. I asked the rescuer what happened, and she made an off-hand comment about kennel legs. Obviously, she didn't clean the kennels and the poor dog was wallowing in her own pee. I felt so sorry for her. She looked terrible and so sad. I told her I would take the dog and asked her to please wash her before I put her in my car. I also asked for her papers, but she said she lost them, so I didn't know anything about the dog. Although she washed the dog, the stains and smell still remained. When we brought her home, I did some research and found the humane society she had been at. She was five years and had been kept in a crate and surrendered by her family. She had an ear infection and other ailments when she arrived and been spayed and treated. However, nobody adopted her because she looked so unkempt and had so many issues. Well, it took me almost a year of spoiling her with love and affection, house-training her, teaching her how to behave, and grooming her to finally get rid of the yellow fur before she felt comfortable and accepted. Now she has been a loving member of our family for five years.
Our Snowbaby died at 18. He was a rescue found in the middle of the road. Probably dropped by his mom trying to move him. I said I wouldn’t get another so I volunteered at a local shelter and a beautiful Flame Point Siamese kitten was surrendered. I had to have him so now he is running the house and we love him so much.
I just lost my dog of 14 years. Was so distraught could not stay at my house. My uncle brought home a stray dog that he had been feeding at his job. I came over to his house and the dog, who was a puppy at the time, just jumped into my arms. It was like he knew I was his mom. He has been my my side ever since. I have never had such a sweet boy like I have in Marley.
