How many of your pets are "rescues"?

Just wondering; I thought about it, and alot of mine are.

-My cat, we got him as a 5 year old from the SPCA. People normally adopt kittens, so me and my man got an older cat and we love Inky.

-One of my BPs, Evileye, was a rescue. We bought him with 2 others from an idiot who had his husbandry all wrong and he is doing great now. His one eye is messed up from old retained shed, hence the name.
-Our Oscar cichlid fish, EE (oddly, named the same name of the BP). We got him for free from a petco because he had "pop eye" as a younger fish and is completely blind. He has to be handfed. At 12 inches, he is a big baby!

-Our horse, Em; she was abandoned by her owners, who were boarding her at my friend's barn and took off outta state. They owed thousands in boarding fees. Sadly, if we had not bought Em, she would have gone to the auctions, where they are either bought by idiots and broke by cruel, old-fashioned horse dealers lookin to make a profit, or sold to "canners" who use them as meat animals and sell the meat to Europe. Everyone we know says we're nuts having a horse, but they all have kids and spend ten times the money we spend on Em per month!!

-a few of my rats were rescued from a stupid person who was using cedar chips for bedding. Though, they are used as snake-food breeders, they still have a better life now!

How about you?

no reptiles rescued but my dog "Sadie" we got from an animal shelter. She is the most awesome hound ever: Redbone Coonhound the best red coat you've ever seen. She was abused and even though we have had her several years now she still cowers to some sudden movments/noises. Beautifull dog though and what a voice!

Two rescued BPs and soon a RTB. The one BP wasn't fed properly by his previous owner and was almost completely emaciated when he was taken in. But he's doing good now. The second BP has a kink in her spine... her previous owners were breeders and just didn't have the time to keep her as a pet. The RTB is kinda in the same situation: her name is Kinky because her back is kinked all along the spine. Neither of them let their deformities bother them though.

Bobby my BP is a rescue having been neglected by his previous owners and nursed back to health by a rescue centre. All he needs to do now is enjoy life, enjoy being pampered, keep eating and shed well:D


Cats.

Blue one of my cats was abandoned and terrified 9 years ago. Now he's the soppiest cat you could meet:D

Lucy was horribly treated by thoroughly wicked, nasty people who thought it was fun to get drunk/drugged up and kick her around and throw her against the wall:mad: The result is she's permanently crippled and also has slight brain-damage (not that you'd notice unless you're told). She is an indoor cat only and now enjoys being thoroughly loved and spoilt:D

Chico came to us a year ago. We didn't adopt him, he adopted us. He turned up as a kitten. He had a semi-circular chunk taken off the tip of his ear. We called every pet rescue/lost animal/vets we could think of. Nobody had reported a very pretty kitten missing so we ended up keeping him. Some time later, one of my neighbours told me she knew who he had belonged to. Turned out it was the local low-life drug dealer who was telling everyone she'd cut a piece out of the cat's ear "so she could identify him". Suffice to say, I reported her to the RSPCA. She knows I have him but daren't come near me - I would not be responsible for my actions:mad: He's blossomed into a beautiful cat.

Salem belonged to a neighbour who can't look after her kids, never mind a kitten. I got Salem when he was 10 weeks old. He was grossly underweight, covered in fleas (first thing I did was Frontline him) and full of worms (trip to the vet). He's turned into a beautiful seni-longhaired cat who is soooo friendly:D

Topsy. Given to me when she was barely 5 weeks old, unable to lap and not even weaned properly. Blue took it upon himself (yep. he's a tomcat) to play surrogate mother and teach her how to lap and how to eat. He would sit and wash her. She would nuzzle up to him and try to suckle:confused: from him. Blue would lie there like a mother cat and let her get on with it, purring his head off. Poor blue always had a soggy tummy when Topsy was a kitten. I've had her 8 years now and she always gives me pressies of mice and the occasional rat :D

