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Adoption Stories
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La Encantada A Success
by Patrick, Tucson, AZ
(posted October 3, 2009)
First, many thanks to my volunteers of today -- you all did a marvelous sales job. Thanks to Michelle and Jenny for their dedication and choices. It was a beautiful day, the dogs all had a great outing with lots of attention and, best of all --
TEN out of eleven got new homes with happy owners. I wish I had a real photographer there to capture the moments; there were quite a few. It was nice to be so noticed and for all the dogs to interact with so many friends. There was a big "event" going on which generated traffic but we feel we'll be successful anyway as many asked when we would be back with dogs so it will be a monthly stop for the next few months; I believe the next one will be November 7.
What did we have today? Two adorable 5 week old Chihuahua brothers, two aussie puppies, a seven month old beautiful aussie, an older curly retriever mix, two other puppies, a bichon-poodle mix who had been brought in a couple days earlier by his family was very timid at first but was adopted by an older lady who hasn't had a dog for 12 years, a long haired chihuahua, an older aussie mix. The last adoption actually took place at the shelter after Michelle brought the truck back. The news is so good, I just wanted to share it with all of you. This week, we had 12 adoptions at the kennels, Michelle had 5 at PetSmart and with our 10, that makes a total of 27; I also understand there were 17 adopted today at the shelter! What a week. Here's a couple of candid shots:
 Meet Darwin
by Anne, Tucson, AZ
(posted August 19, 2009)
Here are pictures of a very happy Darwin. I adopted him on Wednesday. He is the greatest, sweetest puppy ever! Just thought you might appreciate a success story.
Anne
Meet Sterling the Cat
by Karen, Marana, AZ
(posted August 3, 2009)
I am a volunteer for the Pima Animal Care Center and had offered my assistance during their adoption event “Breakfast with the PACC” held during the summer of 2007. I was helping adopt out kitties.
In the cat room, in one of the bottom cages were 3 tiny kittens-two orange tabbies, and one tiny ball of gray fur. Since this gray kitten seemed so small, one of the other volunteers weighed him and found that he was only 1 lb. 3 ounces. He was too little to be put up for adoption, as kittens must weigh a minimum of 2 lbs. I felt bad for the little guy, because we were busy and so many people would have loved to adopt him that day, but he was underweight and thus not available.
Throughout the busy day, I kept my eye on him. He kept meowing and meowing, constantly climbing up the front bars of the cage door and promptly plopping into his water bowl, getting completely soaked. More than once I had to take him out of his cage and dry him off.
Towards the end of the day, I decided to offer to foster him and get him up to 2 lbs. so he could come back to the shelter and be adopted. At the end of the day, we were off to our house, a house that already had 4 cats.
I set him up in a separate room with a nice roomy cage to sleep in at night with toys and water. I also started feeding him wet kitten food. It seemed like he was always hungry! For some strange anatomical reason, (that he has now grown out of) his nose seemed to get in the way of the food, so that he always had this ring of dried food around his nose. I t was hard to tell where his nose began and where it ended. He was happy to just play by himself, while our other cats sniffed under the door to his room. Since he was always hungry and bit at anything that got close to his face (including toes, heels, and fingers!) I nicknamed him “Jaws.”
When the time came to take him back to the shelter, I just couldn’t do it. He was too sweet. I was concerned that he might get sick while there or not get adopted. He was too precious for me to take that chance. I slyly asked my husband to name him (of course you know, once they have a name, they are yours) and my husband named him “Sterling.” It was hard to tell what color his eyes would be or what he would look like once he grew up. At that point, I introduced him to the rest of our cats, and he began exploring the house. At first he was too small to jump up onto our bed at night, but once he got big enough, he would jump up, climb onto my pillow, and sleep right across my neck, purring constantly. I was very homesick having just moved here from Albuquerque, NM, and little Sterling, stretched out across my neck, seemed like he was purring to comfort me.
Sterling has grown into a gorgeous gray Maine Coon mix, with creamy jade green eyes. His eyes are so vividly green that they look like they are lit from within. He has a sweet and quiet personality. Instead of meowing he chirps...huffs and puffs, and makes little quizzical sounds, like the sound of a question mark...hmmm? With tufts of fur between his toes, and pantaloons on his behind, he gallops around the house like a horse, with his thick, ostrich plume tail flowing behind him.
I was worried about how Sterling would fit in with our other cats, but he quickly found his place. Jasper, our 10 year old boy, became his wrestling buddy and his big brother to follow around the house and bother incessantly. Sterling learned to stay away from Sasha, our 10 year old Himalayan, after she put him in a head lock when he got too close to her. He does like to chase Natalie and Ceylon, (our other 2 females), but he is not rough, he just wants to play. He has that kitten energy and to him everything is a toy.
I am so glad that my husband and I decided to keep him. It was the right decision. Today, I could not imagine life without him. He greets us at the front door, and loves to be petted. He meows only if he is REALLY hungry, or has found a bug, which he loves to play with. He has grown from a scrawny little kitten into a handsome and strong gray Maine Coon. I have heard Maine Coons called “gentle giants” and that is what our Sterling has grown into.
Karen, Marana, AZ
Paw Prints from a Stray
by Taylor
(posted July 30, 2009)
The day was June 21st, the temperature 102 and I hadn’t had anything to eat in about two days and boy, was I thirsty. I was out playing in traffic on 22nd street dodging cars when I was approached by a guy in a uniform. He called me over and when I came up to him, he slipped a leash over my head and we walked to his truck. Being a friendly kind of dog I went along with him. He put me into my very own air conditioned kennel and gave me a drink.
We went for a little ride and the next thing I knew I was at a place called Pima Animal Care Center. I met another nice person who looked at me and told me what a good boy I was and how they were going to help me find a new home. It wasn’t long when I was given a shot (ouch). The nice people said it was to keep me from getting distemper and something else called parvo. I never heard of these diseases, but everyone was so nice about it that I didn’t mind at all. I later learned that if I had been a puppy who was less than six months old, I would have been vaccinated for kennel cough too, good thing I am over two! Next I was put into a kennel and placed on a three day hold before I could be adopted. This gave my owners a chance to come and pick me up. If I had a dog tag or a microchip the people at Pima Animal Care Center would call my owner and tell them I am here and they would have seven days to pick me up.
Living on the streets I don’t remember who my owners were and I had become used to hardship. I couldn’t always find food or water and usually I slept under a porch or on the ground near a bush or tree. I’m a pretty good dog, I like people and I like walking on a leash.
Being at the Center wasn’t so bad, I was in an air conditioned room, I had water and real dog food every day. As the days went by I would get some kennel mates, then they would be adopted and I’d be alone again. I would go on daily walks with these nice people called volunteers and do a little socializing. Everyday people would come and look into my kennel, sometimes they would say things like “that is one ugly dog” or “look at this one, I wonder what kind of dog he is?” Then one day there was this guy and he didn’t say anything, he just looked at me and laughed. I jumped up and walked over and licked his hand. A few days later he brought his family to see me and we took a walk. They said it was a special day called the 4th of July. I knew it was special because I got to meet the nice man’s family and they were wonderful, especially the lady. The young boy slipped me some of his hamburger when no one was looking.
A couple days after their visit, I was taken to a room that had lots of shiny tables. The next thing I know I woke up with this ridiculous white cone around my head and I realized that I had been neutered. I later learned that now I have a microchip that has the name of my new family to help them find me just in case we get separated. And then I got one more shot, can you believe it? This one is called a rabies vaccination; I hope this is the last one for awhile. After all this special attention the nice man picked me up and took me to my new home with his family.
The tough days are behind me now, I am one happy dog! I have a bed just for me and I get dog food everyday and sometimes it is mixed with steak. My family is trying to help me gain some weight so I am not so skinny. Yup, I am one happy dog.
My family has three other dogs that I get to play with and I am learning how to swim in the pool. There is this wonderful place called a kitchen and every now and again something falls my way. I am enjoying life and my days on the street are fading fast, I am safe and loved very much.
My story has a happy ending; I have a loving family and a home. Every year over 21,000 cats and dogs come to the Pima Animal Care Center. Some are pets who are reunited with their owners, some have lived on the street too long and have forgotten how to be nice and some, like me, are just waiting for a good home. Right now there are about 300 adoptable pets ready and waiting for a new family to come and adopt them. Please consider making a difference in their lives and visit the Pima Animal Care Center at 4000 N. Silverbell Road. These pets just want to be loved and are ready to be a friend for life.
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