Welcome to Sphynxlair! Connect with Sphynx owners & enthusiasts around the world!

Stories of Rescue and Hope

Gadzukz

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
1,753
Points
0
The thread about Annabelle the poodle from Luvmysphynx, got me thinking. I know there are many similar stories here and wanted to make a "Chicken Soup" thread to share them in. Here is one of mine:

Meet Taylor Mae, This little girl was orphaned at birth. Her human family tried to bottle raise her, they brought her in the house and she slept on the couch. They had good intentions but no experience, and little financial resources, so no vet care was given. By the time she was given to me, I truly did not think she would live through the night. She was so malnourished that her teeth could be seen through her cheeks. She had no color as you can see, and her legs were bowed from simply trying to stand. The second pics show her after a mere 6 months of good food, health care and other horses to socialize with! Unfortunately her growth was permanantly stunted, however her new forever home is with a little girl who dotes on her, and even walks her in parades!

img011.jpg

img012.jpg

img013.jpg


I promise, it's the same horse!
img014.jpg

img015.jpg

img016.jpg
 

Gadzukz

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
1,753
Points
0
Thanks, I have done a lot of rescue, but Taylor was by far the most dramatic before and after!
 

ckutkuhn7

Banned
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Messages
5,191
Points
0
WOW!!! She turned out gorgeous!! Good for you for being able to help this girl through rough times! I'm glad she found a good forever home!!
 

Luvmysphynx

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
389
Points
58
Ditto the WOW!
Wow, truely WOW! I've done rescue for many years, I've had several cases where I wasn't sure if the animal would survive the night, a couple times they didn't, but most of the time they have, and the differences in them are absolutely amazing!
 

Sleepyheadkitten

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
721
Points
0
That is insanely amazing! You can see her markings on her belly- just barely- in the before- and yeah, I did look to see it match up in the after pics- LOL! You did an amazing job- oh, what a lucky girl!!!

Is she very bonded with you since her original family tried to raise her in the house?
 

susi794

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
13,556
Points
673
I have a story that isn't as dramatic as your horse story, but it was a wonderful thing for me. It was around 1974, I was married for about a year and my husband and I decided we needed a dog. So, we went to the animal shelter and there we found the most beautiful fawn colored Great Dane--0bviously pure bred. I couldn't believe a pure bred Dane would be there, so I asked to interact with her and to hear her story. They told me that they had decided not to adopt her out anymore, that she was going to be destroyed. They said they had adopted her out three times, and three times people had returned her saying she had damaged their homes--torn up furniture, pulled drapes from their windows, etc.
She was deaf. Brought to the shelter by her breeder, after being sold to a family who tried teaching her to "keep off the couch" by using a plugged in electrical cord with exposed wires to give her a shock everytime she got on the furniture. They did her ears enough that they deafened her, then they had the balls to take her back to the breeder and demand their money back--because she was deaf. The breeder confiscated her and refused to refund their money--threatened to call the police after she found out what they did to the dog. The breeder had tried to teach her some hand signals, but said she just couldn't handle her in addition to her other animals and surrendered her to the shelter. (This entire story up to this point makes me want to hurt people!) The Humane Society thought that rather than putting her through another failed placement, it would be kinder to put her down. They said she would be like having a "retarded child" at home and wouldn't be safe to leave her unattended. I BEGGED them to let her have one more chance at a life....that I wanted her and that you don't just throw a "retarded child" away. They finally said ok and I took her home. I named her Cleopatra. She was the sweetest, most gentle dog I have ever had. Poor thing tried desperately hard to please. The night she came home, she got diarreah and had somehow maneuvered her butt over a small half sheet of newspaper rather than mess on the floor. That was the era of platform shoes, and I was wearing a rather high pair the next afternoon, turned my ankle and fell down--she came running over to check on me--sniffed me all over and then when she had determined I wasn't seriously injured, gave me a big, wet doggy kiss. I was in love! My husband was in the military and gone alot, so Cleopatra and I hung out together--she went everywhere with me. Slept with me in bed, watched tv with me cuddled up on the couch, went to the store or to McDonalds...everywhere. She learned hand signals and if I wanted her, I'd stamp on the floor and she would feel the vibrations and come. She was loyal and loving and I adored her. She never once destroyed anything....and as a matter of fact, she stopped the house I was renting in Georgia from catching on fire. I was starching and pressing a huge load of my husband's fatigues while I was watching tv, when Cleo came bounding in, all excited trying to get my attention--she kept running in and out of the room, trying to nudge me with her nose. It was unusual behaviour and I kinda got after her. She wouldn't stop, so I decided to follow her--she led me to the dryer--it had somehow arced and started a lint fire behind it. It had just broken into flames, so it must've been smoldering for awhile. I put it out, and wondered just how much damage would've occurred without my "retarded child" that wasn't fit for adoption. She was the BEST dog in the world and I adored every minute we shared together. She earned every ounce of love and affection I could lavish her with.
 

