Rey was rescued off the streets of Ubeda, Spain in October 2012 by a kind family who then looked for someone to adopt him. In December 2012 I drove a 2,900 mile round trip from the UK to Spain and back to rescue him and bring him to my home - he is now my faithful companion :)

When I worked at a grooming salon, an assistant to a client of ours walked in to drop off the clients dog to be groomed. I will never forget looking up & seeing a tiny kitten perched on the woman's shoulder. I thought it was a little quirky & odd, so I asked about the kitten. She said she was looking for a home for him & that his other siblings had been eaten by a dog on their farm. At first I hesitated. I worried that my now husband would get upset with me for bringing home a pet without consulting him. At the time, we'd just moved into our first house together, & were still settling in. "Wait!", I shouted as she walked out the door. Something within me couldn't let her leave with him. I agreed to take him, & that was that. She took him off her shoulder & handed him to me. We gave him a flea bath since he was riddled with them. After drying him off, I put him in a kennel until my shift would be over. I turned back to look at the tiny kitten looking back at me & my first thought was "What have I gotten myself into?" but as overwhelmed as I was with my spontaneous decision to keep him, I knew he was mine.

That night I brought him home & when my husband walked in the door & saw a little gray kitten, he didn't look too thrilled with me. We'd never adopted a pet together before so he was a little shocked that I brought a pet home without telling him. The next morning, he woke up my husband to cuddle. He looked at the tiny kitten laying in his arms, with the sun shining in his sparkling green eyes, & that was all it took for him to fall for him. 7 years later, we can't imagine our lives without him. Jasper is the absolute love of our lives & we hope to enjoy many more years with him.

In Virginia during the ice storm of 2003 my neighbor called and asked if I knew who owned a big yellow lab. I didn't but started to call around. Shelters had no info about a missing lab and asked if I could keep him till they had room. Numerous people had spotted him eating out of their garbage in the weeks prior . Later, my daughter came in from sled riding and went to the cupboard where I kept my dog food (already had and elderly rescue). She said "Mom, this dog has been following me, you have to see, he is so cold!" I went to the front door and there was the most handsome dog I had ever seen, so cold he was trembling all over. He was very shy and reluctantly came in when my daughter invited him. For the next 3 days, he lay on the tile by the front door, just soaking in all the warmth he could but the carpet freaked him out, as did the tv and telephone ringing. He obviously had never been indoors. I called the area shelters every day for 2 weeks with no one reporting him missing. By then, he was my boy, we named him Sam and made his vet appointment. My vet thought he was between 1 & 2 years old but nuetered him at the puppy price because he was a stray. He is 12 now, and enjoying retirement in the warmth of Arizona.

This is my favorite picture of him. He is ignoring The Dog Whisperer on TV and seems to be amused by the fact that some dogs need training for manners. You can see his new little sister in the bottom corner, we adopted her from the shelter after Sam's original sister passed over the rainbow bridge. He was absolutely bereft, I couldnt stand to see him mourn so Lulu became our newest member of the family. her story will come later :0)

It was 1998 and we had just lost our Terrier after 17 years. My daughters were sad and wanted another dog...I was reluctant but we adopted a little white Bichon and I named her Tess. It took me a while to warm up to her but she became such a part of our family...she was so sweet and smart..our third little girl. She went everywhere with us and grew up with my two daughters. She suddenly passed away June 4, 2010..I was devastated and the house was not the same without her waiting for me everyday to come home...After three weeks..I decided to browse petfinder...not really planning on adopting..but there she was a 9 month old Bichon in a shelter in Maryland. I decided to apply for her and after a month of reviews...They called and said she was mine.

We drove the 10 hours to the shelter and brought her home...although she can never replace Tess...shes such a lovebug and our house is happy again..She will be four this year and keeps us busy. You can never replace a pet but there are so many that need homes..that you can open your heart to another animal that's needs a loving family.

It was a warm summer day in June of 2001 when my son came over to my house unexpectedly. "Mom, I need your help with something but its only for about six weeks". My suspicious meter was on full alert. And then I saw her....a small gray kitten with huge round eyes. My son was holding her tightly as she looked at me curiously.

"My friend found her in the park", he continued. "We called the number on her collar but they don't want her, they put her out." I could feel my heart breaking for that poor baby spending her nights in the park with other strays as well as raccoons and possums. "Anyway, my friend can take her in about six weeks when his current roommate moves out. Can she stay here until then?"

I held her in my arms and she snuggled against my shoulder. It seemed perfect until she saw one of our other cats, Aaron. She immediately hissed, screamed, and lept out of my arms and hid behind the couch. This was our first lesson in her fear of other animals.Her name was Hollywood which I found ridiculous so I began calling her Hollie.I soon found that her favorite spot to sleep at night was in bed with me. She would stretch out next to me with her head on the pillow.

Most of all Hollie was my angel, my comfort and a constant companion. During most of her life I was very ill, and sometimes bed ridden. She was always ther She never minded the tears that I dripped into her pretty gray fur and knew my moods so very well.

Her loss was devastating, it happened too fast. Her eleven years seemed much too short a time for such an amazing little creature that loved and trusted people so very much.