Sadie our GSD was a rescue too. She'd been used for breeding and when she reached 4 years old she was deemed to be of no further use for breeding. At least the breeders found a good home for her and we've had her for the last 4 years. She's a very friendly, loving dog but also a very good guard dog and saw off would-be burglars a couple of years ago:D

I'm afraid we can never turn away an animal that needs help and that's why I live in a menagerie:D

Yeah my husband always complains he lives in a zoo, but he's ever so indulgent. I let him goto hockey games and other various sporting events and he keeps mostly quiet about my animals. Let's see as far as rescues go.... Bandit my older dog we adopted from the local humane society, and Puck our black cat also came from the same shelter. Now, my husband brought home our other dog Auggie. She got separated from her stray mother as a puppy and was found in the landfill at my husband's work. He brought her home since she was bleeding at the hip and was so small. We were definitely NOT going to keep her since I had just had my son. 5 years later she is still with us. Our tailless gray tabby adopted us, and I just couldn't help myself from feeding him (so of course he never left). I also adopted a bp from a local family who was neglecting her. She was in terrible shape. She had retained shed encircling her neck and half her body. She was thin and the worst part was her water was pink! It was so nasty!! I think I got all of my critters, that were adopted/rescued anyway. Can you tell I'm a sucker for a cute animal! :D

Two of my snakes are hand me downs. Cleopatra my cornsnake started off as a class pet for first graders after the school year the teacher no longer wanted her and gave her to a good freind of mine who took good care of her for about a year, then when she hit the 2 foot mark he was afraid to get her out of the tank (I dont know why she has the best behavoir of any snake or reptile I have ever seen), then I got her and the rest is history. King Tut my BP was also a hand me down from a freind of my girlfreind. The girl who had Tut first also did take good care of her but when she got pregnant she no longer wanted the snake and gave Tut to me.

Nebula (the cat) is was adopted from the country animal shelter. She was a 6-7ish month old stray. She also had an RI, so I spent the first month or so giving her pills. She's all cured, and a complete people person sweetheart. She's established a reputation at the vet, and she hasn't been there that often!

Oh yeah, I rescued my first T from a pet store. She's in a much bigger, DRY container now. She's got plenty of room to wander about and hide in her burrow.

Well lots of rescues in my past starting with a lovely beagle/smooth haired fox terrier female. I found her when I was 9 laying in a snowbank (and the snowplow was coming!). Took her home and we had her for 17 years. We subsequently found out that the guy who had her shot the whole litter as he was "mad" his pure beagle @@@@@ had gotten a mixed breed litter (now whose fault was that!). Jenny was the only survivor of her litter and had travelled many miles to that snowy roadside. I miss her still.

Shadow...a lovely black lab....beaten till she was hysterically mute (she eventually was able to bark but always gagged in fear)....terried of anything wood like a broomstick due to repeated beatings. Shad was a mess and in heat but we took her home intending to clean her up and find her a forever home....guess we were it. She lived with us 8 years before passing quietly in her sleep.

Lots more but those two faithful dogs always deserve a mention when I think of rescue.

Now we have a poor ole male rat named LeRoy. LeRoy was a pet store reject. No one wanted the big ole fella as he was a retired breeder and is HUGE. He looks just like a little black bear with a white chest spot and all. He'll spend what's left of his life here with us. He's just a rat but my heart went out to him all alone in a cage in the corner of the pet store. We paid a whole dollar for him just so he's "legal" LOL.

Punkin our 2nd ball python is sort of a rescue I guess. She wasn't abused just not cared for properly but at least the couple that had her realized they were not able to continue with her and sought a snake loving home. She's doing beautifully - we couldn't be more pleased.


~~Jo~~

Three of my five are rescues.

Gypsy (chihuahua) age 2yrs 3mo - Was given to me in July 2003 by a friend who works at Petco. A couple, new to town had brought her in and said they could not afford the pet deposit at their appartment and wanted to try to find a home. I had always wanted to have either a chihuahua or a min pin. I got a chihuahua that looks like a min pin.

