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Where do they come from?

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Where Do They Come From?

We are constantly asked 'Where do all these animals come from?' The answer is basically 'everywhere'. Some are found on the street. Some are adopted from local county animal control services the day before being 'put down'. Some are brought into us during our adoption events. The sad thing is we have to turn down animals all the time because we have no room. We don't have a kennel, these animals are kept at our homes during the week and brought up to adoption events on the weekend to show and adopt them. Below are some stories of 'where they came from'. We have pictures of some of these animals. All links in the stories will open in a new window.

Below are short stories of some of the PAST fosters. They all found new homes.

Merlin: Merlin and his two littermates where found when they were about 3-4 days old by someone who brought them into the office of one of the vets we use. The vet contacted us and RAIN member Caryn took them in. They needed to be bottle fed every four hours including at night. Caryn had a Golden Retriever at the time and he played with the kittens. As a result Merlin likes his tummy rubbed and plays fetch. Merlin was adopted to a future RAIN member, Joe. You can read more about Merlin at http://www.isleofavaloncathaven.com/inhabitants.htm 

Princess Aurora and Princess Jasmine: These two six week old kittens were brought into us at adoption events after being found near a dumpster. The lady who found them already had four cats and couldn't keep them. They were very sweet and affectionate. They were adopted together by a woman who couldn't be happier with them. See their picture here.

Sonny: Our volunteer Sue feeds some feral colonies and rescues kittens early enough to become loving pets. On one of her nightly stops she was approached by a gorgeous adult flame point Siamese. People will dump unwanted pets in feral colonies thinking 'Oh, there are cats here so it will be ok'. When Sue went to leave after putting down the food Sonny jumped into her Explorer. He OBVIOUSLY didn't think the feral colony was OK. Sonny is an awesome cat. He was between two and three when Sue rescued him. He loves to be petted, sit on laps and gives kisses. How anyone could dump a cat like that is beyond our comprehension.

Monty: Monty is a BIG tuxedo* cat. He was going to be 'put to sleep' by the lawyer handling the estate of his past owner. She had to go into a nursing home with Alzheimer's. He was brought into our adoption event late January 2003 by some people who knew about the situation and intervened. At first he was very scared and didn't come out of the carrier at his foster home for about two days. He has lost his human companion and strange people had been going through his house for weeks while the lawyer was selling the house and contents. After several weeks Monty was recovered enough to go up for adoption and try to find a new home. While lots of people liked him they adopted kittens instead. Finally in September 2003 he was spotted on Petfinder.com. The people went to the foster home to see him. It was love at first sight. Monty is now taking care of their home. For the full story and e-mail from his new family click here. * Tuxedo cats are called that because they look like a gentleman wearing a tuxedo. They are black with a white tummy, chest and throat. They also must have four white paws. It is a color/pattern description, not a breed. Many breeds can produce the tuxedo pattern.

Goldie: Goldie is a purebred female Golden Persian who was declawed, but not spayed by her previous owner. She was brought to us by a woman who saw her tossed out the window of a moving car. As soon as she is picked up Goldie starts 'making biscuits' on you. We have stopped being surprised, but not appalled, at what people do to animals. click for picture.

See some of our Success Stories for more 'Where do they come from?' tales.

Mutts comic © 2003 Patrick McDonnell. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Used with permission

RAIN Contact Information

Telephone (407) 620-9736
Postal address  P.O. Box 608221 Orlando, FL. 32860-8221