Here is tonight’s rescue story:
Bigger dog Onion was abandoned as a pup. He was the last of his siblings to be adopted because he was scared and neurotic after whatever happened to him before he came to Scottsville Veterinary Adoptions, near Rochester, New York (www.petadoption.cc). I saw him during one of the shelter’s adoption days at a big-box store. He was in a crate, terrified, and when I walked in, he looked over his shoulder at me, and I was smitten. He’s been with us for almost 10 years, and has done a really amazing job of stabilizing himself. He’s still terrified of thunderstorms and skateboards–of course, Dogs at Play dog daycare is right next to a skateboard shop–but he climbs trees, barks his fool head off at all parcel delivery people, and basically has a happy life as a dog stereotype.
Little guy spooning him is Tater, who came from a high-kill shelter and Ohio through http://anotherchancepetrescue.org/, also near Rochester, NY. The little guy and the big guy are totally in love, despite little guy’s piercing ‘yip,’ obsession with stealing tennis balls, and near-total breakdown due to an immune response to a silicone-coated microchip. Microchip is gone (insert jokes about saline, rather than silicone, implants here), little guy is recovered, and the humping has begun again.
Separately and together, they are marvelous, funny, sweet creatures, and the folks who do this rescue work in the Rochester area are amazing. We are forever grateful.
Remember, pets are great, but they require a lot of money, care, time, and love.
*** Update ***
I was going through old folders and found this gem:
Without a pet, you are missing out on the unconditional love they give.
Calming Influence
Good doggies!
SGEW
Ye gods, I’m gonna have to get me a dog one of these days . . .
asiangrrlMN
They are so cute. Thank you, John for doing these posts on animal rescue/adoption. It is a good thing you are doing.
Just Some Fuckhead
Megadildoes, John Cole!
debit
Such sweet puppies. It’s been ten years since our last one passed away and maybe I’m ready to get another one. But my daughter fears it will be disruptive to the three cats (one rescue, two formerly feral) who currently rule the roost.
Comrade Mary
Very few things actually make me laugh out loud when I’m sitting at the computer, but that picture of Tunch and the caption did it. And then I tried the alt text mouseover …
Damn it, Cole ^2!
Thadeus Horne
Life just ain’t true, without a dog or two. And that’s a fact, jack.
jl
The unconditional love of Tunch?
That is some kind of heavy duty Buddhist Zen koan stuff there.
Or, Tunch has been feeding Cole some powerful mind-bending catnip.
But, I believe what you say, looking at the doggy pic.
mai naem
Yeah, just don’t feed him or clean him litterbox out for a day, he’ll show you some real good unconditional luuurrvve. Also too, are you trying to get some Pet Parent of the Year Award or something?
Annie
@Comrade Mary:
I agree. That picture of Tunch is priceless. Too much Palin is reflected in his pose.
The dogs are beyond adorable. Thanks ever so much for sharing. It’s good to know the “humping” has begun again!!
Demonstrations of pure love always should be applauded…
jl
OK, I did the mouseover. That is unfair. No hate in that look. Majestic Saturnine and lofty amused contempt for his beloved (but pathetically deluded) subject.
Crashman06
Dammit John, these posts are making we want to adopt a pet so bad!
But there’s no room in this apartment, just no room!
freelancer
This picture brought a tear to my eye. Onion is a complete doppelganger for Maxie, my parents’ rescue that we got when I was 14 and who we just put down this summer.
One of these days I’m going to have to talk to the landlord about his inconsistent “no pets” policy. (My apartment is a giant house in an old historic neighborhood that has been split into 3 separate apartments. The other two tenants have an daschund that never STFU, and a beautiful black lab, respectively.)
debit
@Crashman06: Kitties don’t take up much room.
burnspbesq
Greetings from NYC, y’all.
Max
On an adoption related note…
I’m starting to think about adopting a human child. I’m the stereotypical, professional, single, 38 year old girl with no desire for a husband.
If anyone has any resources you’d care to direct me to, I’m all about it.
2liberal
Dogs give unconditional love.
Cats worship the can opener, and are always plotting to murder you while you are asleep.
You know this – stop living in denial!
asiangrrlMN
TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH! I <3 you!
@freelancer: Aw, sorry about Maxie. She’s beautiful. And yeah, talk to your landlord. That just doesn’t seem right.
@debit: Except when they are racing around the house or spread out across your lap.
Crashman06
@debit: I was this close to adopting one about six months ago. But if I do, my father will never come to visit me ever again. He’s so allergic, his throat closes up if he’s even been in the same room that a cat was once in. So it looks like kitties are probably out for me for a while.
asiangrrlMN
@Crashman06: You know, I am very allergic to cats. I got that reaction quite a bit (though not to that extreme). I now have two short-haired black cats, and I have minimal reaction to them–as long as they don’t sleep with me.
Cat Lady
Contented doggies are contented. Mmmmm, doggies.
OT, but the PBS show that was just on – “How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin” was just so unbelievably great. The premise was that more than any other force from the West, the Beatles were the most dangerous because they represented change and freedom. The stories of how the Beatles were regarded by the kids there were amazing. Soft power, indeed.
debit
@2liberal: Heh. You need to meet mine. When my daughter leaves the house, Max, our 20 year old toothless wonder, will sit on the ottoman next to the door and gravely stare at it until she comes back. Then he’ll jump on her the minute she walks in, crying and letting her know how sad it was while she was gone.
Comrade Mary
Nice Twitter update, John. I have a soft spot for cranky guys who use their cat as their avatar.
schrodinger's cat
Caption for Tunch photo:
Feed me now, pink monkeh!
Annie
@Max:
I have a friend who adopted a beautiful little boy from Russia. Just like you, she wanted a child, with no guy in the picture. It has worked, but it takes a lot of resources — several trips required….If you want to know more, let me know…
debit
@Crashman06: Oh, sad, but very understandable. I have some friends allergies and we have to meet elsewhere because of them.
What about a ferret or a rat? Or a rabbit?
Zam
Silly cat people. Those things kill me, and that is barely an exaggeration.
mai naem
@Max: I don’t claim to know much about adoption but…I don’t know if you are trying to adopt an infant or an older child but you could try foster parenting a child first or adopting a kid from foster care. They run a PSA in my state(AZ) which states that there are 10,000 kids in foster care. They also have a volunteer program in the courts where you can be an advocate for kids. I would think that would be a good way to find out stuff about the adoption process.
Amanda Hugginkiss
Wait, cats give unconditional love? Seems like mine missed that communique from the Feline Concern.
(Also, if you’re in the metro Chicago area, Sheri Berliner at Petraits.com runs a wonderful listserv to find stray and abandoned animals a home.)
Max
@Annie: I’ve heard international adoptions can be difficult.
debit
@Max: I had a friend who adopted a little girl from China, as they had a more open policy on single parents. However, my understanding is that they are scaling back (or stopping) international adoptions.
From her experience it seems like a daunting task; lots of money, time and effort. But her little girl sure seemed worth it.
I second the fostering idea. So many older kids really need a loving parent. Good luck with whatever you decide.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Disdain is not a synonym for love.
Dogs: Think you are the shit. Cats: Know they are the shit.
Annie
@Max:
Yes, you heard right. They are more difficult, but doable. Fostering is another option that is quite wonderful. It all depends on your resources, commitment, and time. Explore all options, and I am around to help in anyway I can and in whatever you choose. We can explore together.
Ben
Damn… Tunch looks like he’s getting ready to open a big can o’ whup ass on somebody.
valdivia
Tunch! He rules our universe.
Notorious P.A.T.
LOLOL! John C, what did you do to earn that baleful expression?
donnah
I freaked out when I saw that photo of Onion. He is a carbon copy of our dog, Wendy! I mean, I showed it to my kids and my husband and they all agreed that he was the spitting image of our dog.
Nice story, too. Our Wendy is a rescue dog; I just sent John Cole a picture of her with our cat. How funny!
Our Wendy was about eight weeks old when we found her at a local shelter. Our yellow Lab Spanky had died of cancer a few months earlier and I was already wishing for another companion for my daily walks. My boys were younger and they agreed that we should find a puppy.
We went to our familiar shelter where Spanky had come from, and also two of our cats. But they had no smallish dogs and we had discussed only getting a lap dog. So we went to another shelter in town.
They too were lacking small dogs. My sons and I walked cage to cage, looking hopefully for the perfect personality. Most of the dogs were so desperate for affection that they practically hurled themselves at the cage doors to greet us. But one cage held a pretty tri-color dog who looked like a beagle on stilts. My middle son approached the cage and sat down in front of it. Instead of racing over, this pretty dog walked carefully up to him, sat down, and raised one paw. We all melted and of course, she was ours. Never mind that she was bigger than we wanted. She fit right into our lives. She’s nine years old this year.
Comrade Kevin
I got my Seamus from the City of Palo Alto animal shelter when he was a kitten. He was found, along with his mother and the rest of his litter, in an abandoned house.
South of I-10
Awww cute pups and Tunch! I needed that!
@Max: I wish I could help. I have some friends here who are fostering a little 3 year old boy, I could ask her for some input, if you like.
slag
Great juxtaposition of the squishy dogs and the rather aloof Tunch.
Also, I have a formal apology to issue. The last few days when you all were whining about Obama’s “Bow Gate”, I thought your knickers were in a twist over some nonsense being spouted at places like RedState or Politico. Seriously considering the possibility that you all had jumped the shark, I really couldn’t understand why such attention was being paid to these idiotic–so obviously fringe–fauxrages. At least not until I was catching up on The Daily Show today and saw that the nonsense, which I thought could be found only in the far reaches of the intertrons, had migrated all the way to CNN and Faux News. Which means that I am an idiot and will never ever doubt you again.
At least not for the rest of the evening.
noncarborundum
@2liberal:
To a dog, you’re family.
To a cat, you’re staff.
And I say that as a confirmed cat person.
MattR
Aww, looking at those two dogs together makes me think I need to get a friend for my Ellie. Of course the first step is moving out of a 1BR condo and into a house with a yard, but seeing all these great adoption photos is getting me motivated.
Phoenix Woman
ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTUNCH!
Notorious P.A.T.
Hamster!
Martin
@Notorious P.A.T.:
We’ve had pet black widows before. They don’t take up much space and are fun to watch eat. Getting their food to them is a little cagey, however.
Martin
Everything that need be said on cats is in the Bible, Genesis 1:26:
I think it’s clear who is the supreme being in this relationship.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
Umm, John? That look on Tunch’s face is not unconditional love.
Do you sleep with a gun? ;)
ellie
Tunch looks like he wants to do something to me. Something not nice.
jim lindley
A Thousand Dollar Dog
I was living on a quarter acre of caliche in East-side San Antone when the pin oak the previous owner planted over the sewer put its roots through the pipe. Sewage backing up into your bathtub is a lousy way to start a Wednesday; almost as bad as a lump of coal in Pogo’s jelly doughnut. So I hunted up a sewer firm that made house calls, waited until the diggers showed up, and moved out smartly. After all, sewage happens.
When I came back at noon to check on the progress, one of the workmen asked, “Is that your dog?” and pointed toward my garage door. There lay the dirtiest, nastiest, mangiest looking mutt I’d ever seen. And I’m a country boy, so I’ve seen some ugly dogs. “Hell, no”, say I and I chased the animal out into the street and up the block, looked into the ditch like I had a clue what they were doing and went back to work.
Now it’s quitting time, I’m turning into the driveway, and there that damn dog is again. I get out of the car and again chase it away. Thursday morning and evening, there the dog is to be chased away again and again. This is one dumb dog. Somebody’s just not getting the hint.
It’s Friday morning and Karen and I are getting ready to go to work. “Wait, Honey, there’s something I got to talk to you about. There’s this damn dog that keeps coming up into our driveway. I keep chasing it away and it keeps coming back. I know we haven’t talked about getting a dog, but I can only be so cruel and two days is about my limit. If that dog keeps coming back, we may just have to take it.” “Well, if it does come back, then we’ll deal with that.” And she opens the door to leave. There, on the welcome mat, is the dog.
