Making Families, One Pet at a Time

This is the time of year when many of our adopters reach out to us to tell us stories about their Pets Lifeline cat or dog. Many of these stories are funny, some are wrenching and others are bittersweet. All of them, however, remind us why we are here. We're here to help an animal ride out a bumpy time in his life until he can become part of a real family.

Remember Blue?

Blue was a young, beautiful purebred Black Lab that was picked up as a stray in Sonoma Valley. We expected his owners to come looking for him and reclaim him in short order, because he was such a beautiful young dog. Sadly, no one did.

After a few days at the shelter it became clear that Blue was victim of a subtle form of neglect that is seen in too many young animals. He was simply an untrained adolescent that had not been exposed to the world. Now he was getting big, hard to handle and nervous when out and about.

Dedicated volunteer handlers worked with him to help him gain confidence and experience. Adoption volunteers and staff worked hard to find an adopter for him. Months passed and no one took him. We stepped up our efforts to get him out there and known and finally, one day in October, a wonderful couple came all the way from Walnut Grove, near Monterey, to meet Blue.

Judi and Greg instantly fell in love with Blue and adopted him. Just a short while later, we received a package in the mail. The package contained photos of Blue swimming in the pool, camping, playing with his canine sister, practicing his obedience moves and generally having a blast! Also in the package was a letter from his adopters and a letter from Blue himself. Here is some of what his loving family wrote:

~"Blue has adjusted and adapted to us and our home so well. He is smart, friendly, curious and such a goof at times!"

~"He has totally mellowed out and he minds wonderfully."

~"He has some really funny things that he does...like when he's sprawled out on the kitchen floor and you go to step over him, he grabs your ankles with his front paws and wants you to rub his tummy!"

~"We love Blue to death and we are so happy that he is part of our family!"

Blue certainly looks happy about this happy ending!

Macy's in San Francisco has nothing on us!

We are happy to report that 5 out of 13 cats have been adopted into families from the Shelter on the Square Adoption Center. One terrific story is about my friend Paloma. Paloma, an adult princess of a female cat, had been at the shelter for more than a year. She decided to try her luck in the well-trafficked downtown location of the Shelter on the Square. In fact, Paloma went to a special window display in the Index-Tribune offices and, to make sure she was noticed, she donned a festive clown collar.

Well noticed she was! An observant local child saw her in the window wearing the clown collar and went home to send an email to local celebrity, "Popo the Clown." She wrote to Popo that she had seen "Popo the Cat" downtown. Popo the Clown was so touched by the message that she came to meet Paloma (aka Popo the Cat) and the rest is history! Congratulations to you both!