There are three kinds of adoption organizations: municipal animal shelters, private humane societies and SPCAs and rescue organizations. The first two are “brick and mortar” facilities; rescue groups are volunteer organizations that care for the pets in their homes.
Generally speaking, fees range between $25 and $250. Sometimes pets are free if there is a special promotion going on; occasionally they will cost more.
The adoption process can take minutes, more than an hour or even longer. It all depends on the type of organization and the adoption policies of that organization.
Find helpful information on health, behavior, training and other dog care issues.
Find helpful information on health, behavior, training and other cat care issues.
Find helpful information on how to search for a pet and a shelter.
Edward is sweet and loving. He is great with everyone he meets. He loves to cuddle and give kisses. He was a stray . . .
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Abby was rescued from an animal hoarder when she was 6 months old. She then spent the next one-and-a-half . . .
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We had to put our furbaby of 12 years down due to Wobbler's disease. I was heartbroken but knew . . .
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Our dog Cooper is a Golden Retriever mix and is deaf. The people who had him before couldn't keep . . .
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Dorothy (the Calico) and Ivy (Orange Tabby girl) came from the same shelter but different rooms, yet adopted . . .
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Nancy was in a group of rescues in Grand Rapids. I guess the shelter there was running out of room, so our local . . .
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I was visiting the shelter to make a food donation, when this little tabby guy walked up to me and demanded . . .
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I found my little baby boy on the streets. I fell in love with his swirls. Then to find he was a purrrrfect . . .
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This story may come from another country, but still it's about the love of finding a new friend. . . .
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Charlie is 143 pounds of love! From the moment that my husband and I met him at the shelter, we knew . . .
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Treeny is very unique and is an inspiration to others. When we adopted her, she was missing her back . . .
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Chance was somehow badly injured at a very young age and then discarded, like a broken toy. He was found . . .
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Cocopuff, Little Bit, Fluffybutt. Coco goes by many names and answers to all of them. We brought her home . . .
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He was in the kitty shelter medical ward with a respiratory infection. I said his name and he meowed. . . .
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Pongo is a prefect fit to our little household. Our younger puppy, Atlas, needed a playmate so badly; . . .
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Tyrone was orphaned as a result of Hurricane Sandy and a friend of a friend fostered him temporarily. . . .
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Teddy has enriched my life so much. He loves spending his day with his brother, Rupert. He has been . . .
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A Christmas story: This pet was adopted from my pet rescue, Rockwall Pets, on Christmas Day. Our Dallas . . .
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Our family lost our beloved duo this past year to old age. We so missed our puppy love, but knew that . . .
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Ziti hasn't let his rough start (he was thrown from a moving car) hold him back from being the star . . .
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He was the only kitty to get on my mom's lap. Now that we have him home, we can't get enough . . .
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A little over a year ago, I was just starting college and I was feeling overwhelmed and at times even . . .
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Jynxie was our third shelter save. When we found it time to fill our lives with another cat following . . .
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So what if he snores and steals? He is quite the neighborhood charmer and he knows it (hears it often . . .
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Shadow has the sweetest disposition - after a hard life, she just enjoys every day. She loves meeting . . .
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Aksel stole my heart when I saw his picture at GBHS. He had been chained in someone's back yard, . . .
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The day we met Fiona, she was a skinny little dog covered in fuzzy fur and was getting bullied by her brothers . . .
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Harriet is one of the most loving, sweet, and entertaining dogs that I have ever met. When I bring her to work . . .
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Dance changed my life! After hearing his sad story, I decided that from now on I'm only adopting . . .
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Precious was exposed to distemper at the shelter and got it really bad. She survived the first stage . . .
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Leo and Maizy are sweet, affectionate little cuddlers. They were surrendered to the shelter because their . . .
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Sammy spent the first four years of his life with over 170 dogs as part of an animal hoarding case. Sammy . . .
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We had been watching the Rifle Animal Shelter's Facebook page for a kitty for our 6-year-old son. . . .
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Jerry is an all around wonderful dog. He loves to hang out with his people and either play or cuddle. . . .