Gadzukz

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
1,753
Points
0
Susi, That is a GRAND story! This was the first post I have read this morning and your story has given me a warm fuzzy feeling to carry around today!

Also, I am now picturing you in platform heels!:Laugh:
 

Gadzukz

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
1,753
Points
0
That is insanely amazing! You can see her markings on her belly- just barely- in the before- and yeah, I did look to see it match up in the after pics- LOL! You did an amazing job- oh, what a lucky girl!!!

Is she very bonded with you since her original family tried to raise her in the house?

:LOL: I knew it was such a big difference, that I made sure to take pics from the same sides to compare! As for bonding, we had to work really hard to get her to realize she was a horse. She had a lot of bad habits that came from her seeing humans as equal, we did a lot of socializing with smaller horses and they helped teach her the ropes. In the end she was very well mannered, but always easy to catch and affectionate with people.
 

susi794

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
13,556
Points
673
Susi, That is a GRAND story! This was the first post I have read this morning and your story has given me a warm fuzzy feeling to carry around today!

Also, I am now picturing you in platform heels!:Laugh:

They were just platform sandals...not heels. But they were foolish things anyway!
 

ckutkuhn7

Banned
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Messages
5,191
Points
0
I'll share one of my stories.

It was 2003 and Ohio had had a huge snow and ice storm. I was helping my bestfriend move into her new house and the people there prior to her had left behind their cat. It was huge and seemed really sick. My BF didn't want to keep it because she had two kitties and didn't want to expose them to what this stray may have had so I took the kitty in since I didn't have one at the time and wanted one anyhow. The kitty was ferel, very scared and seemed very sick. The kitties hair was so frozen I didn't know if she would even make it through the night by the time I cornered her. Once I got her home and thawed and bathed I realized she was a girl and she was VERY pregnant. Took her to the vet the next day and she had a upper respiratory infection and was informed she would give birth anyday. Five days later I had 6 gorgeous kittens. By the way, it was movie night at my bestfriends house and I named her Orion after the kitty on MIB. Anyhow, she woke me at 4am under my bed birthing these gorgeous kitties. Within two days they had upper respiratory infections and I rushed them to the vet for meds. They all recovered just fine. I lost 1 kitty at about 4 weeks old. She was playing with my shoe when I left my apartment one night and not even thinking I didn't take it away. When I came home she had gotten herself tangeled up in it and passed. If I had made it home a half hour earlier I would have saved her probably. I was so sad. She was all black and I had named her Venus and had plans on keeping her. I ended up keeping another one of her babies because a friend I was going to adopt her off too had decided she couldn't take her due to having to move and I was already attached so I kept her. Anyhow, I had 2 generations of Orions babies. The end story to Orion was since she was ferel and very not friendly I had her fixed after she had her babies and I found her a home with a close friend who has a thing for ferel cats. She is now a fat happy cat in Iowa and is spoiled rotten.
 
Back
Top