Rescue Animals Bring Joy to your home

The purpose for writing this brief article is simple, I get a huge amount of pleasure from all of my rescue (adopted) animals and want to share that with others. Why? Because all over the world there are many (probably millions) animals needing homes and I know how much you can get in return and I would like to share that with you.

When it comes to pets in our home we have a strict non buy policy. Not that we fundamentally believe it is wrong to purchase pets, it is not in this writers humble opinion. But we decided there were just too many animals unwanted that need a home where they would be loved and cared for. It is not a big ask is it? After all most of these animals are descended from ones that lived quite happily in the wild till we came along or were bred for our purposes and are now helpless living in the wild.

So we started with two Guinea Pigs, Barry and Bodger. Neither were strictly rescued but had never been purchased and were deemed to old to be sold. They had spent the first 5 months of their lives in a pet shop/store awaiting purchase yet no one had chosen them. Perhaps because Barry was an albino he was deemed less cute than some others, perhaps they were too nervous or skittish. Well we took them and made a donation to charity for doing so and bought the appropriate equipment. Now they live in the corner of a room and squeak loudly to let us know when they want something. I will be honest sometimes Barry Squeaks so loudly I find myself arguing with him to get him to stop and it can drive me crazy, but when he sticks that sweet pink nose up the bars or nestles into my shoulder I know I am glad we have him. Barry is by no means the favourite, Bodger is equally loved it is just that Bodger is such a relaxed and loving soul he is hard to discuss without sounding sickly sweet.

Next came Giblet, our adorable Gerbil. Another Albino that was deemed unwanted. Sadly he was never housed with a friend so had to be taken alone as he was too old to introduce to others. Giblet is a lovely happy little soul that shreds bank statements and credit card bills just as efficiently as a shredder and makes me smile every time I approach his cage to feed him a sun flower seed or raison as a treat. As a side note it would be interesting to note that a lady who was supposedly looking after Giblet advised us against homing him as he was "unfirendly and prone to biting". Our experience could not be more different, he is a sweet, lively and most of all curious little man who would have made anyone a great pet. More fool those that missed out on all the laughs and smiles he gives to us. Everyone loves Giblet and If you were to ever meet him you would understand why immediately.

Then came Ernest, a Canary that literally flew in through the door and chirped beautifully until he was fed. Reliably informed that we would last mere days in the wild we found ourselves purchasing a cage, bottles, trays, sand paper (Who knew) and anything else we needed. Now we get awoken every morning to the sound of his singing and his cheerful chirps as he splashes around in his bird bath. We have no idea how old he is, but he seems happy and that is all that matters to us. Although he does throw seeds everywhere and our vacuum cleaner works twice as hard to clean up after him than it needed to prior to him coming to live with us. He has beautiful yellow feathers with flecks of black up one side and across his back. I do not really believe in the caging of birds but given that this seems to be the only life available to him I am happy to have him in our home and I hope he is happy too. I can here him chirping as I write it was partially what inspired me to write this.

Pickle as you will see in the Image is a Fox Hound or so we are told. Others have suggested she is a pointer cross in fact we have heard hundreds of possible suggestions about what her likely breed is. But from all we have read and been told she seems to have the size, shape and all the characteristics of a Fox Hound. Although this really does not matter to us, we love her for her character not for her breed.

Pickle was 15 months old when she came to us looking glum and miserable in the Kennels of the dog rehoming centre she came from. Not a very nice one I should add but that is beside the point. She made herself at home immediately and started misbehaving just a quick.

She....

• Steals Food
• Runs off
• Ignores your calls
• Gets on all the furniture
• Farts chronically
• Ruins our carpets
• Demands that I get up much earlier in the morning than I would otherwise need to.
• Costs a fortune at the vets.

But she also.....

• Sits with me when I feel down or glum
• Helps me stay fit and lose weight
• Keeps me Company
• Makes me laugh every day

Or to put it another way we would not swap her for all the tea in China. The joy and happiness she brings outweighs all and any downsides that she may come with. But do not doubt dogs can be very hard work so think carefully about the downsides before you get one. Failure to consider the hard work associated may well be why so many animals are left looking for homes.

I Know this really is a very simple article and others may write about it much more in depth and with greater skill. But if this article sits online for 20 years and persuades one person to rehome a pet rather than buy then I would be very happy indeed.

I would like at this point to add a short note. Not all adoption and rescue centres are good places, some use animals as commodities in the guise of helping them and charge you a fee for rehoming them. When this fee is used for charitable purposes this is a very good thing, but this may not always be the case. So please check, but always remember it is not the fault of the animals in these centres.