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I fostered three baby kittens from a local shelter. While bottle feeding the babies, I fell in love with . . .
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Lucky was rescued from a hoarder where he was kept outdoors 24/7 on a short chain. We met her at her foster . . .
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I had recently lost my beloved 15-year-old red heeler, Pard, when Dash burst unexpectedly into my life. . . .
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Meet the center of my universe, Lyra. She found me at the Humane Society of Broward County in August . . .
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Frodo was a puppy mill dog, traumatized, starving, and awfully matted when we met him. He had gone through . . .
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When I adopted her, she was a “special needs” dog (she was in a shelter the first one and a half . . .
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Sammy Jo lost her first owner to a heart attack and found herself in a shelter after 5 years in a loving . . .
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Sammy is special because he is special. I was not looking to add another furkid to the house, but when . . .
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Boomer is special because he has enriched our lives so much. He lets my daughter give him hugs and has never . . .
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Macy was a rescue. We were given no history, but found out we were the third family she has had. We lost . . .
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After losing my two Pitbulls and kitten in a house fire in April, we knew it wouldn't take long . . .
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Charlee is the best dog I could ever have asked for. She is so pretty and well-behaved! She brings me the greatest . . .
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Savannah is the light of my life, my heart, my world. She has changed the minds of every single person . . .
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Perry was the only cat who didn't want to play. All the other kittens were playing with the toys . . .
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Cinna-mini & her siblings were found by a police officer in the street when they were a few days . . .
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The moment I locked eyes with Kero, I knew he was the one. He came to me a trembling, scared boy who peed . . .
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When I was in kindergarten my parents decided to get a cat. We went to the Humane Association and my parents . . .
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I saw Joe online and fell in love with him. He was at that kennel. We went to see him and he captured . . .
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Wish he could tell us what the first seven years of his life were like - but it doesn't matter. . . .
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Tiffany chose to spend her life with me when she was five months old; now, she's a glorious 16 years . . .
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I first saw Rueben through the Best Friends website, and I knew then he was perfect. When we finally . . .
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It was love at first sight! I had been hired at the DRHS and it had only been my first week. I walked . . .
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I was looking to add a third dog when I came across Lucy on Petfinder.com. Originally it started as a foster . . .
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I had just moved to NH and knew no one but my fiance. He'd promised I could get a cat. I went into . . .
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We have three rescue dogs, two huskies and our Bentley. He is special because he has a tone of excitement . . .
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When I met Colby he was alone in a kennel, emaciated, and nameless. He broke my heart and I had to help . . .
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I met Sophie while her adoption status was on hold at the shelter. She had a mass on her left shoulder . . .
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I know this sounds cliche, but the first time Jackson and I met, it was love. Once I laid eyes on my little . . .
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She grabbed our attention right away by staring and staring and staring at us. It was evident that she chose . . .
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Abby is such a wonderful little girl!! I visited my local shelter every week looking for a special little . . .
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She's kind and loving and all about love, love, love. To think someone beat her and put cigarettes . . .
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We put our Amazing Gracie down in May of 2011. We had adopted her when she was 7 weeks old and she was a wonderful . . .
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We adopted Toffee because she was so playful & got along with our 3yr old son. When she played with . . .
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After one adoption fell through, we went back and the last dog we looked at was named Buster. He had been . . .
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I was unsure about getting a dog from the pound. Jeffery has proven most sterotypes wrong. Not only was he house . . .
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Oliver has come a long way from his shelter days, and I feel so blessed that he has taken me with him on his journey. . . .
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Izzy helped me pick my husband! I had just started dating my husband when I adopted Izzy. She had an allergic . . .
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I call Miji my first-born. I adopted him right after I moved into my very first apartment. He's . . .
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One reason Rocket was a special cat is because he became a "one-person" cat. As a kitten, he loved . . .
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We adopted a dog when he was 1 1/2 years old. He was so perfect for us. He would never run away, he slept . . .
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Bronx was at the Gloucester County Animal Shelter for a while, with nobody remotely interested in adopting . . .