Princess (chihuahua) age 2yrs 10mo - Rescued in October 2004 from owners that were keeping her as an outside dog with another chihuahua. The other one died because of the heat. We got Princess shortly there after. She was very thin when we got her but she's doing wonderful now.

Shikara (ball python) age 5yrs - Friend rescued him/her from owner that wasn't feeding and housing properly. Was given to me in June of this year. He's on f/t eating weekly and doing great.

Daisy (leopard gecko) age 5mo - Adopted her in July from Petco after a cagemate pulled her tail off. Tail has grown back and she's doing really good. Man, can she eat. I should have named her Piglet.

Zoe (leopard gecko) age 5mo - Got her a couple of weeks ago from Petco. She was from the same clutch Daisy can from.

If you'd like to see my babies check out the following link.
http://community.webshots.com/user/coyotemoon73

This thread was a good read; I guess that for once, I started a nice meaningful thread! ;)
I think that rescued animals, love you more because of being rescued. I really do.

Isn't that the truth Gin (and thank you for this thread, it's nice to remember in writing two dogs I cared for so much).


Shad in particular even after her first year was spent in the most brutal of circumstances, even tho she was so terrified to even whine in case someone beat her that we actually thought she might be deaf/mute, would still fight her fear of men to crawl to my ex-husband, tail between her back legs wagging madly but urinating in fear. She so wanted to lick his hand. She should have hated people but she didn't ever and gave us 8 years of total devotion, not even a grumble if any of our children (who we had after we got her) tugged her ears or stole her favorite chew toy.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if we could forgive those that hurt us, as some of our rescues are so able to do.


~~Jo~~

That is a really moving tale. My friend has a pitbull with a similar story as yours. He does the whole submissive-urination thing. I am just glad that he is in a great home now. It is amazing how forgiving they can be.

Its sad to see the abuse and neglect that goes on with animals but good to see people caring enough to do something about it. All 4 of my cats were strays (dont know if that counts as rescue). My Brazilian Rainbow Boa was a rescue of sorts. He had been starved almost to the point of death and I purchased him from a reptile store that wasnt taking care of him. In hindsight, I paid too much but he was well worth it. A couple hundred in vet bills later he is starting to come around and gain weight back.

my cat is, ive had her for 8 years and she was 5 or 6 when i got her. And last month i found a RTB or central american boa (i posted a thread out here somewhere) at my work, and hes been doing good since, was very scrawny when i got him, but looks much better now, actually getting ready to shed at the moment. it blows my mind, i try to hold him as much as possible and not once has he bit, tried to bite, or hissed at me, he/she is extremely docile.

Jamie taking in a stray cat/kitten definitely counts as a rescue in my books. You've rescued them from a life of going hungry most days, getting every feline disease out there (and some of them lead to horrible deaths), getting run over or caught in car engines (see Jeanne's awful experiences), breeding too young and too often, freezing to death, covered in fleas or ticks, the list never ends. Yes cats often survive the wild better than dogs but it's all relative...they shouldn't have to survive it and basic survival is never thriving...it's just managing to not die today.

Good for you Jamie!


~~Jo~~

Truer words were never stated.
I have another good story. About a year ago, my man dropped me off at my mom's house; it was about 6 Am and he was goin to work. We saw this thin black shape run out from under the car, as he's pulling away; a female kitty. He yells for me to "grab that cat!" I clicked my tongue a few times, and called to her to see if she would come up onto the porch, and she did; she was so weak, thin and degraded that she probably knew this was a better alternative than what she was enduring.
See, the "white trash" people across the street had moved and left 3 cats to fend for themselves.
We have a couple that we're good friends with, and they had been wanting a cat. She turned out to be the perfect fit for them, and they are still happy together now, a year later. I actually saw them yesterday, and Lib is doing great! She's a spoiled little indoor kitty with a big black Lab for a friend. :)

Gin, that is a great story! So glad for that kitty! Awesome job!

I took in 2 stray cats when I was younger and living at home. I bought the cat food, they stayed outside but stuck around because there was food.