Well, obviously, we’re done for. We give the dog a bowl of water and after it drinks a bit, I get a blanket and wrap it up, because it’s FILTHY! I let the folks at work know I’ll be running late and set off for a nearby veterinarian’s office. I show up with this canine dirt-lump in a blanket, convince the receptionist to schedule the dog for an immediate physical and appointment with the co-located groomer, and leave for work.
Friday afternoon and I’m back to pick up the dog, which has cleaned up pretty good. She’s a beautiful middle-aged Cocker Spaniel, something impossible to guess just hours ago. The vet tells me that she is probably a throwaway, of which San Antonio has over a quarter-million a year.
Karen thinks the dog is beautiful and is delighted. She grew up around Labs and I around mutts (Great American breed), so the only question is what to name the dog. I hold out for “Damn Dog” and argue that the dog should be used to me calling her that by now. But we finally compromise on Missy.
Apparently, a family that moved from around the corner threw her away, as she kept trying to go up to the now empty house whenever we walked around the block. But she is now our dog – or we are her people, whichever comes first. Apparently, somebody got the hint.
She turned out to be a world-wise middle-aged lady of the streets who knew what she wanted. And what she wanted turned out to be me. Whenever Karen and I would express any affection toward one another, she would bark. She wouldn’t bark at strangers, she wouldn’t bark at doorbells, she wouldn’t bark on command. But let me hold Karen’s hand or share a kiss, and Missy went off like a machine gun, barking so rapidly and loudly that we thought she was going to tip over backwards. And forget about sitting together on the couch without a fur divider. Yes, if ever there was a jealous bitch, this was it.
Other than that, she was an agreeable person, always willing to do the absolute nothing required to “Guard the house, girl” when we went out.
Missy shared our lives in San Antonio and, when we were transferred to Atlanta, rode next to me in the pickup for the whole trip.
Oh, she grew a big bottom from having a ready meal, but she was always up for a walk. And even though there came a time when she had to “helped” a little to become a fur divider or to get to a place on the bed, she always let you know that, if she could have helped, she would have. And, of course, she was always ready to “guard the house, girl.”
In time, even your best friends get old. We took her to the vet on a regular basis, for she had the problems that you can expect to visit a lady who’d had to live a hard life on the streets, especially one who had gone through a bad carbon monoxide episode with us in San Antonio. At last, she needed major medical work. We found the money and put her in the hospital for two weeks for the surgery and recuperation. But the surgeon told us that, at best, it was a delaying action. There were other medical expenses after that and I told Karen one day that I never thought a mutt man like me would ever own a thousand dollar dog. But since my friend had appeared on my old website as “Missy the Wander Dog, goD to dyslexics everywhere”, she was obviously worth every penny.
One morning, I found her in the bathroom, where she had gone to find a cool place. She’s buried now under an oak tree near our house. Karen put a little picket fence around the grave and keeps flowers growing there. I guess if we ever sell the house, we’ll have to explain that little grave – and the little plaque I nailed to the tree, the one that reads, “Missy, our friend. She guards this house.”
Martin
@ellie:
That’s the look Dick Cheney gives you right before he shoots you in the face.
Violet
Aww…I love this series. Everyone adopting animals is doing such a good thing.
And that pic of Tunch is hilarious. What a look.
mandarama
I just have to say how wonderful the names “Onion” and “Tater” are! I can picture you having to stand outside and yell “Onnn-YUN!” over and over, heh. Awesome pupsters!
Truculent Tunch is truculent.
Allan
Onion & Tater.
That is too sweet.
They remind me of Ratzo Rizzo and Joe Buck.
Robertdsc-iphone
What was the crime for which Tunch had this mug shot taken? lol
eco2geek
@Robertdsc-iphone:
That’s the picture on his driver’s license.
OriGuy
Greg Kihn, who did “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Song”, is now a DJ on KFOX in San Jose. He does a segment once a week for the Humane Society Silicon Valley, featuring a pet in need of a home.
http://www.kfox.com/pages/petorama.html
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: You has made my wifey has a happy John. I am forever indebted to you.
Anne Laurie
@jim lindley:
Dammit, now you made me cry.