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Chester is a sweet guy who gets along very well with his adoptive sisters, Domino and Gracie (Gracie . . .
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Joy had a rough start in life. She was a year-old Pit mix from The Animal Rescue League. She looked like . . .
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I adopted my Dachshund, Doug, because I thought he needed a soft place to land in his senior years. He was very . . .
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We fostered Emma since we did not have any dogs and the SPCA did not have her vaccination records. My wife, . . .
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My sister Helen and I adopted our dogs, Spike and Drusilla, a brother and sister Golden Retriever/Corgi . . .
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Oscar was friendly when we met him at the shelter, but since he has been with us, he has become my personal . . .
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Layla is special in so many ways. She is a very petite, white Boxer with one blue eye. We were very lucky . . .
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Cheshire has made me feel like the luckiest person in the world. She was originally one of my foster . . .
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I adopted Harriet when she was five, and she is one of the sweetest and most loving dogs that I have . . .
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She is so smart! She once wanted a bowl of carrot sticks that we wouldn't give her, so what does . . .
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Mochi and his siblings were considered an 'accident'. He was extremely shy and reserved when . . .
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He was overlooked because he has 3 feet and was stuck at the shelter for 6 months. Well, he is just . . .
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Shasta was at a Shasta County shelter for 3 weeks and her time was up - she was scheduled for euthanasia . . .
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Bruno is the star of our family! He is so affectionate and loves to sleep or take naps snuggled up next . . .
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Quite unexpectedly, Francis forever transformed me into a "cat person." Picked up as a stray . . .
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He is really special to me because he is just a sweetheart. We got him when our old dog had passed away . . .
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Godric's affection is endless. Whether he's giving you a massage 'kitty-style' or curled . . .
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Jewel was my best friend! She met me at the door every day and insisted on sleeping on our bed every . . .
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Chooey is unlike any other. Sometimes I'm not even sure if she's really a dog. She stretches . . .
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Jub Jub is the toast of the neighborhood, which is no surprise, because she is the friendliest pup you'll . . .
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Tucker is a treasure found. He is grateful for every hug and rub he gets. He arrived at our house having . . .
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We first met Annie as a scared young adult cat while volunteering at the shelter. We just couldn't . . .
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I adpoted my Nettie Bella from a shelter in Chicago on my 19th birthday. My mother and I where looking . . .
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Dobie and Neko both have the "funniest" personalities. They make us laugh every single day. . . .
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Each and every morning we wake up to the "Dutch Butt Shuffle" because he's just so darn . . .
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Greta is a total clown. We believe she is a black and tan coonhound mix as she has on a rare occasion . . .
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Lacy is special because she keeps me company. She waits for me by the front door when I come home after . . .
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Charlie (formerly Brayden) is a very special little guy with a big heart. He's adjusting to his new home . . .
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Truly the Adopt a Dog Ambassador...what a shy, demure, little lady. I lost my other 2 doxies 7 yrs ago; . . .
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Snoopy makes me happy every day. His actions are always funny and unpredictable. When we met, it was love . . .
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Fry is (we think) a Whippet/Terrier mix that we found on Petfinder back in October and adopted after . . .
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He is special for me because he was about to die and Ilooked at him in his eyes and my heart melted so I adopted . . .
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Shelby was surrendered to the shelter when her boy's dad passed away from cancer. Her boy's . . .
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Luna is happy, sweet and smart. I volunteer at the shelter and was looking for an adult or senior dog to adopt. . . .
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Devyn is a character. She is so fun, wild, playful, cuddly, and an amazing friend. I adopted her when . . .
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From the second I went into the cat room at the shelter that night, Peter was on my lap playing and would . . .
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Meko was an older, slightly pudgy black lab who would not come to the gate doors and greet me (nor bark, . . .
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My husband and I have adopted 3 adult cats from a local shelter in Columbus, Ohio over the last year . . .
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Because of my disabilty I was home alone a lot, but now that we have Pepper there is never a dull moment. . . .
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Blue is amazing in every way - he is this big mellow, laid-back boy who adores his people. He follows . . .
