How many of your pets are "rescues"?

[Ginevive]

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?

[TekWarren]

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!

[ladywhipple02]

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.

[Lady Python]

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


Cats.

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

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 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

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 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

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 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

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

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

[tigerlily]

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!

[Forrest]

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.

[Schlyne]

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.

[frankykeno]

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~~

[Coyotemoon]

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

[Ginevive]

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.