Years later (after both kitties had passed on), it wasn't until I adopted my German Shepherd cross Ozcar from the SPCA, that I realized how much more of a dog person I was than a cat person. I call Ozcar "the best $100 I've ever spent" because he's brought me so much love and amusement in the past 3 years. I know no matter how bad my day was, when I get home Ozcar's going to be doing the cutest happy dance and sooooo happy to see me. He's definitely got his emotional issues because of his previous situation, but I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

I want to get more dogs, and rescue them from the SPCA, but it's soooo hard. It breaks my heart going to the SPCA. I actually cried last time we went because it made me so sad to see how many animals needed homes... I can't believe how irresponsible people are with pets. It's just ridiculous.

It's sad. A long time ago my stepdad "stole" one of the best field dogs we'd ever had. These people left a german pointer tied up outsides in the Oklahoma sun in the summer, when it can hit 90 to 100 F in the summertime. He was covered in ticks and was left outside with no water and no food. The people just left for at least a week.

He got a phone call from a friend to just take the dog before it died. That dog loved our family more than anything else. He has since passed on.

I have four pets. I will start with my BP I just bought from a pet store, the only animal I have ever purchased from a pet store besides hermit crabs for my kids.
I have a Lab/Border Collie mix, two weeks after we got her she went for my throat for playing with my kids too rough. I decided she was a keeper for protecting my children. She doesn't go for me anymore. She is a sweet loving dog and great with the family sleeping in each bed a little bit every night. She was taken on from a military couple who didn't have the time to care for her. They wanted a home where she wouldn't have to be kenneled or locked up 8-12 hrs a day.
I have two cats (breeds unknown) that have been given to us out of similar situations, both military people who bit off more than they could chew.
My mother does Purebred rescue, taking animals out of bad situations, nursing them back to health and placing them in good homes. She has about a 50 question interview, and makes people sign a contract reserving the right to take the animal back. She only places them in local homes and contacts owners and pets about every 6 months to check on thier well being. She always preached about puppy mill puppies and over breeding animals (dogs should never be bred more than twice). I have NEVER bought a dog from the pet store for those reasons.
All of my animals are rescues except my snake. I want to adopt two more BPs here shortly because of a military couple moving to Italy. I just spoke with them on the phone and they seem very knowledgeable about snakes and seem to have thier ducks in a row.

My Lab mix Hoover was adopted from the local HS 14 years ago, our Min Pin Spring, was from a rescue service 4 years ago, we just had a 16 YO Min Pin put to sleep last year that we rescued at 13 yo. Mack, our Rat Terrier was adopted from the same rescue as Spring 2 years ago. A previous Min Pin, Ginger, was rescued when she was abandoned at her former owner's apt when they moved. My ferrets (2) are rescues.

Our cat Tuppence, 2 of our snakes and 2 of our torts. I've got show dogs now , but have done rescue all my life. Many of them spent the rest of their lives with us. The one whose name I took for my forum name, (Blu Mongoose) was found tied to the sanctuary fence where I worked. He was wormy, had mange, and had been severely starved. He also suffered seizures occasionally. At the time, they couldn't keep him. I took him home and he blossomed into a 135 lb, dane, shepard, pit mix. Great at obedience and my constant companion for many years. Over the yrs I have rescued some that the life they were living you would never believe that they would ever come around to enjoy life and be wonderful pets. A few others I still refer to as rescues even though their last day was me taking them to be euthanized. Some we got to too late and you wonder why that person even bothered to have an animal in the first place. At least their pain was over and they were held by someone who cared.

All of my 3 cats are. I adopted Pumpkin from a rescue. I got Isis when a co-worker told me she was going to take her to the Humane Society. Bones was brought to our vet hospital when she was found by paramedics. One of our vets was even going to put her to sleep when he first saw her. We treated her instead, and now she's almost as good as new. Her left eye has a permanent ulcer on her cornea from her severe respritory infection. I got my female dog, Kleo, from someone who found a few puppies wandering around in a wooded area. My very first two ball pythons I got from a friend who couldn't care for them any longer.

