Ireland

Ireland

Sunday, January 27, 2013

To the Rescue!!

Maricopa County Animal care center in Phoenix, Arizona takes in 46,000 dogs and cats a year.
Today, they have one less dog to worry about because my daughter Keely, who lives in Phoenix, just entered the rewarding and time consuming world of pet ownership.
 Hello Luca!
This little guy is almost 3 years old and the reports are in, he is a very well behaved dog and already house broken. Obviously this guy had previous owners, but for whatever reason he found himself homeless.
It was his lucky day when Keely walked into his world because he is surely being spoiled rotten as we speak. Keely told me that when Luca is sleeping with her in bed, he routinely wakes her up by kissing her face. I told her he is just thanking her for rescuing him from an unknown fate. He's sleeping on her comforter for heavens sake, of course he's grateful.

 Keely, as well as all my kids have been surrounded their whole life by dogs and cats of all shapes and sizes, so it does not surprise me that she, now out on her own, has opted to rescue a dog. It runs in the family.

Bryn, my middle daughter didn't wait long in adopting kittens after she got married. Penny, on the right was rescued at an Amish farm that had more kitties than fresh chicken eggs. Lola, on the left, was adopted from a friend of a friend.

 The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, they say, as they are just following in the footsteps of their Mother.
Below is some of the handy work of my wife.
Ginger, who is about 199 years old now, is on the downswing of a very happy and comfortable life, and is paying us back now for the years of joy she gave us by barking for us every day, every minute, the second you step out of her sight. She is a sweetheart.

 Rosy, was brought home by my middle daughter a few years ago with the disclaimer that when she moved out, Rosy would be going with her. My daughter has moved out.
 Take a guess where Rosy is?
 A friendlier dog you will not meet and if eating a sports bra is considered normal, then she is a very normal little dog.

Huck, well other than being shot with a .22 and hobbling home on one leg like a cop in a CSI episode, he has and still leads a very good life. He has a fake elbow and sees a chiropractor on a regular basis.
I'm not making this up.


 Oh, this one isn't mine.



Samantha, or Sammy. She is the one on the receiving end of this public display of affection.
I know, it's a little creepy.


Tiggy. He has no physical ailments but is a bit "touched" in the head sometimes.
.
 When he wants to go outside and no one has noticed him standing quietly by the door, he feels it is appropriate to hop up on the coffee table and begin sliding books, nicknacks and TV remotes to the floor, which  prompts the closest human to fly up from their chair like they are on fire to let this little bugger out.


This is a better picture of Sammy, the only one of the group who doesn't have some kind of neurological or physical impairment. She's just perfect, sits around looking really cool.

Next is Izzy. As you can tell, Izzy was almost blind. In the picture below, I'm pretty sure he thinks that visitor eating out of his food bowl is one of the other family cats.
Izzy, a diabetic, was a recent inductee into the Finucane pet cemetery located in the back 40.


And that brings me to this thing.
Katrina.
The queen of the fleet,
the king of the mountain,
easily
the most spoiled creature in the world
 with a heart beat.

 With only one eye, she fits right in with the rest of the lovable misfits that take up space in my house.
Of all the rescues we have had over the years, my wife claims that this one, "Kit", wanted to die. Nothing the vet recommended worked in improving Kit's very sad physical condition, so my wife spent days/weeks straddling her and shooting egg whites down her throat with a syringe.  As you can see, she has been doing alright.


No, we do not let the animals in the sink 
or on the stove.
And no, we don't allow the cats
to eat my stuffed shells.

Kit has a nick name
used by many in my family from time to time.
It sounds like itch but begins with a B.

So that's the short version of our story with rescues.

Coincidentally, yesterday my wife
submitted another article as a guest blogger to
The Flaming Vegan.
She wrote about animal rescue.

For her take on the subject
click HERE.

She's a much better writer than me.

8 comments:

Jerral Miles said...

All I can say is that if reincarnation is a possibility and I might come back as a cat or a dog, I want to be adopted by your family... any one or all of you.

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Congratulations to Luca and Keely! On the bed already... pfft.

Those who have found their way into your life are lucky ducks for sure. I love that you've rescued some with issues... so many steer away from the dogs we have up for adoption with the slightest little affliction. And yet, we'll get a dog like Fred who was an elderly terrier, uglier than sin, with a milky clouded eye that made him look evil.. and an overbite!!... I thought there was no way he was getting a home.. and lo and behold.. and older gentleman who lives by the shore thought he was the cats meow.

Loved this post, Mark..thanks for sharing :-)

Sueann said...

A wonderful, eclectic collection of furry creatures. A well rounded family for sure
Hugs

SueAnn

Cait Throop said...

Sounds like my house but more!!! They are very lucky pets, that's for sure!

beth said...

wow, you live in a magnificent zoo with the best rescue animals ever !!

and keely, well i love what she's done for luca !!

our daughter just adopted another rescue cat on saturday. olive is a four year old amazing female cat who acts like a dog and comes when you call her, and wants nothing more than to sit in you lap.

rescue pets are amazing !!

Wayne said...

That's quite a family, grandpa! It's great to know there are people who will love and care for these animals.

Donna said...

WOW - What a menagerie! How lucky for all your 4 legged companions that you found each other.

bon bon said...

oh, bless your whole family for taking in these sweet babies! i think if i won the lottery i'd end up with a dozen more myself (but playing the lottery would help).

growing up, my grandparents owned a farm next door and i can't begin to count the amount of creatures people would dump at their door. and even though they barely kept themselves fed, they never turned any away. they'd supplement the dog- and cat food with day old bread and fresh cream from the milk house. there were even a few wild skunks that took to pretending they were cats! can't say i blame them. ;)