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I am a college student, and I most desperately wanted a puppy to stay with me for company while I was home . . .
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I just went looking one day to see if I could find a friend for our dog Hollie. Peanut was the first . . .
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Just look at that face! Every time I look at this my happy place is filled to the brim.
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When I first found Elmo in a YouTube video from the rescue group, I knew I had to have him. So did several . . .
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My ex sister-in-law was a volunteer at the shelter and she told me about some kittens who had been rescued . . .
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There are no true words that could describe Eli! I do make sure to tell him that he's my ALL TIME . . .
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Cookie came to my life as a foster kitten just 18 days old, along with her brother, two sisters and mom. . . .
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Personality. Each of our fur kids has so much personality. Hayley, the dog, is super smart and good natured. . . .
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I've ALWAYS loved dogs and I was moving in with my boyfriend who was still attending school. We decided . . .
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We needed an adult cat who could play with Hershey but wasn’t too outgoing since he is still kind of a scaredy . . .
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I wanted to get a purebred German Shepherd, so I looked at the local shelter. I found an abandoned 8 month . . .
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Stretch was abandoned at the Burbank Animal shelter when he was about 1 year old. When I found him, I instantly . . .
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A lifelong UN-dog person, my conversion happened while on vacation in Italy in March 2006. I became smitten . . .
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Mere words can not describe our girl Sass. She was advertised at the SPCA as a "high energy" . . .
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Like her namesake, Ada is a very smart dog - she knows her commands in English, Japanese, and hand signals! . . .
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Bula has enriched my life in ways I never thought possible. He constantly makes me laugh, even when he's . . .
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When I first saw her picture, she looked so sad. She came from a puppy mill and had been abused. She was skittish, . . .
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I adopted Sonny a year ago in December. I frequented the shelter about five times before making the right . . .
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Max A Pooch is so special because he turns green in attitude when we go for walks - he becomes the recycled . . .
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I started walking Archer- his name at the shelter- as a volunteer in 2009. Every week, three times a week . . .
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We found Annabella when we were looking for puppies online. She had just had a litter, but when we saw her picture, . . .
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Our best pal, Tess, was at the North Central Shelter in Los Angeles, CA. She would've been put down . . .
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Sophie is one of the sweetest, most playful, impossibly tiny cats I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. . . .
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She was on Petfinder for 3 months. We were sure it was a mistake. We couldn't get our hopes up. At the MSPCA, . . .
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My kitty Pippin is the product of a foster failure not long after I started volunteering with a shelter. . . .
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Nanny had a rough start, but is all heart. She had a fresh surgical scar on her leg when I adopted her. . . .
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Otto is a big, black boy on his third chance. We fostered him at 8 months when he was rescued from a shelter. . . .
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I adopted Angel in May 2010. On 9/21/11, she woke me up in the middle of the night to go out which she doesn't . . .
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I volunteer at the shelter to help socialize cats. Echo walked right into my lap just wanting love for 20 minutes. . . .
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Bella was found in the middle of winter with terrible frostbite. She is missing the tips of her ears . . .
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As a puppy both dogs were chained outside, neglected and beaten. They were seized by animal services . . .
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When our German Shepherd Sammy died, my family was heartbroken. Soon after we got Belle, our black lab from . . .
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She is as cute, sweet, smart, and lucky as a puppy could possibly be! She was abandoned in downtown Colorado . . .
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Massi came from a shelter in Indiana where she lived for three months after being found as a stray. For a Boxer . . .
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I was in PetSmart one afternoon to buy gravel for a fishtank and when passing the cat adoption center . . .
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When I saw Trooper at the shelter, he was sad, shy and skinny. About a month after we brought him home, . . .
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When we took Dino home he was 4 months old. The day after we got him, he got sick and it turned out to be parvo. . . .
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I saw Charlie's profile on Facebook posted by a rescue group. His owner moved away but tied him outside . . .
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Toby was given up by his family at 9 weeks old, just one week after they got him. They said he was "just . . .
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I had been waiting my whole life to meet Goldeneye, and I know that though I missed her first year and a half . . .