Our Missy was named Firefly by her breeder, and rechristened Flicker Bug when she came home with us a week before her first birthday. Bait & switch; we were supposed to be adopting a retired showgirl, but the breeder persuaded us to accept a ‘co-ownership’ on Bug instead, because she looked like the papillon version of Sandra Bernhardt (all mouth, legs & bad attitude) and was obviously not intended for a beauty-contest career. During the drive home, the Spousal Unit told me, “When the door opened and she leapt up into my lap, I wondered if I could stand to live with such a goofy-looking animal. But, y’know, she’s kinda growing on me; I guess I have a weakness for bitchy redheads.” Within days, she had that man wrapped around her scheming little paw — and, like Missy, she never really accepted me as a “friend”, and would move heaven & babygates to break up any PDA between us.
She was also the most medically expensive pet we’ve ever had or (I hope) will ever have. Two operations for bladder stones (one of each kind!) before her eighth birthday, despite a special diet, after which she developed an enlarged heart, which meant bi-annual ultrasound monitoring, plus a bunch of (expensive) dental work. When she was 14, they found an abdominal mass that turned out to be a lemon-sized cancerous tumor on her colon “which never happens, with dogs”, and I spent the next several months with bruises all over my left hand from hand-feeding her every couple of hours. (I’d offer a lump of the special prescription-diet kibble, she’d bite my hand, and then eat the kibble. I’d offer another kibble, she’d bite my hand… fortunately, she only had 3 teeth left, 2 of them bottom canines, so it was like being attacked by an angry staple remover — annoying, but not dangerous.)
At the end of August, Miss Buta-Hime-Sama (Most Honorable Pig Princess) had an “incident” and we rushed her to the emergency veterinary hospital five minutes away. Five days, one diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension, and several thousand dollars later, the cardiologist admitted that Flicker would never be able to survive outside of the hyperbaric isolette (which she hated; the vet tech told us “We’ve never had another dog who’s managed to defecate ON her cardiac monitor before”). So we brought her an entire double cheeseburger, and the Spousal Unit hand-fed her most of it (she bit his hand), and we both stood there stroking her and sobbing (even the tech sniffled a bit) as the doctor ran the overdose into the catheter, and She Who Must Be Obeyed fell asleep for the last time.
To die after a great meal, with the one I love best beside me and the lamentations of my enemies in my ears… that’s my definition of a Good Death. I hope I’m so lucky, when the time comes. But I did not expect to miss that nasty bitch half so much as I have, even though I love our other dogs.
Martin
@eco2geek:
Adjusted for personality
Ruckus
When they have great personalities you miss them a lot
When they are just regular pets you miss them just the same
Even if they are puppies who chew everything in sight
Or old guys who can’t remember to go out to pee
We miss our friends because they are that
They don’t ask for much, we couldn’t ask for more
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@jim lindley:
Thanks for sharing. Great story. Missy’s waiting for you at the Bridge.
My wife volunteers at a high kill shelter. Anybody who adopts an animal from such a place has done A Very Good Thing. We don’t need to euthanize, we really don’t. Everybody should read Nathan Winograd.
WereBear
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage: Seconding the Nathan Winograd. Kill shelters don’t have to be!
WereBear
My friends joke that I should just walk into the shelter and ask for the most pathetic kitten in the place, since that’s who I take home.
It’s not always that way, but the last two times, it was.
TimO
Those eyes! They remind me of these . . .
http://www.dgaquarterly.org/Portals/0/images/0803/shotRemember_Exorcist02.jpg
mandarama
@jim lindley:
This is a beautiful story.
mandarama
@Allan:
OT, but I actually haz a sad over the fact that I can’t love that movie as wholeheartedly now, because I get distracted thinking what a nutburger Jon Voight turned out to be.
Demo Woman
What great posts and thank you Jim for sharing the story about Missy.
CynDee
@schrodinger’s cat: Pricelessly on the mark.
Terri
Well, it’s not quite 9 o’clock here in Paradise, haven’t had my coffee yet, and I’m crying over these dog stories, only because I’ve been there.
