Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My

No, not really...just dogs and cats and birds and rodents. I love animals. I love animals of all kinds. I think that is something my dad passed on to me. He was so good with animals. Even wild animals knew he was their friend. I am the first to admit that pets are a lot of work, but the amount of joy they bring into our lives makes it so worth it.

Over the years we have had many, many pets.....Itchy and Scratchy (science experiment mice that were only supposed to live a short time, and I think set a new life expectancy record for rodents), Becky the Guinea Pig, Perky the hamster, Rick and AJ the finches and Igna the parakeet. Then we also had Duke, Sampson, Heidi, Sarah, Sam and currently Sparky and Wrigley our dogs. Add to that Ty, Shadow, Katie, Abby, Spooky and Boo....our cats. Throw in Max the rabbit and a school of goldfish and I think that wraps it up! Like I said, I love animals. I know I will never be without pets.

Right now we just have our two dogs. We recently lost the last of our kitties....and I think we will wait until spring before acquiring another one. When it comes to our dogs and cats, most of them have been strays or came from a shelter. Our puppy as I still call her even though she is over a year, came from Rover Rescue in Aurora, Illinois. We had one dog and two cats at the time and I just thought that maybe we needed another dog. Our toy fox terrier was 10 years old and I thought a playmate might be just the thing for her.

I started out on Petfinder.com.....oh, talk about a website that can rip your heart out. Just dog after dog after dog....all needing homes. I just wanted to take them all. We were looking for a border collie, but the closest ones were out in Ohio. Now I would have hopped in the car and driven there to get one of them, but Mr. "I'm not driving to Ohio for a dog" said "No".

So, I just kept printing out puppy pictures off the website and leaving them on the kitchen table. I knew he was peeking at them. As soon as I heard him say, "This one is cute." I was on the phone making arrangements to go look at her. Rover Rescue gets most of their puppies from a shelter in southern Indiana. They have so many down there that they euthanize them very quickly. Rover Rescue gets a description and a picture of the puppies and dogs that are available and they decide which ones they think they will be able to adopt out. Then someone in Indiana drives those dogs north, and someone from Aurora starts driving south. They meet somewhere and the exchange is made. Then the puppies and dogs get placed in wonderful foster homes in the Aurora area and their info gets posted on the web.

That is how we found little Annabell. We went out to Auora that day to see her at her foster home. She was so cute...but aren't they all? We watched her interact with the foster family's dogs and kids and of course we held her and layed on the floor and played with her.

After a while, Mr. "I don't know if I want another dog", said "Done deal", and that was it. We weren't able to bring her home yet, because they do spay and neuter all of the adopted pets. The wait was agonizing, but we kept in touch with the foster family. We changed her name to Wrigley (as in field)....and found out that the foster mom broke the rules and let her sleep in bed with her. That didn't bother me because contrary to what Mr. "the puppy is NOT sleeping in our bed" said....I knew she would be.

Right now the shelters are overflowing with dogs and cats that need to be adopted. People that have lost their jobs and their homes are giving up their precious pets at a very high rate. So, if you were thinking about getting a new pet for Christmas, perhaps you can go to Petfinder.com and find a wonderful dog or cat in your own area to adopt. Even if you weren't planning on getting one...if you have the room and the time and the love in your heart....maybe a pet would be a great thing for you.

We have talked about maybe getting another dog some time and I know we will get another cat....in fact, I was just peeking at Petfinder.com myself....just don't tell Mr. "we don't need a kitten right now".