However, I was fortunate to hold that wonderful creature in my arms when she was a baby and then, eleven years later, hold her in my arms as she left this world.

Feeling lazy one morning, called in an order to a taco place for breakfast. Still in my pj's, I drove my son to get the food. While I was waiting in the car, I saw what looked like one of my dogs! I had no idea how he'd gotten out, but I called to him and he came running over. He jumped into the car and I saw that it wasn't my dog. He just looked JUST like him. I wasn't concerned though because he had on current tags! Yeah!!! I called the number on the tag for the vet clinic indicated on the tag. I gave the girl who answered the tag number and, without having to look it up, she immediately asked if I could keep the dog! I asked why and she told me that this was at least the 30th time someone had called after finding this dog! Apparently his owners just couldn't keep him contained.. I admit, I got a little judgmental about it. I mean, how hard is it to keep a dog safe?!?!? Oy! Gus is an escape artist who seems to delight in running between and in front of cars! During the first month of having him, he escaped at least 6 times.

That was 11 years ago and we've somehow managed to keep him safe! Now that he's older, he's decided not to leave anymore. Thank goodness!!!

My family and I were on vacation on Curacao Island. Our friend mentioned he saw a dog laying on the side of the road, dying. I could not stand by and do nothing, so I asked him to take us to the dog. As we drove closer I could see the dog laying in the road not moving. I thought we were to late. As I approached the dog, only it's eyes moved to look at me. My daughter was with me and she named it Sky since all he could do was look at the sky. He had many wounds and looked like both ears were cut into W shapes. His body was very thin and I could see all his bones. He didn't move. I brought a bottle of water and gave him drops in his mouth. I was sad by all the cars driving by and no one stopping to help me for about 10 minutes. Finally someone who cared helped us find a vet and get Sky some much need medical attention. CARF was the rescue group that took Sky under it's care and help nurse Sky back to health. Sky was adopted 3 months later to a great family. It was my birthday and I used my birthday money my father had given me to help with the cost of Sky's care. What a great present being able to save a life.

I still keep in touch with everyone involved and hope to be able to help CARF when I return to Curacao. I look forward to visiting Sky with his new family.

Today marks the second anniversary of our life with Madie. Madie had started her life as a guard dog for a criminal element. She with her brother and another dog were seized by a rescue group when the place was closed down. She was about 1.5 years old and very timid and needy. We were looking for a companion for our young female and wanted another shepherd. We had been looking and had applied to adopt another dog. Unfortunately that one was already adopted but they called and said they had a perfect girl for us. When she stepped out of the car we knew she was going home with us. When we first got her she was terrified of any sudden hand movement like throwing a ball and for some reason to this day she will not stay in the room when you are folding wash or putting it up. Now with the help of the pack she is an avid ball player and comfortable with our grandchildren. We do not know if she got the puppy love all dogs deserve but she definitely gets her love now.

My husband and I were watching a movie in our apartment when we heard our neighbor's door slam hard & then a high pitched cry. A filthy kitten was standing outside & a child peeking through curtains at it; an angry voice ordering them to get away from the window. The kitten cried then started walking towards me. I closed the door a little to keep my own cats from getting out, then opened again & was very surprised when he walked right inside. I showed him to the food and water & he scarfed down. His paws were almost black with dirt & had a raw scar on his nose. I’m guessing they thought they could throw him out and he’d leave. My husband picked up the kitten & knocked on the neighbor's door. At first they didn't answer, but then the woman opened & looked a little uneasily at the kitten. He asked her if the kitten belonged to her & she denied ever seeing the cat before.

We brought him back inside and he walked to an empty beer box & fell asleep. Each of our 4 other cats took turns checking on him. We texted a friend who was willing to take him, but my husband had already bonded & didn’t want to let him go. We named him Tony Montana (Scarface). Later Tony left the beer box & climbed into our bed, sleeping between the both of us. I was awakened by a cat head rubbing on my butt as if to say “thanks.” The next day my husband gave Tony a bath & found he was a ginger tabby. Tony is a sweet boy with a big personality. To make his entrance he stretches his front leg out to bow, prances, meows to announce "I'm Tony," then greets house guests. Twice a neighbor's dog ran into our driveway to attack and Tony charged at the dog to protect me. He will sit on other cats if they are sitting on or next to me, just so he can be next to me also.

A friend who knew that I loved animals called me one day to tell me that her aunt had a farm a few hours from my home and one of their farm cats had a kitten that only had one eye. She said that it looked like it might be infected and he probably wouldn't live without vet care.

I got in my car and met her to pick him up. He was the cutest thing I had ever seen! I took him to the vet the next day and the eye socket was indeed very infected. I got him some medicine and some kitten milk replacement and waited until he was old and well enough to have surgery to close the hole where his eye had once been. After the surgery 'Sy' was as healthy as any of my other cats and probably twice as happy! One day he snuck outside and brought me back a dead chipmunk! Somehow my little handsome one-eyed baby out-witted a chipmunk!

When he was 4 years old he became very ill and died suddenly, the Vet never did discover the reason he died, but suspects it was FIP he contracted as a baby. The 4 years I had with him changed my life and I now volunteer as a foster for a local feline rescue. He definitely rescued me.