adoption

Our guide to animal adoption; learn why, where, and how to prepare to adopt a cat, kitten, dog or puppy from an animal shelter or rescue group.

Linda and Allie
This lovely adoption story tugs at the heartstrings, and goes to show how animals can heal, even when your heart is broken after losing another pet. Introducing Linda and Allie:
By Akinwale Dolapo 5 years ago in Petlife
My family is now complete
I temporarily moved to Puerto Rico for a few months because of a job opportunity. I moved with my dog Arya who was two years old at the time. Arya is a mixed breed, mastiff and presa-canario. I adopted her a year and a half prior to our move. I initially went in in hopes of adopting a smaller dog. However, things didn’t work out that way. When I arrived, the small dog that I was initially interested in was being adopted by another family. I was disappointed but I was determined to adopt a dog that day. Arya stood out from the rest. There was just something about her that I connected with. It may have been the way she looked at me. Her eyes were wide and she was very alert. She followed my every move. I adopted her and she has been a beautiful addition to our family. She is extremely loyal but very protective especially in the presence of strangers. She is also highly intelligent. With her, I felt like my family was complete.
By Ali SP5 years ago in Petlife
She Saved Us
This concept might be weird, but hello. These are the many stories from all the animals that Angela, our human mommy, saved. She has a big heart, patience like a saint, and always looks out for those of us who were different, sick, or thrown away by uncaring people. She means the world to us; we mean the world to her. It’s a good relationship that is never boring! We begin with the good boy, Cow.
By Rain Dayze5 years ago in Petlife
When Love Came In The Form Of A Dog
It all started back when I was a sixteen years old. I was currently in band that a group of friends from school and I had formed about half a year prior and lived in Southern California. Honestly we were just a bunch of misfits and outcasts who had bonding together over our common love of music and had eventually decided to do something about it. So like I mentioned earlier, we formed a band. But unfortunately, we didn’t have anywhere to practice at home so with that being said, we had to venture out and find our own space to practice. And boy, did we ever. Far off in the land known as the San Fernando Valley, we scraped together enough money to buy a small building that we called our “band house” and although it wasn’t exactly the nicest of homes, it was ours and that’s all that mattered.
By Olivia Dell5 years ago in Petlife
Stubby
I don’t know when he showed up, but there he was. A big grey tom with mats and clumps in his coat. I had seen him hanging around the neighbor’s cats and on her porch. I just assumed he was hers. She owned four cats of her own that seemed to sleep outside and she left food for them, the local possums and who knows what in the neighborhood. There were some very large squirrels in the area probably for that reason. Once, when I was out working in the yard the neighbor came over and talked to me, mostly snarky and sneering. You know, the stuff that makes for good, high fences.
By Steven Parker5 years ago in Petlife
The Curtis Family Rescue's
The Curtis Family Rescue's Our family had four cats in our time spent as a family; before everyone grew up and started doing things independently, four rescues, four different cats, and four different stories. Some of these I went alone on, and others I had help from family and friends.
By Ladybug5 years ago in Petlife
Adopting a Dinosaur. First Place in Stray to Stay Challenge. Top Story - April 2021.
You know how when you're eighteen and you make dumb choices? Yeah. This is one of those stories I was still a teenager, barely an adult, when I moved out with my boyfriend to a brand new city. For the first few months we lived in someone else's house; a mattress on the floor in the corner, cardboard boxes filled with our meagre belongings stacked against the opposite wall, living off cereal, hotdogs, and Sidekicks noodles.
By Lindsay Rae5 years ago in Petlife
The Bear I never had
Grandma closed the front door and walked over to the wide glider where I was sitting. In her hands, she held a plastic bag full of peas and an empty bowl, both of which she placed on the table beside me.
By Sarah Knopp5 years ago in Petlife
Some Things Are Just Meant To Be
I had never planned on owning another dog again. Not after my last one crossed the rainbow bridge. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs more than any other pet, but it just wasn't the right time. My sister-in-law, Dana, however, was planning on saving a dog from being put down due to overcrowding in the rescue facilities all throughout the city of Philadelphia. She already had a few dogs and cats at this point, as well as four children. I thought she was crazy, so I decided to go with her to watch the insanity ensue.
By Sharon Smith5 years ago in Petlife
Who Saved Whom
I start each day with this large, hairy guy on my chest looking at me expectantly, and sometimes licking me, to wake me up. "Are you going to lay there wasting this beautiful day?" he seems to say. He won't let me. If I don't get up, he uses his paws to drag the covers off of me, despite any protestations. I generally do not like being rousted from my slumbers, but I cannot resist this guy.
By Maria Leonard Olsen5 years ago in Petlife
Hoppin’ Happy Hares
When my daughter, Kilee, was fifteen she moved in with me. She had never been allowed to have a pet of any kind. After researching and reading about different pets we sat and did some talking. That’s when she decided she wanted to get a bunny. I agreed to let her have one. It took her about a week and a half of babysitting to save all of the money she estimated needing.
By Kristen Renee5 years ago in Petlife
Boy
This story is not about me, but my Grandparents. “It’s time to feed the dogs again.” Grandmother calls from the kitchen as she is cooking us grits and bacon. At six in the morning, I trudge out of bed, grab the bagged food scraps from the counter, and walk to the back door to see Susy and Boy, our dogs, awaiting for the food to arrive.
By Tierra Montgomery5 years ago in Petlife