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SPCA of Texas Love Stories
Everybody deserves to be loved, and every homeless pet deserves a loving family to call their own. Please keep reading for just a few of the thousands of love story adoptions that happen at the SPCA of Texas. We sure hope that your story will be the next one featured!
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Jack was a kitten that was found in the engine of a car. He had taken quite a ride and needed to rest and recuperate in a foster home. After weeks of caring for Jack, his foster mom took the steps to become his adoptive mom. This update letter is from Jack's mom.
“Jack is a big boy! He's about 10lbs. He's doing great though. Jack was really shell shocked when I first took him home. He was really freaked out by the car ride home, even though he was inside this time. At first, he did not want to have anything to do with me. He needed a bath from all car grease. He tried to socialize with my two other cats. They hissed at him and looked at him like he was insane whenever he walked right up to them not scared at all. He reacted by puffing up and hissing back though he was only 1/10th of their size. He hid in the closet for the first week. Every time I went home I pried him out of the closet to socialize with me. After the first week he made himself at home.
I was supposed to foster Jack until he was big enough to neuter. He became extremely attached to me during this time. He followed me around, cuddled on the couch, and slept on my head at night.
I really was going to return him, but then he got ringworm. I spoke to my foster sponsor and he gave me the option of bringing him in or treating him at home. Being treated at the shelter, he would have been in a cage quarantined until he got better. I decided that I would treat him at my house which added another two weeks to his stay.
One Saturday I was vegged out on my couch watching TV. He cuddled the whole day. He has to touch me at all times when we are on the couch together. That's when he won me over. He's a lover. He starts purring at first touch. My other cats "love" me but they aren't "in love" with me. Little Jack is in love and so am I. It's Jack’s place I just pay rent! I would tell people that want a pet to try the shelter first. The animals are so appreciative! Also, to the people who only want a pure breed from a breeder; puppy mills are raided all the time and those animals that were potentially for sale from a breeder end up for adoption at the shelter. Look at the shelter first.”
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You might remember Wills Point #139, also known as Shirley the Basset Hound. She was rescued from inhumane conditions on January 25 from a property in Van Zandt county. The SPCA was awarded custody of the 185 neglected animals and put them up for adoption on a case by case basis. Shirley was adopted on February 6. Below is a letter from her new dad.
"We have renamed Shirley to Lucy. We got her home and acclimated. Here are a couple of pictures for you. You can see from the photos that she is settling right in and making herself at home. We are so glad to have her as part of our family and I think she is glad to be here. Thank you for your efforts in rescuing her and your help in her adoption.
Lucy went to the clinic today for her 5-day follow up exam and except for a bit of an upper respiratory infection that the vet wants treated with some cough medicine and some antibiotics, she's in good shape and had already gained four pounds!"
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Eddie was found after a call came into the Perry Rescue Ambulance. This poor, neglected dog was found with burns coving the length of his back. Eddie spent time in foster care and was able to heal and recuperate from the two surgeries needed to close the wound. After being at the SPCA of Texas for more than seven months, Eddie found his forever, loving home. Below is a letter from Eddie’s new dad.
Eddie is doing fine. He has become a true member of my family. My daughter and Eddie have become so close. It seems that he is slowly adjusting to home life. Eddie has been my buddy. You all thank me for adopting him, but it’s me that should thank you all. Eddie has gone from a sullen, withdrawn and scared dog to a very happy, content dog. He now has a voice of his own. This would not have been possible without the SPCA of Texas.
Thank you all,
Eddie’s dad
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I adopted Sunny the Parakeet from your McKinney location. She is no longer an "only child." She is enjoying the company of her new roommates (Calypso (blue), Kiwi (solid green), and Sprite (green/yellow).
The staff there was very friendly and helpful. Sunny is adjusting very well to her new surroundings. She's still a little shy, but, that's to be expected after moving into a new environment. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will be able to start hand training her. I've already let her fly around in the bedroom.
Thanks again for all of your help and assistance. Sunny is the perfect addition to my home and she is well-loved!
Sunny's Mom
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My son saw a photo of George on Petfinder.com. George is an 8 year old cat given up by his family because of allergies. I went to meet this cat at the SPCA of Texas in McKinney.
George was living/hiding in a cat scratching cubby in the cat room. He seemed in shock and I could tell he was so unhappy about not being at home. I certainly couldn't leave him after meeting him! In about 24 hours it was like he had always been a member of our family! He is the sweetest cat and is loved by every member of our family.
I highly recommend taking a chance on one of the older cats. George is litter box trained, trained to use a scratching post, and he is so well-mannered! A real lovely boy who jumps in our laps for cuddles and even likes to have his tummy rubbed!
George's Mom
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Hello Friends - I am writing from my new home with Michele, my new Mom.I have been with her and her 'hairy son' Walker now for a week, and it has been great. I am finally settling in. We go on walks with Mom and Walker - I walk so nicely on a leash, she says... We have a yard with lots of things to explore and ivy where I like to lay in the cool mornings. Inside, she set up a crate for me, but I really didn't like that. So now I get to sleep in the bedroom with my brother and mom. I like that very much. It is nice and quiet here. She plays classical music and the piano and I really enjoy that. I lay under the piano where I can hear it really well.
I have already transitioned to my new organic dog food and my mom puts some flax seed oil or meal on my food to make my coat shiny. I think it is starting to work!
Mom gave me a new name that I like and am beginning to remember... It is "Lilly". In fact I have a name tag now with my name and her phone number - I guess I am going to stay for awhile. That's good, because I really like it here.
I wanted to let you know I am doing really well and thank you for taking care of me those many months in the McKinney shelter.
Sugar (aka, Lilly)
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Toby was one of many rescues that we took in earlier this year. He was part of 185 animals rescued from Van Zandt county (other animals included 65 goats, 61 dogs, 20 chickens, 13 rabbits, nine ducks, six geese, three sheep, three turkeys, two cats, and two guineas).
During his stay at the SPCA of Texas, Toby was a bit shy and timid. We hope in his new home he continues to open up. Here is a letter from Toby’s new owner.
“Toby is doing just great. Big Bird (my emu) was his pal Friday afternoon and Friday night. They stayed in the side pasture. On Saturday, Toby came over to the pasture at our house and grazed there and on the side. Saturday morning I went to the barn to feed and I kept calling him and whistling. He came to the barn, but stayed back while I feed everyone else. I put him a little feed on the ground and he came over and smelled it, but walked away. On Sunday, when I went to feed, he came up to me, but not to close. I held my bucket out for him to smell. Then he actually took a bite of food from me. I was so excited. He seems to have really settled in. Everyone seems to be getting along. Big Bird is playing the role of Big brother. Toby watches me pet big bird and the donkeys, when he sees this, he inches over closer, but not too close. I hope soon, he will let me pet him and maybe I will be able to put a bridle on him, but I know that will take time.”
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Hi! I'm Lita (formerly known as Pixie)
My mom and dad came to the SPCA last summer after their beloved 15 year old chow passed away. Their home was so empty without a canine kid, that they looked at the SPCA web-site and saw my irresistible face. After several days of thought and much discussion, they came by to meet me. I really wasn't interested in these strange folks. I just wanted to run around and sniff everywhere! Then my mom noticed that one of my eyes had a blue and white stripe, that did it!
Next thing you know I am in the car heading to my forever home. Mom and Dad were looking at my paper work and noticed that my birthday was on June 25th. That was the same day their chow went over the rainbow. It was fate!
I really didn't know my name, so Dad renamed me Lita after Lita Ford, the hottest girl in rock and roll. I try to live up to the name. But I was lonely for my canine pals at the SPCA. Every time they took me out to my favorite restaurant patios I wanted to play with the other dogs.
Mom and Dad decided to adopt me a brother to play with. His name is Tommy Lee (to keep the rock star image going) and he has only 3 legs. Now I have such a great life! Mom And Dad make sure their schedules don't interfere with ours and always puts our needs first.
My favorite things are my canine brother, restaurant patio visits, licking eveyones feet (yes I know it's gross) chasing those pesky squirrels in my back yard, and sleeping under the covers. Thank you SPCA for helping me find my family, who love me and I make them belly laugh at least once a day with my silly antics.
Love Lita & Family
David & Paula Hines
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Hi Kaycie (and our other SPCA friends),
I hope everything is going well for you at the SPCA. This is your friend Baxter. Mallee and I are still having a great time at our new place. The grass has still not run out!! Can you believe it?? I keep eating as much as I can, just in case, but so far so good.
Mallee had an operation this week. Mom said she would calm down after it, but she was only calm for about 1 day - she walked kind of stiff and she was really quiet. But she seems back to her normal self now - still as spunky as she was before. I like spunk, so I'm happy about that.
The coolest thing I wanted to tell you is that our parents gave us a room inside!! It has this door we can go in and out of that they call a "dog door", but we use it anyway. It is nice and cold in that room and there are pillows and blankets that we can lay down on! We sleep in there at night and take a few naps during the day too. I attached some pictures for you to make sure you believe me.
