Smokestik Contest! Show your compassion for animals....win an electronic cigarette and more!!!!

[Mathew R Taylor]

So I have 3 dogs, all rescues. I had never heard of kill shelters before coming down south, or rather I heard of them, but they didn't really exist to me or at least not real so the decision between my wife and I is to always rescue.

My first pup was an SCPA rescue. We originally found a golden retriever puppy at the shelter the previous night (they have open shelters that you can see the pups), and came in the morning to adopt him. To our dismay, the puppy was already adopted. Although we had our hearts set on a Golden, we decided to look around, and there was a friendly little whippet terrier in one of the kennels. We asked one of the Kennel runners if we could see him in a separate cage to pet him etc, which was no problem for the staff. We sat down in the bench and waited. The dog twisted his neck out of the leash and bounded into my wife's lap and started licking her. Definitely love at first lick, and Jackers came home with us!

Our second pup was a Craigslist pup. She was in a litter born in poor section of town. When we got there it was awful! There was a full litter of Boxer/lab/pit puppies living in a never cleaned back yard, with more fecal matter than grass. Our puppy was the runt of the litter, and she was so timid, she would come out from under the car which she was hiding (all the puppies were). We coached her out with a treat and felt that she definitely needed the most help. We took her and she was covered in fleas and her ribs were poking out. Much TLC needed with her, but now Meadow is a very hefty 70lbs and a joy to her Momma.

Our latest rescue was another shelter rescue. I had a dog that died of old age (a 10 year old Chihuahua) before moving to our newest home. After a month of living here I still couldn't get used to living with just 2 dogs, thus Kasey was adopted! She is a sweet puppy!

Last although not mine, when I can I participate in a Animal Transport - Cherry Harley Transports - an Animal Rescue via Criagslist. Their specialty is transporting dogs across our great nation - from one animal lover to another. On our last assist, we picked up two lovely puppies from South FL who's owner had died and they were going to be put down. Our leg began here in Charlotte, and transported them to their next leg in VA; ultimately they ended up in New York through kindness of others. There isn't a charge for this service, just folk looking to help out another animal lover - I would highly encourage you to look them up and help if you can!!

From the left moving right, my family: Meadow, Jackers and Kasey

 

[zadane]

My story is all about this little guy here. his name is jasper. I rescued him and his brother teddy

Here is my story:

A little over 18 months ago I was over at my sisters house. we were hanging out and just minding our own business when her boyfriend comes in furious. he starts explaining that his brother and sister in law have been breeding these dogs and keeping them in filth covered in their own fecal matter, not feeding them, and letting them just die off.

We kept an eye on them for a few hours, once they left we sneaked over there all ninja style. once in the house all we found were 2 puppies left alive, we grabbed them both and ran for it. Got in the car and left over to my mothers friends house. Once we were there we explained what was going on.

The puppies were so small we didn't think they were going to live long enough for my mother to run to the pet store and get the food and everything they needed. they couldn't even hold their heads up.

After getting them both fed and watered it was as if we had breathed a second life into them. they starting their little puppy yipping, whining, playing, and living.

It's been 18months (roughly) since then... jasper has broken his leg from falling off a coffee table, and he has lived a great life.

 

[redheadone]

This is my story.. About six years ago my daughter who is special needs and me had both of our dogs stolen I was crushed as was she and had no intention of getting another dog. But after a few months and a lot of begging on her part I went to the animal shelter here in Asheville NC to look for a replacement . Finding nothing to catch my fancy I just decided to wait. By chance I made an .unexpected trip to Greenville SC and decided to drop in at the anamal shelter there. Now I have always had large dogs and never considered a small dog. Well after looking awhile and not seein anthing I wanted there I started to leave. The woman there kept telling me to wait that they were fixing to get some dos in at any moment. I am glad I did. From the first moment I saw this little puppy he stole my heart. Without another moments thought I took him home. That was six years ago Gizmo which I named him and who is part poodle and part maltese is still with us. He is not only part of my family he is like just another one of my children. We all love him so much.

 

[meems]

This little guy ran into one of our windows...he was stunned, but shook it off...finally flew out of my hands to hover for a bit afterwards, looked me right in the eyes as if to say thank you!

This one my I rescued from my kitty..it hung around for a bit before it took off..

This little guy was my favorite..DD brought it home from school, the kids were kicking it, one leg was obviously injured..

Flying lessons!

Dinner time..

So..we spent about 2 months caring for this little guy, then we called the local bird sanctuary & brought him there, we would check in every couple weeks or so. I couldn't bear to break it to my DD, but they eventually put it down! (leg perm injury, human imprint, oops) *sigh* we tried!

 

[Kargonet]

My lovey dovey Axl's story...

We'd gotten a Standard Poodle puppy from the local Standard Poodle rescue in May of 2009. He wasn't abused or mistreated in anyway, he just needed a home so we took him in. Over the next few months the lady we got him from called us from time to time when she had other Poodles that needed homes. We e-mailed and called everyone we thought might be interested in having one of these great dogs to help her find homes for them.