Fucking hormones make me a damn mess.
Legalize
I pray every day that Mrs. Legalize never catches wind of one of these pet adoption threads. I barely have enough will power not to turn our house into Wild Kingdom. She doesn’t and doesn’t even try.
russell
For some reason I have the urge to write the word “OBEY” in all caps below Tunch’s picture.
pika
@freelancer: Wow–you’re right: Maxie and Onion look so much alike! If I could find what that combination of hound dog and shepherd is, I’d patent it. On the other hand, the lovely thing about mutts is the randomness of what the combinations have produced. I’m so sorry for your loss–having Onion get to 10 makes me even more aware every day how much his presence is a gift.
Xboxershorts
We rescued our Scotty, Penny, from Scottsville Veterinary Adoptions. She was a tough keeper, had skittish bladder, didn’t communicate well and was very fearful of kids, to point of nipping.
She’s gotten much better through concerted efforts of communicating with her, and now I no longer fear we would need to put her down. And she’s become a very loving and loyal member of the family.
And she also gets along well with our rescued cats, Mountain Girl, Valley Girl, Snot and General T’zoe’s Kitten
Always choose rescue. Unless rescue chooses you!
Xboxershorts
S’not, my cat
Xboxershorts
Let’s try this again – S’not, my cat
Liz
I never, ever tire of these stories. As the proud owner of two rescues, I can completely relate. Thanks for posting.
Xboxershorts
never mind
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n261/dtomkinson/snot-my-cat.jpg
They Live By Night
Best picture of Tunch evah!
Gus
@jim lindley:
I’m tearing up here. Let me ask you long-time dog owners who have lost your best friends, do you ever get over it? I’m a first time dog owner who is amazed at how much I love my mutts. One of them had a cancer scare a couple years ago, and I was faced with the possibility of saying good-bye. He recovered, but I now know how painful it’s going to be when his time comes. I don’t know if I’ll want to face that again, but at the same time, I can’t imagine not having a dog.
Gus
@jim lindley:
I’m tearing up here. Let me ask you long-time dog owners who have lost your best friends, do you ever get over it? I’m a first time dog owner who is amazed at how much I love my mutts. One of them had a cancer scare a couple years ago, and I was faced with the possibility of saying good-bye. He recovered, but I now know how painful it’s going to be when his time comes. I don’t know if I’ll want to face that again, but at the same time, I can’t imagine not having a dog.
asiangrrlMN
@jim lindley: What a beautiful post. I’m misty-eyed now. I hope you sent this to Cole. What a great tribute to your loving friend, Missy. Condolences to you and your family.
@Anne Laurie: Oh, Anne Laurie, you have added to the tears this morning. Sometimes, it’s the bitchy ones we miss the most. Condolences to you and your family as well.
Cole, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you are a good man.
Jackie
@Gus: It is better to have loved and lost etc. You always grieve when you lose someone you love. You can choose a sterile, isolated life or you can love and accept the cost. They live on in your memories and the lessons they teach you help you love the next one better. Our metaphoical Hearts really can heal and function better with a little scar tissue. My six ghost dogs and one ghost cat were worth every tear I cried.
despues76
My two dogs are bankrupting me. I am forced to live in an apartment that I can scarcely afford because they accept my dogs. They will only eat wet food, organic of course. I don’t ever get to go away, I don’t go out for drinks after work, if I’m out tearing it up I always have to cut things short and return home to walk the dogs
They are worth every dollar and inconvenience. I wuv them
Laura Clawson
@Gus The dog I grew up with died in 1993 and I still sometimes dream about him. In serious contention for the greatest regret of my life is that he died alone at the vet, because we just didn’t know it was that serious. We thought he’d be coming home later in the afternoon so we didn’t visit that morning and instead he must have died wondering why we’d left him. It destroys me to think about it.
justcorbly
>>Without a pet, you are missing out on the unconditional love they give.
Yes, I see the love radiating from Tunch in that pic.
Rob
>>Without a pet, you are missing out on the unconditional love they give.
I saw that too when I got my first pup. It’s amazing how dedicated and loyal they are compared to some humans that will backstab you in a heartbeat.