The other pigs are still on the other side of the fence. Mom says after Mallee heals from her surgery then we will get to meet them without the fence. I can't wait. I still get pretty excited when I see them - Mom is hoping we won't fight too much. I just hope that we still have lots of grass to eat. That's really all I care about. Mom says I'm not real good at sharing.
The only bad thing is that we don't have our pool or our mud puddle right now. :( Mom says it's temporary while Mallee heals (this surgery thing is a little more than I bargained for!). So I think we will get that back pretty soon. But since she gave us that cold room, it is okay - we use that instead for now.
We are still getting our scratches and belly rubs, and that big monster dog I told you about has calmed down and does not chase me at all when he gets to visit our yard.
Thanks again for taking care of us and finding us a home, and thanks for all the other animals you take such good care of every day. You guys are the best!!
Love,
Baxter |
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George is one of the rescued dogs from the Kaufman puppy mill bust. He was one of over 500 dogs that were taken from this puppy mill outside Dallas, TX.
He is between 3 and 5 years old. He has lived his entire life in a cage, outdoors. I chose him after visiting the SPCA of Texas during a business trip. In my part of Pennsylvania it’s impossible to find small dogs at the shelter.
I stopped at the Dallas SPCA to see if they had any Chihuahua mixes. They had tons. George was the only one that I held who cuddled and wagged his tail. Then, when the SPCA of Texas staff told me that they showed him at PetSmart and he didn’t even get one look, I knew he was the one for us.
Dave in Pennsylvania |
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On May 27, Jefferson, the male Domestic Medium Hair cat, was transferred to the SPCA of Texas from another shelter. He was hoping that this time he would find a forever home and stop living the “shelter” life. As the weeks passed, he adjusted well to his new living quarters in the McKinney cat condo. Unfortunately, Jefferson kept getting passed up by potential adopters.
One of the regular volunteers would often visit Jefferson and couldn’t understand why, after almost four months, Jefferson had not been adopted. He was loving, handsome and a completely wonderful cat.
On September 16th, that same volunteer adopted Jefferson and changed his name to Waffles. Here is a follow up email. Congratulations to Wendy and Waffles! We now know that he was waiting for those four months to be adopted by her.
“Hi! I have attached some photos of the newest member of the Witten household Waffles (formerly known as JEFFERSON). He is between 1-2 years old and was at the SPCA McKinney shelter (where I often volunteer) since May. I could not stand it any longer and adopted him this past week; I really do not understand how he was looked over all this time. He is extremely sweet and loves to be pet and stroked and has a loud purr. He is currently stationed in my guest bathroom/closet until we get through the integration process with Waggles and Wrigley. To my surprise there has been only minimal hissing so far but they have not formally met quite yet….. I am really looking forward to being able to fully get him integrated and tentatively plan to let them officially meet by next weekend. I did give him some playtime this weekend in the guest bedroom which is full of cat toys. He is still shy about leaving his little safe room but did like the window. I hope to give him some time in there each night this week to get him used to a part of the house.”
October Update:
“The integration is coming along quite nicely and ahead of schedule. Over the past 2 weeks, he has full roam of the house even while I am away at work and it has gone very smoothly. Waffles adapted really easily to the household routine/schedule and activities. He is very friendly and just loves to be near me and be petted and is getting to know his fur-sisters - Waggles & Wrigley. They do just fine in the same room and even on the bed all together but are not at the snuggling stage quite yet. If he gets too close or curious they will hiss at him.”
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I just wanted to drop a line to inform you that our adoption of Jayden (we named her Marley) was just what our family needed. 13 years ago we adopted our first family member Austin from the SPCA Dallas and it was a wonderful 13 years until he passed away from sinus cancer.
Our family was devastated and was convinced that we could never love another dog again. Family members over the year would come and visit us and say how empty our house was without Austin around. They were right. After months of searching the SPCA website daily we fell upon Marley. We had seen so many dogs that looked sweet but for some reason Marley stood out.
I ran out to the SPCA Dallas right after work and brought her home.Our home feels complete again. Our boys are soin love with her and even say Austin would have loved her too. It is strange because she almost seems to feel grateful for saving her with her cuddles and the way she looks at all of us with a wag of her tail.
I just wanted to pass this story onin hopes that not only could someone save an animals life, but that an animal could save a family from heartbreak.
Thanks,
Marley's Mom
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