Ebby my cat is from a shelter but if we are counting rescues as stray, abandoned or give-aways, I have shared my homes and life with more than a couple.

Going waaay back, there was Judy the wire-haired terrier. She was the first dog we had, a stray that found her way in to our lives. She was a real sweetie.

Next was Sandy, again a stray, a mix of what we never knew, nor cared! He was a lovely boy.

Then there was Lester a jack russell dog and Scobie the cat (the only cat I had any experience of before Ebby). They were both unwanted and given over to us, Lester first and Scobie later. My lasting memory of those two is of them playing together.

Amigo the dog was another stray, but, sadly, I only spent a little time with him. He was a lovely Lab cross who was sick when we found him. I named him Amigo because I so wanted him to keep him as my friend. But it wasn’t to be. He was too sick with distemper for the vet to do anything to help him and he was put to sleep. (We are talking over 30 years ago here; veterinary science was not anywhere as good as it is now).

Fast forward a few years and we come to Blue a black lab/shepherd cross. He was unwanted and given to my brother-in-law, who in turn, knowing how we loved dogs, brought him to us, a little scrap of a pup, dirty and full of worms. He grew into a lovely, michevious and very clever boy!

Lastly we have Duchess, a small sheltie type cross, again brought to us by my brother-in-law, this time he had found her abandoned and obviously unloved. She was another pup n an awful mess, thin, full of worms and with a bad case of mange. We got her all cleaned up and sorted, took us three weeks! – And that wasn’t easy, keeping our other, naturally curious, dogs, Duke, Blue and Max, well away from her while we did! I really wanted to keep her, but after a while, one extra dog in the situation I was in became a bit too much for me, so we found her a really good new home. I hated to see her go, but I knew it was the right thing to do. (Btw, we did have her spayed as well as cleaned up, had to with three entire boy dogs in the home too!)

And that’s all folks! Except that if I ever get another dog he or she will surely be from a shelter.

Chris