We have Joe, age 4 (there’s no dramatic rescue story to tell), who we adopted as a puppy, for our eldest dog, Jeff. Jeff was 8 when we adopted him, after his original family took him to their vet to have him killed because they were moving (to this day, their reasoning still infuriates me). Jeff lived 4 great years with us, and passed last year from cancer.

Annabelle was found at a gas station outside of Las Vegas by my husband on his drive back from L.A. on a cold October night nearly 5 years ago. The gas station employees said she’d been there for 2 weeks (she’d been nursing, but my husband didn’t find her babies, and I don’t want to think about what had happened to them), one ear torn, and alone and starving but nobody seemed to care. My husband called me to ask if there were any shelters between his location and Las Vegas, to which I replied, “None that are open this late. Just load her up in the car and bring her to the house.”

After being quarantined in our garage and then given a vet check-up, she was allowed into our home, where she and Joe quickly became inseparable. My husband had been explicit with his instructions: “You are to take the dog, and find her a home.” Uh, huh, sure honey.

We adore our dogs, and they complete our family,
which also includes 4 cats, and at any given time, between 2 and 4 foster kittens (I foster for a goup called Homeward Bound Cat Adoptions here in Vegas).

The love of animals is God’s greatest gift!

Donielle from NV