It had been several years since we had to say goodbye to my children’s childhood dog Penny (who also came from HSHV). She was not a dog that could have been replaced easily. They kept bugging me though about getting a dog, and because they were all grown and in college, I knew it could be nice to have a dog in the house again. I went to the website and saw Duke (then Jake) and instantly fell in love. He reminded me of all the Boxers I had growing up. He was skinny as a rail when we got
Read More

We went one Saturday to HSHV to look at puppies from the Love Train, except they had all been adopted in 2 days! We instead looked at some of the adult dogs and came across Mackem. Mackem had been adopted twice previously and returned. He had severe anxiety, which manifested itself in chewing, nipping, and crazy energy. He had panic attacks in a crate, and we didn’t know what to do when we had to leave him home alone. A little training, patience, vet care, doggy sibling, and lots of love later, and he’s the easiest dog in the world!
Read More

My boyfriend and I were browsing for an older dog, but weren’t really having much luck finding the perfect fit. One night, I was scouring the HSHV website when I saw a cute puppy with adorable ears. I sent her picture to my boyfriend and he said, “What are you trying to do, break my heart?!” We visited the shelter the very next day to find our Dottie with a cone on her head. She was so squirmy and kept bumping into things! We thought she was so funny that we scooped her up and took her home that night.
Read More

My reason for adopting was losing my best friend, Johnny, the rabbit who stole my heart. I just knew that he would’ve wanted me to give another rabbit a home. I met Arnold at the shelter, and he stole my heart within a few minutes of meeting him! I wanted to think about it to make sure this was the right decision, so I left for a while and looked at a few other rescues. None of the buns there were as wonderful as him. I continued to tell my friend that I just wanted to go back and see
Read More

We took Brandy home yesterday. Her profile stated she was a bit shy and had been in the shelter since October. She has become the perfect cat for us! She is playful and patient with the kids, and she keeps watch over everyone always resting nearby. Her curiosity took her around the house immediately. 24 hours in, she acts as though she has lived here forever. She is super well behaved and took right away to her special litter box. We are thrilled! Thank you, HSHV staff and volunteers for preparing Brandy to be a great house cat.   Brandy
Read More

We adopted Fletcher in October 2016. We had recently lost a dog to cancer and decided we needed to rescue. I saw Fletcher on the website, and he looked a lot like the pup we had just lost. We came in and saw him…it seemed he had a rough start and was a bit grumpy. We decided to take him home …he was completely the opposite of the dog we lost. He was kind of snippy and not a cuddly pup. With lots of love and work, he is a different dog today!! He is finally wagging his nub of
Read More

We adopted Belle (formerly Suzie) about 8 years ago, and she is a fabulous!! We adopted her as a companion for our other dog, Trixie, who sadly passed this September. They were the same age and same breed: Doberman. Belle didn’t really have any boundaries when we first met her; she frequently jumped on the kitchen table, she destroyed not 1, not 2, but 3 couches, uprooted two trees (although, she was not alone in this escapade; she had help from Trixie), pulled curtains from the window and shredded them, and I can’t even count the number of socks she
Read More

Our son has been begging us for a cat for years, and we finally made the decision that the timing was right. We wanted a cat that would be active and liked to be around us. Allie is the perfect fit! If she is not sleeping on our laps or in our bed at night, then she is running around playing with our 6 year old! She is the best kitty and a wonderful addition to our family.   Maz now Allie
Read More

My partner and I really love animals and wanted an animal of our own. We are both dog people and have owned dogs our whole lives, and didn’t ever think that we would get a feline companion. However, we both have a lot of love to give and really longed for an animal to love and to cuddle. We actually seriously considered getting a dog at one point. