Post your story of how you came to adopt your furbaby did you go to a shelter? Pick up a stray? Get one from someone moving or getting rid of their pet? what made you decide to adopt? Let's hear those inspirational stories!

i could tell my story over and over! :D

our eventual dogs (duke and bella) were strays. they and been living on the streets of our neighborhood for at least three weeks (we noticed them two different times within a three-week span before we were able to catch them), surviving through cold, thunder and lightning and scavenging for food through garbage. we were able to catch them because bella was too weak and couldn't run away from us. once she was put in the truck duke whimpered and eventually hopped in after her (we wouldn't have gotten him otherwise). they were covered in fleas and ticks, had their collars starting to sink into their skin, had matted and dirty hair, were scared and were noticeably hungry. it took awhile to rid them of the fleas and ticks and bath and feed them, but you could tell right away how grateful and happier they were.

so... we don't know know their age (we celebrate their rescue day every year), what breeds they have or anything about them before we rescued them, and it took a while for duke to come out of shell (he's was a very scared/shy dog... we even think he was abused), but they are such awesome dogs and have made our lives so much happier/better.

Both of my pets have a story!

Schoasti was my college baby and I got him in 2002.  I had been thinking about getting a cat, and my roommate and I were at Petsmart one day buying supplies for her cat.  She had wandered off and was snooping in the adoption center, and came running back and said ' you HAVE to see this cat'

I fell in love immediately.  There was this tiny, scrawny, scrappy looking orange kitten with the most beautiful green eyes.

The staff had called him Jackson and cried when I took him home because they had grown very attatched to him.  He had come from a house with 50 cats, and was the ONLY one of his litter to survive.  He had been abused, starved, and weaned at only 3 weeks old.  He had parasites, lung problems, and psychological problems. . .and I had to have him! 

He is really wierd about food, doesn't clean himself well, and has a crooked tail from it being broken when he was a kitten.  On the other hand, he is the sweetest most loving, tolerant cat you'll ever meet.

And Chloe. . .well. . .we have to go back.  I had this old, overweight beagle named 'Bagel' that was a stray I had found about 8 years later.  Nobody claimed her and she became my dog!

My boyfriend at the time had gone to my house while I was away, & left the gate open.  Bagel got out, and we found what was left of her a few hours later on a busy highway.

Well, I was looking into adopting a greyhound when I came home to a small brown dog with a big bow around her head.  He had gone to several shelters trying to find me a puppy, when he talked to his sister she had JUST been to a yardsale and bought this little brown puppy out of a cardboard box.  She gave him the puppy to give to me. . .and I've had her for 6 years now.

mountainbride-- chloe is soooo cute.  i feel like that picture pretty much sums her up and i haven't even met her ;)

these storys are heartwarming!

Luna's full story...

Luna was found my Animal Control on June 23, 2009.  She was roaming the streets, evidently abandonded by her owner, scrounging for food and covered in fleas.  She was otherwise healthy though, and Animal Control performed a stress test on her to see how she was doing, and the person performing the test wrote in the marigin, "Great dog!"  She was so sweet to anyone helping her.

She was then moved to the Humane Society and stayed there until September 5, the day we adopted her.  That's over 2 months.  This is a long time to be in the shelter, and she was getting close to her euthanization date. 

Obviously, the facility works on donations, so it's not the best in the world.  She was outside in a cage most of the time, but everyone there loved her.  Because she is 2 years old, most people wouldn't adopt her--as was true when we were there, most people want puppies.

The shelter told us that she had been "adopted" several times, but the people never showed up to pick her up.  It was fate, though.  The day we walked in, and when we first met Luna we KNEW within minutes she was our dog. 

We first saw her in the park on her walk with a volunteer.  She was rolling around in the grass, and loved to be petted.  Her calm energy made us fall in love right away...she never barked at the other dogs and she loved people.  And those brown eyes make you melt.  How COULD we say no?

The shelter worked with us to let us take her home THAT day....she had been there so long, they were so happy to find such eager owners.

We've had Luna for 2 days now.  She is getting to know our routine, and it's the best decision we ever made.  It gets me a little teary thinking that the day we were getting married, she was sitting in the shelter, just waiting for us to come.

Here is my baby--

She's a goof and sits on the arm of the couch all the time!

KB I love your story!  Luna looks like such an amazing dog, I'm so glad PW was able to help you convice hubby because it was MEANT to be! 

I get so sad knowing that people only want puppies in the shelter :(

All three of our cats have been adopted from the humane society. My DH already had three when I moved in...one he had adopted as a ten-month-old "kitten" about a year before the other two, who were brothers and just babies. They were all around 3-5 years when I moved in.

Then poor Gomez (brother of Igor) got hit by a car. So a few weeks later, we were visiting the cats at the humane society just for fun, and I fell in love with Maggie, who was a stray/escape and obviously very accustomed to people. She sat on my lap for a whole half hour, purring and licking my hand, and I knew she had to come home with us. I found out later that she had been there almost 6 months and no one wanted her!

Now not only do we have the three cats, we also foster litter after litter of kittens for the humane society as well. We have 6 cats total at the moment :)

all these are wonderful there's a new group for adoptive furmommies everyone should go check it out and join.

http://www.projectwedding.com/groups/boards/adoptive-furmommies

MB I didn't know you had an orange cat too!!! 

Gabby:  I went to a shelter in Kansas City, MO with some friends who were looking for a cat.  I didn't think I wanted one.  I fell in love with a little orange kitten but unfortunately my friend saw her first.  (Actually we thought she was a boy bc they mis-labeled her.  Her name at that time was Snoopers)  :)  My friend put her name on the adoption list and then her husband told her they couldn't get another cat so I just HAD to go get her myself.  The shelter called me after they did the neuter operation and said "Um, Snoopers is actually a girl...do you still want her?"  I was like, "of course!"  It was just my and Gabby (I changed her name) for years and I loved it.  Girl roommates and best friends.  Now she's 5 and she adores my husband and his dog and my later addition, Barney.

I adopted Barney from the pound in 2006.  He was a little black puppy and I fell in love with him.  They told me the black doggies are always the last to get adopted and my heart melted.  I now have such a soft spot for black dogs...they're so cute!  And my Barns is sooo sweet.  He and Gabby love each other!

Awww Wildfire I LOVE orange cats  :) :) :)  Schoasti is crayon orange some days.

And your 'puppy' looks so sweet.  I didn't know that about black dogs in shelters :(

We just got our new little guy yesterday! He is a 3 1/2yr old Mini Pinscher weighing in at 12lbs names Jinx. We got him for a friend of ours brother. They just had a bvaby and are expecting another so they never spent any time with him and always kept him locked in the crate .