Share your story about how you got your pet.

I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, and if you have ever looked at the Weather Channel and checked out our summers, you would know that it gets pretty hot out here. Well, I was walking in a park in the afternoon and it was around 100 degrees. I then noticed a baby wren on the sidewalk frying in the heat. I was horrified. I know that you are supposed to leave the birds alone, but I did not see his mother. I couldn't leave and so I just walked a few feet away and waited for the mother to return. After fifteen minutes, I couldn't bear watching him in agony. I swooped him into my shirt and carried him home. I taught "Wren" how to fly. I would put him on my arm and coax him to jump off. He would scream in terror and then flap his wings as he slowly learned how to fly. He loved hopping and following me around my house, and occasionally I let him outside. His outside visits were immediately halted when the neighborhood cat took an interest in him. Wren lived for one month. I made the mistake of going to Petco and asking them to give me bird food for Wren. When I gave him the food one night and checked on him in the morning he was struggling to breathe. His neck was almost twisted backwards, and he kept trying to scream. I didn't know what to do, and I held him for a few minutes and then he died. I loved him more than any other pet. He will always be my perfect "Wren."

That is a beautiful, but sad story. I am so glad that you were able to save the little wren, and even if she didn't live more than a month, at least she had a good life while she lived, and she didn't die out there in the heat where you found her.

I had a very similar experience, many years ago, and it was a little skunk that I found. Somehow, he had gotten into one of the big round 55 gallon drums that they set up along the road for trash, and then he couldn't get back out. I was able to tip the drum enough to reach down in there and get ahold of him, and picked him up just like I would have picked up a kitty cat. I put him in a box and took him home, and gave him some food and water. We only kept him for a littlle while, since he was actually a wild creature, and was meant to live out in the woods.
He actually let me carry him around, and pet him, but my husband did not like me having him at all, so we didn't keep him.

(03-18-2014 02:18 PM)Happyflowerlady Wrote:  That is a beautiful, but sad story. I am so glad that you were able to save the little wren, and even if she didn't live more than a month, at least she had a good life while she lived, and she didn't die out there in the heat where you found her.

I had a very similar experience, many years ago, and it was a little skunk that I found. Somehow, he had gotten into one of the big round 55 gallon drums that they set up along the road for trash, and then he couldn't get back out. I was able to tip the drum enough to reach down in there and get ahold of him, and picked him up just like I would have picked up a kitty cat. I put him in a box and took him home, and gave him some food and water. We only kept him for a littlle while, since he was actually a wild creature, and was meant to live out in the woods.
He actually let me carry him around, and pet him, but my husband did not like me having him at all, so we didn't keep him.

Thank you for sharing your story. And I appreciate you expressing your compassion for my little Wren. I had no idea a person could actually pick up a skunk. I think that skunk felt that you were a loving person trying to help and that is why you were able to pick the skunk up. Most people would not have done that. You were very brave. You saved a life. This story reminds me of the starfish story about a boy who picked up starfishes on the beach and threw them back. His grandfather asked him why he was trying to save the few that he could since he didn't think it made a difference. But the grandson was smart and replied: It makes a difference to the ones I save.

I have a friend who used to breed little yorkie/shitzu mixes. I always tried to go with her when she delivered a puppy to it's new family. I would hold them in the car while she drove. She delivered on little dog that I particularly liked to it's new mama. A week or two later she got a call that the new mama was not able to keep her. So I went along to pick her up. She could not get a refund for the puppy, and when she saw how much I loved her, she asked if it was ok if she gave the precious baby to me instead of returning her. My friend said that would be fine and I was just so happy. I have had my little girl for several years now and I love her just as much if not more than I did when she first came home with me. She is my faithful companion and she goes where ever I do in the house and sleeps either on my bed close to me or on the floor right next to it. When I am gone, she cuddles up on the pillow I use and stays there until I get hom.

I have had some dogs that were dropped off and some that I rescued. The one I loved the most was bruno, my Gladiator Doberman.
Bruno had been professionally trained as a guard dog, and when the local miss was on strike, Bruno guarded the mill. When the mill re-opened, the owners were going to have Bruno put to sleep, but one of the men who worked at the mill took him.
They had owned Bruno for about a year when I found him. It was early spring in north Idaho, and he was chained up outside in the rain and mud, and his food had been spilled into the mud, so he couldn't eat it. He was skin and bones, and you could see every vertebrae and rib. I asked the people if they would give him to me, and they said yes. I put a blanket in the back of my Mazda pickup, and put his bucket of fresh food inside my spare tire so it wouldn't spill, and that is how Bruno went home.
He smelled and looked terrible from being out in the dirt, so I put him in the bathtub and gave him a bath, hoping that he would co-operate, since he hardly knew me.
Bruno seemed to know right from the start that I loved him, and he often rode along with me when I went someplace in the pickup, and slept next to the bed at night. I had Bruno for many years, and he was a wonderful dog.

I enjoyed reading your stories! I got my cat a year ago. It was a Saturday evening and I was just about to get back home from my little town's hangout place. I see a tiny beige thingy coming my way just as I'm saying goodbye to everyone. He was incredibly cute, with that hobbling way of walking kittens have, and it came up to me meowing quietly. I wasn't sure whether I could actually bring him home, I really should have warned the person living with me beforehand, but I couldn't bring myself to leave it there, so I petted him for a while, and in the meantime I was really conflicted. After a couple of minutes I was head over heels in love with the kitten, and when I heard a stray dog bark not too far from there I decided I *had* to take him with me. I lived less than a mile away, half the distance I held him in my arms and the other half he adorably walked behind me.

When I got him home I gave him the only suitable thing I could find, turkey slices, and he hate about 50 grams of that. I very hastily made him an improvised nest with a box and a plaid blanket, and didn't go to sleep until 5AM just to play with him. He suckled on my beard for a bit, purring very loudly. The next morning I started having doubts, because thinking about it he seemed far too comfortable around humans, stray cats are rarely that trusting and friendly. So I went knocking at the buildings in that area to see if it belonged to someone, hoping in my heart no one would claim him. Thankfully he was no one's, and after one year he has a better bed than mine and is irreparably spoiled! Just to show how cute he was as a kitten, the first time my sister came over and saw him she almost started to cry.

I live in the Philippines, and I have three cats. I will share the story of how I got one of them: Chi. I found a pet welfare group on Facebook about three years ago, and the members there from all over the country would post pictures of kittens, puppies, and other strays that need to be fostered or adopted soon. Those animals are usually abandoned or abused then left for dead. I have always wanted another cat then ever since I adopted my first cat, Sookie. When one of the members asked for help on decreasing the number of cats she was fostering, I immediately replied. She posted a lot of pictures, and I instantly fell in love with Chi. On the day of our meet-up, the rain was really pouring. I walked and I got soaked. In the end, I got Chi, and rode a taxi home. The cab driver was really surprised when he found out that I traveled that far for a cat.

Chi is a pure white cat with beautiful blue eyes. Now, he is three years old, and the most spoiled cat in the world.