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Animal rescue is a great thing! It can be the most rewarding thing you'll ever do or be so heartbreaking you cry. For those of you that have rescued dogs post photos and stories of your rescues. Bring back those good times and have a good cry when you think of the bittersweet departures. I'm officaily dedicating this thread to the rescues!
I'll start with one of my favorite rescue stories that is near and dear to my heart.
Tyson-
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...ues/boxer2.jpg
My dad and I drove by a house with a puppy in the yard. As I sat there and complained about someone leaving their puppy unattended outside I didn't know the half of it. Over about 4 months my dad and I watched this puppy grow up with a table broken in half with a blue tarp covering it as shelter and rarely any sign of food or water. always skinny. no attention. no toys. alone. My dad and I talked for a long time before deciding to take the dog. We never found the chance to get him, but he practicly came to us when he broke from his chain one day. ran out in front of our car. dad told me to grab him. we took him home and fed him. i quickly posted pics of the boxer beauty on PetTalk. within a few hours of posting pics i got an e-mail from Corinna. It was love at first sight. Corinna, Tim and their daughter drove all the way from Montana to adopt their dirty, skinny, untrained puppy. After seeing Tyson turn into a compleatly different dog since he's been with his new family. Even though Corinna isn't with us any longer i still picture the love and excitment the first time she laid eyes on Tyson.
Rest In Peace Corinna.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...s/HPIM0495.jpg
Trudy-
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...s/PHOT0004.jpg
I had just brought home my new siberian husky puppy, Houston. We were going for a walk with my brother. As we were walking by the road Houston saw something. As i turned around i saw a skinny little black and tan puppy with scars on her back. i called dad on my cellphone and told him i was bringing home a rescue. Trudy was a great dog! i got quite attached to her. She lived with us for over two months before the perfect family came along. Trudy now lives in a Chicago suburb with 2 rowdy boys and another dog friend.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13.../000_00302.jpg
Maggie-
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...es/Maggie5.jpg
I got a call one day from a rescue i fostered dogs for. We were to foster a female english setter until a permanent home could be found. This poor dog had lived her short little life in an abusive home. Fortinatly after only a couple weeks with me Maggie was adopted into a permanent loving home. She literally lives in a mansion!
Cornfield-
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...s/DSC00105.jpg
I was at a local carnival when i was offered a small puppy. i promptly said no thanks knowing i couldn't take her. i was told that if i didn't take her the people were going to leave her in a cornfield across the street. i couldn't bare to even think of that happening so of course i took her. Now the little throwaway puppy is living in Indianapolis.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...Picture015.jpg
What nice stories,I remember when Corinna came after Tyson,bless her heart. Good for you for helping so many dogs. Merry Christmas! :)
Oh goodness, where do I start ! :confused:
Angie is a 4 year old whippet/miniature pinscher mix. The people who lived across the street from us at the time owned her. They didn't understand about dog training or how a dogs mind work, so whever she did something that they didn't like, she got smacked, kicked, hit, beat with a belt or stick of some kind, or have a rock or something thrown at her before being locked into a cage or tied to the end of a 3 inch rope for a "time out". I befriended their daughter, who was 10, and tried to explain to her how to train the dog and that hitting her or throwing things at her wasn't doing any good. I figured that because it was "her dog", she would be more willing to listen. Through this I was able to get contact with the dog and basically became attatched to her. Well, talking to the daughter wasn't working (she could have cared less about "her" dog) so I went to the parents and streight out told them I didn't like the way the dog was being treated. I threatened to call the animal control on them and reminded them that animal cruelty was a felony. They didn't even care except for the fact that they could get fined or punished if I turned them in so they just offered the dog to me and thats how I got her. It took a month or so of nothing but love to gain the dogs trust. Even to this day, if somebody raises their voice she will pee in submission.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...Picture143.jpg
Wouldn't let me post that one so I just made it a link.
George is a 4 year old Jenday conure. I found him at a petstore in pretty bad condition. He was an aggressive biter and a compulsive screamer and how he got that way specifically is unknown except it was from severe neglect and/or abuse (there is a possibility he was a wild caught bird and illegally imported as well). According to the petstore owners, he had gone to numerous homes only to be returned because he wasn't taming down. Even experienced bird breeders and bird behaviorists couldn't do anything with him. He was starting to feather pluck and the day I walked in was the day they were going to euthanize him to put him out of his misery because obviously he was under stress, was suffering and wasn't happy. I decided that I would take a final go with trying to save him. If I couldn't make any progress at all in a month, I would take him to the vet and have him put to sleep myself. But to make a long story short, thanks to a change in environment and clicker training, he is now completely tame with me and the screaming is under control. Feather plucking is no longer an issue.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...ird/George.jpg
One of my iguanas was severly neglected. For a whole year those ignorant people fed him nothing but iceburg lettuce and shredded carrots. He was kept in a 10 gallon tank with only a heat pad. When I got him, he was severly emaciated and malnourished and had metabolic bone disease so bad that alot of his bones were literally like rubber. With a proper diet, UV lighting, and calcium, he's made a full recovery. Although his growth is stunted, he's gone from a scrawny 5 inches not includig the tail (which btw was pulled off) to a bulky, healthy 9 inches (no tail).
Here's now
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...d/P1010007.jpg
Here's when I first got him
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...d/P1010242.jpg
3 of my Red eared slider turtles are rescues. One was found on the street and was brought to me. One belonged to my mom's friend. She got it but couldn't figure out how to take care of it. Everybody kept telling her something different and eventually she gave up and gave it to me. It wasn't in the best of condition, but it could have been worse. The third turtle, the 2 girls on the corner got him from a flea market, he came in a 10 gallon tank. Goodness knows what kind of neglect or abuse this poor things been through before they got him, but his shell is severly caved in. Either from severe starvation or physical trauma.
Here's the first one, found on the streets
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...Picture072.jpg
Her again, showing the size
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...Picture071.jpg
Here's the one my mom's friend gave me. Yes to top it off, the turtle is under 4 inches and is more susceptable to disease.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...babyturtle.jpg
Don't have one of the other turtle on hand just yet.
Those are the major ones, there's a few more I've picked up here and there, some which have passed. A lost homing pigeon I found that was badly underweight, she's now fine and producing healthy offspring. A cornish hen that I rescued from a mechanic's junkyard who was covered in oil. She was doing great and even started to produce double yolked eggs regularly until she caught the bird flu. Some of my other animals were just "unwanteds" like my sun conure who was too "nippy". One other rescue I had was a bantam old english game hen who had both her feet consumed by leg mites. I had her for over a year before she passed.