Happy Endings

Maple was a beautiful young pit bull puppy who came to the Rescue in the Spring of 2005 and went home with volunteer Janna as a foster. Janna is a pit bull owner and a perfect ambassador for the breed. Her foster pups are socialized to get along well with people and other animals and then adopted out to carefully chosen loving homes.

Maple was a great addition to our household. She snuggles with cats and loves kids and puppies. Maple likes to swim in the river and romp in the forest. She is so sweet and gentle that she'll undergo training to become a therapy dog. Thanks, Miranda's!
Edgar and Susanna

Chance came to Miranda's Rescue in a very unfortunate way. Some heartless soul threw him out of his car window at a gas station and drove off. Fortunately, an animal lover witnessed the act and brought him to the shelter. When he arrived, his condition was terrible; he was covered in matts, extremely overweight, and had an extreme case of flea allergy. Besides that, he had an injured leg from the fall when he was thrown.

He was an older dog, so the volunteers named him Gramps. He had to be fully shaved to take off his matts, and his appearance and age made it seem likely that he would spend the rest of his days at the Rescue.

About four months after his arrival, Gramps/Chance's future mom, Rebecca, stopped by the shelter to visit her friend, Nina, who volunteers here. Towards the end of a tour of the shelter, she asked Nina what the story was on the old Sheltie in the corner kennel. After hearing what had happened, she knew that she had to get involved.

Here's a great story. Max's godmother Kathy delivered this letter from Max. He was adopted by mom Virginia last November. Virginia is 79 and lives alone (except for Max and one pissed-off cat) and is very happy with the adoption. Even though Max is a strong dog, he is very gentle with his new mom. Here is his letter:

Zeus was adopted from Miranda's Rescue while the shelter was still in Ferndale. He and his family have since left California, but they got in touch recently to let us know how they were doing. And yes, Shannon did remember both the dog and the adoption. Thanks for writing.

Hi Shannon,
You may not remember us, Kim and Chris White. Six years ago, we found our dog Zeus at your rescue. We've since moved from Humboldt County and are currently living in Lawrence, KS. For some reason, you popped into my head the other day, so I looked you up on the web, saw you had a webpage, and decided to update you on Zeus.
Let me start by saying he is the love of our lives. We acquired another dog, Zena, a Norweigan Elkhound who we love dearly, but Zeus is our first. He has meant so much to Chris and I over the years...words can't even begin to describe our love for this dog. Everyone who meets him loves him. He's very cool, totally mellow, incredibly sophisticated and dignified, yet goofy, and never, ever too proud to beg. He has brought us so much joy, and we are so very thankful that he's in our lives.
He's getting older these days...getting gray, but he maintains a puppy-like disposition, and he's very healthy. We exercise him regularly (there's a fantastic no-leash dog park here in Lawrence where he and Zena run like mad and chase other dogs). About two years ago, he started having seizures and began losing his hair, gaining weight, and had no energy. We were worried sick about him, but the vet determined that he has a hypothyroid, so ever since he's been on meds for seizures and the thyroid, but his hair's grown back, and he's back to his old self.
We have so many fond memories of Humboldt, but the best of all is Zeus. He's a living symbol of our lives up in the Redwoods. I remember Chris, when we first decided to take Zeus, he would go visit him every day at the rescue until all the paperwork was completed and Zeus was cleared to be adopted. Chris followed your example and trained Zeus, who now entertains guests and kids with a slew of cool tricks.
Thanks, Shannon, for all the work you do for animals. And, thanks for giving us the greatest gift we've ever received...Zeusdog.
Hope all is well in Humboldt County.
With gratitude, Kim and Chris White

Khalil arrived at the shelter fairly quietly. He was cute and sweet, but shy and probably a little overwhelmed at finding himself in the middle of such a noisy bunch of dogs. He didn't really demand notice the way that many of the dogs do--in the words of one volunteer,he didn't shine. In fact, it wasn't until he was badly bitten by another dog that he really captured the special attention of most of the volunteers. In pain and bleeding, Khalil quietly and patiently lay on a blanket in the office while he was cleaned and bandaged. Unfazed by being surrounded by cages full of cats, he rested peacefully in the office that night, and the next morning let Teena, the office kitty, sit by his head and look on while his wound was redressed. It took a few weeks for his wound to fully heal, but he didn't let it get him down. Liberated from the dog pen, he limped around the shelter, greeting visitors in the parking lot and getting belly scratches whenever they were offered. Once healed, Khalil returned to the pen, but he was no longer anonymous. Now whenever people asked about dogs who got along with cats, he was quickly pointed out. He was a volunteer favorite, and they were determined to find him a home. Funnily enough, when the woman who adopted Khalil came to the shelter looking for a dog, she didn't need to be sold at all. They hit it off immediately. Riley sent us this letter soon after.

Dear Miranda's Rescue-I asked my human to send you this photo of me at the beach. As you can see, I'm very happy now. I'm training my human to throw sticks & to scratch me on my chest & to let me sleep on her sofa. She's a quick learner! Thank you for taking such good care of me at the shelter. Everyone there was so nice to me (except for the dog who bit my paw, but-hey!- I got to sleep in the office while I recovered). My shelter name was Khalil, & my new name is Riley. Another happy ending for all you dedicated folks!-Riley

Hi, my name is Ashlee. I just moved here from Connecticut about three months ago, and I was missing all my friends and looking for a job. My aunt was taking her dogs to All About the Dogs, and Misty, the owner, was looking for people to work, and I said I would because I love dogs, so I started working there. Then I saw this flyer on the wall saying "help me find a home." The dog came in that day, and it was love at first sight. That day I took him home to see if he was the right dog, and my whole family fell in love with him. His new name is Reed. And I couldn't be happier. Reed has a brother, and we go to work everyday. Thank you so much, and a special thanks to Nina. This is my happy ending!!