Currently only two of my critters are rescues, my half doberman/half german shepherd - Duke. The other is one of my ferrets - Dante. Got him from a pet store, he had been mistreated and manhandled. His tail is broken in 2 places and he is missing a toe, was terrified of humans when I got him. They were going to put him in the feeder freezer to kill him but I bought him. They still charged me $140.00 regular price. GRR.

All of my horses were purchased but as rescue cases, last chance before the slaughter house for random issues. I retrained 3 horses and resold them to good families. I'm taking time off from the equine world to heal from the last, and worse, horse. My beloved Apollo, a young TWH stallion who had learned growing up that biting and kicking were highly effective ways of making humans leave him alone (he'd been abused)

I've rescued lots of critters from random places. Mostly dogs, though. I rescue, rehab, and find homes for "hopeless cases."

It is very fun and very rewarding work.

All but 2 of by BP's were rescues...picked one up tonight in very bad shape....picking up 5 on Saturday...

my leopard gecko cannot walk well has to be fed by hand.....found out quick that "by hand" is not a literal term...lol

2 siamese cats who were "home declawed" by their owners and have no toes....

Jack Russell from hurricane Katrina...owners passed in the hurricane...my best bud in the world

couple of Iguanas that had dog bites...one of which, believe it or not, hangs out with my dog when he's out...

sugar gliders...have 3, one was a rescue and is now a daddy

Bearded Dragon....not abused...owners were just sick of caring for him....he's going on 12

a burmese who was taken by animal control....he was kept in a "cage" that was a couple of headboards (from a bed) nailed together and chicken wire.....they had a newborn and a 2 year old....12 foot at the time....15 foot now...*no babies were hurt in the rescue of this animal* :rolleyes:....makes me wonder about some people

a preggo stray cat (anyone want a kitten????).....FOLLOWED me home I swear :P

there were others...either too late to save or rehabed and found new homes for...:)

None of our snakes are, but Cleo was from a rescue and 3 out of our 4 rabbits are from rescues. Although, if we can't get Lilly to bond with the other 3 she has to go back. :(

Cats:
Apollo & Athena - rehomed "free to good home" kitties, Frosty - found on the street, Benny - out of a litter dumped in the country, Mr. Pigglesworth - abandoned newborn litter that I bottle-raised, Captain Ahab - abandoned at vet hospital with crushed leg at 3weeks old, he's an amputee now, Titus - abandoned newborn that I bottle-raised.

Dogs:
Shady Grove - Catahoula adopted from high-kill shelter, Nimrod - Black lab dumped puppy that showed up at my door, Tweak - short-haired toy mix adopted from high-kill shelter, Atticus - agressive toy poodle on long-term foster with me from a no-kill rescue that had given up on him (he bit two staff members and a volunteer while he was at their facility).

I think the Lab will be moving on to a home in the country - he has proved to be a poor fit for my household. Once he is gone, I intend to look for a nice mellow pitty mix male to balance out the females.

We also have a rescue chicken. She is a hen that came out of a squalid, nasty house in Buffalo where some deadbeats ran a chicken-fighting and breeding operation. My husband walked in (he was renovating houses at the time and went there after the deadbeats skipped town for not paying their rent.) And he opened the bathroom door.. literally about 100 terrified bantams flew out. And out.. the windows were all open because someone had deliberatey left the gas on the stove turned up and candles burning.. to try to set the house ablaze I guess. And there was a family with kids living upstairs.. So, in the inner city, hens were flying everywhere. An interesting aside of this is, it is a very poor neighborhood. Many of the kids in the streets, were grabbing the chickens up, so that their families could eat them later on. Imagine that!
Anyway, Mark managed to catch ChiChi, and brought her home where she promptly disappeared into the trees by the house. Later, when the weather cooled, she returned and is now a permanent fixture in the barn, laying eggs everywhere and being friends to our two fat roosters.