In April of last year she called me and told me a horrible story. This particular Poodle's owner had terminal cancer and could no longer care for him. He'd been picked up by a friend of the cancer lady and they kept him crated in their garage for over a month. They didn't let him out to potty or pee or play or anything. He'd never been socialized, had never been to a vet. His coat was stained so badly from being locked up in that crate she wasn't even sure what color he was. I started doing my e-mail and Facebook postings looking for a home for this guy and couldn't find one.

My husband and I talked about it and decided we would take our now adult Poodle over to meet him and see if they could get along. This dog was in bad shape. Horribly underweight, smelly and absolutely scared to death. He'd been groomed but they'd done a really bad hack job on him. It was going to take months of vet visitis and groomer visits to get him healthy and that didn't take into consideration that he wasn't house broken nor did he have any other kind of training. Time and money and love was what this guy needed and he needed it quickly.

The biggest blow came when she told us that it was possible that he had heart worms since he'd never seen a vet and was so skinny. We decided that we would take him to the vet and have him assessed and go from there. If he had heart worms we'd have to make the decision on whether or not to treat him and that would depend on how advanced the disease was.

We took him home and he inhaled food and water. He couldn't or wouldn't relax, he would just stand in front of you begging for attention. I wonder if he slept at all that night or if he had his first good sleep ever. The next day my daughter and I both said goodbye to him that morning since we didn't know what was going to happen at the vet. It was a tough day waiting for his appointment time to roll around. My husband had to take him, I couldn't, wouldn't be able to bear the pain if we had to put him down because someone else hadn't cared for him properly. My husband called me when they took him back to the room, giving me a minute by minute account of his weight and what the vet was saying. First was the heartworm test and that took 15 minutes to come back, the hardest 15 minutes I can ever remember. I was at my daughter's school picking her up when he called me back to tell me the results. She'd just gotten in the truck and I could tell she'd been crying. The first thing she asked me was how his tests had come out. My husband was just in the process of telling me that he was heartworm negative and all he needed was some vittles and TLC and he'd be brand new again. We both burst into tears, thankful that he was going to be ok.

He got all of his shots that day and some other meds for other non-life threatening issues. I immediately called my groomer and made an appointment to take him in so he could have a decent hair cut and a really good bath.

That was almost a year ago. Looking at him today you wouldn't even know he's the same dog we picked up that day. We had to teach him about toys and how to play. He's gone from inhaling a bowl of food and water to just sort of grazing all day. He's housebroken and LOVES his chewies. He has beds, toys and treats both at work and at home. He goes to the groomer every two weeks and of course regular vet visits. His favorite place to be is on the couch with me with his head in my lap. When you look in his eyes he looks like the happiest dog ever. He just appears to be greatful that he has everything he has now and he loves his mom, me. He loves his brother and when they're both freshly groomed they're hard to tell apart. You'd never know they had completely opposite beginnings. Instead of posting pictures, I'm just going to link to my Facebook album so you can see how much he changed over the last year.

Axl | Facebook

 

[Nev]

I have never had an animal that wasn't a rescue. I have adopted everything from gerbils on up to horses. I have lived exactly one year of my almost 44 years without any pets.

Right now, I have 2 tomcats (neutered of course), one weighs 7 lbs and the other weighs 17 lbs. I went to the animal shelter to get them a little over a year ago. The smaller one got out last week and was trapped by animal control. Thank goodness for microchips, I was able to "re-rescue" him. It was only another $125...so he counts for 2 lol

I rescued a pit bull/shepherd mix puppy about a year ago too. She is my true love and never leaves my side. The shelter named her Harley and I just kept it...most people think she is a guard dog. Actually, if anyone ever broke in, she would just show them where the good stuff was

I have a laborador that I rescued about 5 years ago. She was running wild in the streets and I slowly made friends with her by feeding her bits of food. She is now about 11 years old and is my fur baby. Probably the smartest and best dog I have ever had.

When we first bought our house, an African Grey landed on our balcony. I fed him strawberries and cantaloupe and ended up catching him. Fortunately, he had a leg band and I was able to return him to his owners.

The moral of my thread is this: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE microchip, neuter/spay and put identity tags/leg bands on your animals. Even if you think they will never get out, they can and it's a good chance that they will!

 

[Lorizgal]

First when I was young, I brought home every stray I could find and I loved helping animals, almost than my own self. However, I was told by mother, I was too allergic to animals to ever rescue them or work with them. I believed that until about 3 years ago.........when I began to believe something else.

Well I think everyone who knows me here, knows that up until 12/31/2010 my honey and me owned and ran Warm Fuzzies Ferret Rescue in northern lower michigan.

We had to quit the rescue but still at times think about re-opening because there are so many needed ferrets out there. I miss it, but when I haven't worked except for 2.5 months in the last 18 months there is where the money came from. It has been interesting.

Let's take a little christmas trip, to Petco............oh mom aren't they so cute, pointing to the octogonal baby ferret tank...............she gets help and the lady or man at Petco start to tell them how great ferrets are for pets, forgetting to tell them of course how much work they are and how they have to come out of their cage, everyday, or they get depressed.

