Meet Speedy
"Speedy" the cat, (adopted from PAL) had a face to face meeting with Lucy on Friday afternoon. Lucy is my pitbull/boxer. I adopted her from CACC in 2001 when she was about 2 months old. She is 60 pounds and 6 years old. The dog and cat were kept separated for 6 days. At first their was much excitment on the dogs part she was kind of rough pushing with her snout, pawing and sniffing really hard on the cat - but that's about it. No snarling or growling.

The morning after their initial meeting, the cat was drinking water from the dogs bowl - the dog just sat there.

Meet Willow
Willow was beautiful when she first came to the shelter. A lovely, white and brown American Bull Terrier mix, we thought this sweet young stray would be adopted in no time . . . as soon as we could get her spayed. But Willow left for a veterinarian's office one morning and returned a medical disaster due to a botched spay-job: within a half hour of her return to the shelter, her incision split open and her intestines spilled partially out of her body. Luckily for Willow an alert kennel worker, Danta Williams, was checking up on her and saw blood all over her kennel.

Heroic efforts were made and her life was saved . . . But poor Willow's nightmare was not over. When that same vet returned Willow to the shelter after tending to this emergency, he failed to inform us of the severe trauma to her body or tell us of the special care she needed. Within hours it was apparent she could not get her fill of water, could not hold water down, and could not eat except for very small quantities. Our formerly healthy, vibrant young girl began starving to death.

A PAL volunteer took Willow home, where her condition improved briefly but then deteriorated. Willow was rushed to a different vet, who held out some hope for her. That vet, Dr. Jakimer at Manor Veterinary Hospital, was her savior. He immediately diagnosed what had happened to her from the botched surgery.

After treatment Willow went back to PAL foster care, where she was on a variety of medications and was able to keep small amounts of food down when fed every couple of hours. Twice more we almost lost her, but this girl wanted to live, and knew how much we loved her and were rooting for her. After several months, and countless vet bills, her energy returned and she began to act like a young, healthy dog again.

One of Willow's unique talents was mimicing the barks and cries of the other dogs she was living with. She became a joy to her foster "Mom", but everyone knew Willow deserved a home of her own. We worried about finding someone willing to adopt a dog that would need a her diet monitored for the rest of her life . . . but Willow's gentle spirit and clownish antics won over that one person that was meant to be hers. She is now in a wonderful permanent home, with a "sister" dachshund and a loving person, who both adore her.

Meet Roxy
For eight years, Roxy was a very even-tempered, affectionate, devoted companion, who lived with an autistic child whom she adored. But her human broke her heart when he returned home from fighting in Iraq, sold the house and moved into an apartment that did not allow dogs. Even though Roxy was the perfect dog, he abandoned her instead of finding a housing situation that would permit them to stay together.

We knew that finding a home for an eight year old dog would not be easy. But we also knew that no matter what, we would find her a loving, permanent home with someone who really appreciated her.

PAL received a call from a couple interested in adopting a dog to be a companion for their elderly Shepherd and two small children. They had recently lost a dog to illness, and their Shepherd was very depressed. They thought they had a problem, though, because the Shepherd did not seem to like other dogs and would bark loudly at them. But a PAL volunteer explained that Shepherds just like to talk and it doesn't always mean they don't like the other dog.

PAL had a couple of dogs that were a possible match, including Roxy, and one of our volunteers drove almost two hours to introduce them to the couple's Shepherd. The people had expressed some concern about Roxy having some pit bull in her, but agreed to meet her nonetheless. And what a good thing they did: when Roxy got out of the van she immediately greeted the family by lying down and rolling on her back. They saw right away what a lovely mush she was, and she has been the perfect addition to their family!

Meet Face
One of PAL's guiding principles is that an animal is assessed on its temperament, not on its breed, background or the circumstances by which it came to us. We do not do 'breed profiling' or judge certain breeds of dogs unadoptable. Face, found tied to the shelter door one morning, is a case in point. He is a big, purebred American Bull Terrier - yep, 'pit bull' is written all over this Face! Yet from the first he was the perfect gentleman, responsive and affectionate to everyone he met.

But how to get him adopted? He was at least 6 years old and, frankly, his imposing size frightened most potential adopters away. PAL never gave up on him, though! We trotted him out at every opportunity, took him to adoption days and plastered his photo around town. Finally, someone saw that Face in a photo and came to take him home - now Face is giving and receiving love in equal measure in a happy home of his own. We wouldn't settle for anything less!