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Badeliah is a walking miracle. I was working at a nursing home in McAllen that had a feral problem. She was named . . .
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I call Babycakes the Goodwill Ambassador and foster kitty mom at my house. I started rescuing/fostering . . .
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I've had Rosie (a white Bichon) for 5 years and Lulu (a grey Shih Tzu?) for 3. I honestly can't . . .
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Myrtle came to the shelter as a stray and from the moment she came inside, I could tell there was something . . .
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We introduced several animals to our dogs at the shelter. George was the last guy they brought out. He was a "senior" . . .
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Rosco is mellow when we are home, and playful when we are out. He is so well behaved, and rarely ever . . .
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Buns was in the shelter for years. Because some young kids shot him in the eye with a BB gun, he has a gimp . . .
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Zeus picked me. I worked at the humane society; he was brought in as a stray. There was something he saw in me and I saw in him. . . .
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With his big brown eyes and soul expressions, my son and I knew this red Sable Husky mix was going to be the next . . .
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Mocha is a pointer/heeler mix that was brought into the shelter as a puppy with her siblings. She was adopted . . .
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Murphy came into my life 10 years ago when he was just a year old. He saw me through a very physically . . .
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Weezer arrived at our house on a Friday night. She was terribly sick, hungry and thirsty. She had frozen-off . . .
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The Scoutbeast is probably the happiest creature on the planet. She's just such a good girl - always . . .
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In 2009, my husband and I went to this shelter and a dog I wanted had just been adopted to someone else. . . .
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We saw Dobby online and had to run and get her the same day. She is a Pit/Boxer mix and she has brought . . .
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Witchy is special because when we (my mom) adopted her 10 years ago after my goldfish died (I was 11). . . .
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Mazzy and Bruno go around Chicago and other cities as positive representatives for rescued pit bulls . . .
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I had lost my rescue dog Flipflop to cancer about 18 months before I decided to adopt again. When I first . . .
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Belle is the sister to our adopted Dalmatian, Oliver. She is such a loving girl and is so comforting . . .
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Hershey has redefined "shy." He is a big boy, long hair, jet black, big green eyes. The first . . .
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He had apparently been found starving, had mange, and had a hernia. I chose him out of many, many cats . . .
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I’m a dog person. Nothing against cats, it’s just that’s what we had growing up. Besides, I’m . . .
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After adopting Greta It became quite apparent she was a bit of a country girl. It took us 45 minutes . . .
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Annie was first rescued from a pet store, where she was marked “defective” and slated to be sent . . .
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Harper and Della here adopted out, returned years later, adopted out again, returned again. Senior cats . . .
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Magical loved other cats, but was terrified of people. There was a good chance she would be added to a feral . . .
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Calvin is a Katrina survivor with quite a story to tell, but he lives in the present and reminds us to do the same. . . .
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Retsina was 1.5 pounds and sick when I adopted her at four months old. She had leapt into my arms crying . . .
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Gryphon has been losing his vision since before he came into my life four years ago, but most of the many . . .
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Darby is the goofiest, funkiest dog I've ever had the pleasure to own. He's a mix of such undetermined . . .
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Alexander was born at the shelter and fostered in a private home. He has SKILLS and really knows how to play . . .
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Despite abandonment, clear signs of prior abuse, and a surprising diagnosis of early stage renal failure . . .
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On a rainy day with nothing else to do, I decided to visit our local shelter. As I was about to leave, . . .
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Sebastian was part of the Great Kitty Rescue, a monumental undertaking in which Best Friends saved more . . .
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I was originally supposed to foster for the 2008 July 4th weekend this gangly, 6-month old red Dobe, . . .
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Stanley was a foster dog - but it was clear, he was meant to be our dog. He came to us a rowdy adolescent . . .
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Sylvie is one of my 'special' kitties. A foster kitty born in my home, when she finally began . . .
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My first day of work at our local Humane Society I met Ace. He was born March 3. At 3 wks. of age his mother . . .
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I adopted Willow from a shelter in 1993, after deciding I needed a dog to help with my physical therapy . . .
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