What happens when you don't interact with them on a daily basis, especially the babies who if neglected almost always revert back to biting, because the human hands that have held them in past are not paying attention to them now. I can't tell you how many times I have heard that "we just can't get him to quit biting." When we ask our questions at surrender, the answers usually go like this "we don't have time, anymore", "we don't have the energy", " we can't keep him anymore" and once in awhile you will get the real reason they are giving the little guy up for adoption " well we bought him for christmas (Now it's april) and well the kids just don't seem to enjoy him any more and the guy at the pet store didn't tell us how much work he would be." My question back to them is "didn't you research this animal before getting them?" and the answer is usally NO. My advice is always-RESEARCH-before you buy.

So now we have before us a very small-fear biting-under nourished-non-vaccinated-lazy- under socialized little male ferret who had been kept in the back yard in winter in Michigan (-20degrees F - Last winter) being fed rabbit chow, because the guy at Petco seemed to have forgotten to tell them that ferrets are not rodents and are unable to digest fiber. He weighed .9 pounds when he came in and within 2 weeks he was up to almost 2 pounds, he never bit us and he always was nice to us, of course we were always nice to him. This was Marcus and the last rescue we took in, April of 2010. When he was adopted in Feb, 2011 he weighed a whopping 3.5 pounds on of the biggest Marshall's ferrets I have ever seen. He was a very good boy and he loved his new cagemate Zeva and together they went to a home where they will live out their lives in comfort and love.

The first rescue we did was in April, 2007 when we picked up 3 ferrets from muskegon and 20 ferrets (yes that's right 20) from one owner in Howard City, MI. She had moved from North or South Carolina and she brought all her ferrets with her........but the people she was living with wouldn't allow her to have them up stairs in the house so they lived very unsanitary in a flooded with sewer water Michigan basement. They were in a play pen that was about 6'x6' and that is all, for all 20 ferrets. It was an awful thing to see them like that. The oldest ferret Sparky Senior was at the bottom he was not breathing when we got him outside, so I did mouth to mouth with him and little cpr.........he came back from the other side and lived another 10 months under our care. 6 of this group were adopted out immediately after rescue and a trip to the vet. The other 14 had health problems of one kind or another and were kept with us until they were better or worse. The 3 ferrets from Muskegon were given up because they "the family" was having a baby and couldn't take care of them any longer. They had had them all for about 4-5 years. They all three died from adrenal disease 1-2 years after they were surrendered to us.

Our rescue was a "no-kill" rescue, meaning we would never euthanize to make room for other ferrets. We did however euthanize humanely, when there was no quality of life left. These were the most difficult, heart renching decisions I have ever had to make.

In September of 2007 we got a call from a lady that had moved from somewhere to a house where her friend would not let her ferrets be in the house (sound familiar) and she kept them in a tiny 4'x5' garden shed. The cage had 3-4 inches of feces on the floor. The water was green with algae and no visible liquid was available. These 3 ferrets: Chloe, Sparky Jr. and Baby were let to run loose in the yard (where the wild things roamed - coyotes, hawks and eagles). Baby was missing when we went to pick them and were called the next day to the neighbors house as she had found this Baby ferret running through her flowers. She had given her water and some cat food, it was better than what the owner was feeding them- Purina puppy food. She said she couldn't afford anything else, those ferrets had lived in that condition for 4 months. 4 really hot and humid months she kept those poor little creatures in a shed in the back yard, never paying them any attention except to feed them and change the water once a week. It was plain awful and gross.

Those are most memorable rescued ferrets, there were lots of others, but none quite as memorable as these three (or these 24 ferrets). We have rescued over 85 from feb 2006- December, 2010. We placed almost 50 of them in new homes and most of them either are still in their homes or have passed away in the past 4 years.

We are presently owned by 2 personal ferrets - KC SUE - a 4 year old Dew who is suffering from Adrenal disease and Bugz a 6 year old sable who moved from NM with us to MI and will now move back with us in June, 2011.
We are also owned by

Gizmo - a chocolate mixed poodle-12 years old-I got her from Dona Ana Humane Society- she is currently full of cancerous tumor, when she was found she had just had puppies, but the pups were no where to be found.

Mr. T - a black tiny toy poodle - was surrendered to my friends rescue with 3 broken legs (front legs both broken in 3 places each, the rear right leg broken at the ball of the hip). We fostered him and he also came to live with us after being adopted x2 but always coming back. He has plates and screws in both front legs, and had a FPO on his right leg.

Sunni SUE- a minature apricot poodle-was surrendered to a down state rescue with a 6" stick protruding from her left eye and her left rear leg was broken in 3 places. She also had surgery-her eye was removed and sutured closed-her leg was fixed with screws and plates.

Thanks for listening to my life the last 5 years or so.

 

[lorikay13]

Hi everyone!!!! Just letting you know that I will be closing this thread TEMPORARILY today at 6pm PST in order to draw the first set of 3 winners. Details about prizes to follow in a different thread.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ed-tonight-3-19-2011-7pm-pst.html#post2860693

 

[Atari]

ok I never got a chance to post these picks, This is Rivy. I wish I could have kept her myself



She always insisted in sleeping on me as opposed to next to me, lol. She was a really sweet dog