Between us, my son and I have 7 cats and 2 dogs. A couple of them were even planned! Sadly, most of them are rescues. People just threw them away. For the past 4 years, we have adopted one cat per year. There's Tigger, someone threw him away near the school I was working at. He was a frantic 6 month old when I took him home, he just couldn't understand where his home had gone. He is the biggest cat imaginable now and still has lots of Issues. I think they are what make him so lovable. Next came Boo, she is the smallest cat I've ever had. She was living by the dumpster of another school. At first we didn't know what color she was because she was black but her fur was all brownish at the ends. That was the result of extreme malnutrition. Now she is glossy, gleaming black. Then came Bootsie, a long-haired gray and white kitty rescued by a friend from an abusive home where she was in danger of being killed. Because of the abuse, she only wants to be held when its her idea but she is a resilient, feisty girl.
The last cat rescued is Spook, who also goes by the nickname of the Egyptian Queen. I am proud to say that my 18 year old son is the person who rescued her. He picked her up after people in a brand-new car threw her away on the road, right in front of him. 7 cats in 2 houses are alot but even if we could, we wouldn't change a thing or dream about not having any of them. Life would be empty without them. While Alex's dog was a planned puppy, mine was not, not exactly. My farm dog passed away from old age this past summer and I hadn't planned on getting another dog until winter was past. During Christmas break I went websurfing at all the humane society pages. When I saw Trixie's face - that was all she wrote. Two days later, she came home with me. She is a pit bull/beagle mix. And the cats already have her trained - cats rule!
All of our treasures have been thrown away by those too blind to see how precious they are. We love them so much that all of them have, or will be spayed or neutered. We urge everyone who has a pet to have them spayed or neutered so there will be no more throw-aways.

That happens to us alot here, we are out in the county and people drop off cats, dogs all the time. We have kept some of them and they have been the sweetest ones. It really irritates me to see that happen.

Dave and I have both been blessed, animals that need our help find us! This has been happening to both of us all of our lives! We have two cats, Kaitlin who is a six month old black cuddlebug and Kisses who is a two year old black and grey striped nut job(she actually reached out of her cage and grabbed Dave's arm), they are both from the humane society. We also have a 80 lbs baby named Thor. Dave found him wandering around a thorntons parking lot. Thor is obviously a pitbull mix and someone had already called animal control (the humane society usually puts pitbulls down here), so Dave brought him home. He is the biggest, gentlest baby ever, I can't believe that nobody missed him! We called the humane society to see if anyone reported him missing , but nobody had! All of my best pets have been rescues, somehow not only do they seem to know what we have done for them, but I find that more than not, I feel like they are specific gifts from God! I just don't understand how someone could just leave a pet to fend for themselves! I also don't understand how most people don't even think about all the suffering animals on a daily basis! Anyway, I thank God that he gave me the blessing of caring so much about animals.
Bev