I wanted to post this too. I read such awesome stories of rescuing in this thead, that I have a tear in my eye. You are all awesome people for rescuing :) That's one funny thing about me. I could watch Cops and other police/crime shows all day and never feel a moment of sadness (unless maybe there were helpless children involved.) But Animal Cops.. or other animal-abuse shows. I literally have tears running down my face.

I used to do rescues however it was only to find a better home for the animals that were rescued.

The only rescued pet I have is my Heinz 57 :D

I got her at the humane society when she was only 2 months old.

She was found in the street a week prior to me adopting her :(

She is now 4 years

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p.../Maya/Maya.jpg

I guess my cat is a rescue...I got he and his brother from a friend of a friend who took in two kittens who showed up on her doorstep. Being that she already had a ton of cats, she was looking for a new home for the pair. That was 13.5 years ago...Cato passed on a little over a year and half ago and Nicky is still kickin, although his age has definitely caught up with him.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...des_friend.jpg

None of the snakes or mice are rescues....just pampered babies...=)

I have two. A female ball python and an albino Cal king. A friend of mine wasn't taking care of them so he gave them to me. The king snake was the same small size it was when I last saw it at his house 8 months ago. The BP was a snake he bought at the same time as I bought a couple of mine. His and one of mine are Nov. '06 siblings that were 400g when we bought them. Mine is breeding this year while his is about 650g. Every time he bought a reptile I printed him a caresheet and basically read it too him and hand written cliffs notes on the backs. I've had these for about 2 months and the king has probably doubled in weight, and the BP has eaten every week and been switched to f/t. When I got her he said that she would only take a live mouse and that I shouldn't need to feed her since she just ate a mouse like 2 weeks ago. She obviously got a small rat that night.

Don't have any rescues right now, but I have adopted a few herps over the years and since found them new homes. The list includes:

1.) albino CA king - neglected and rescued from school
2.) 8 ft retic python - returned to petstore with URI...adopted, took to vet and then sold back to petstore when healthy
3.) pair of plated lizards - neglected from school and then gave to a friend
4.) adult green iguana - adopted from petstore then later sold to a breeder
5.) numerous baby RESs from the local flea market
6.) various baby boas/pythons - deformed or sick individuals from the LFS
7.) Pacific tree boa - adopted from a rescue group because she was "mean" (not really)

well I love the rescues.. I have 3 cats that had been rescued 1 is 5 the other 4 years and the newest showed up on our porch after some lady threw him out hes 8 mos now..Our min-pin/chi
was rescued from the parking lot of a hardware store..our first snake was sorta rescued as others have said was living at a pet store in a tiny critter keeper in sand , dirty in less than acceptable conditions.
Thats it for me all others were purchased from breeders or pet stores..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slartibartfast

Cats:
Apollo & Athena - rehomed "free to good home" kitties, Frosty - found on the street, Benny - out of a litter dumped in the country, Mr. Pigglesworth - abandoned newborn litter that I bottle-raised, Captain Ahab - abandoned at vet hospital with crushed leg at 3weeks old, he's an amputee now, Titus - abandoned newborn that I bottle-raised.

Dogs:
Shady Grove - Catahoula adopted from high-kill shelter, Nimrod - Black lab dumped puppy that showed up at my door, Tweak - short-haired toy mix adopted from high-kill shelter, Atticus - agressive toy poodle on long-term foster with me from a no-kill rescue that had given up on him (he bit two staff members and a volunteer while he was at their facility).

I think the Lab will be moving on to a home in the country - he has proved to be a poor fit for my household. Once he is gone, I intend to look for a nice mellow pitty mix male to balance out the females.

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Do all those animals actually live with you? From your sig it says you have 7 cats and 4 dogs right now? Gd thats alot of hairs! :weirdface

You must live on a farm or something maybe.

No, they're all house pets. We broke down and shelled out the cash for a Dyson. :-P Three of the cats are long-haired whites, too!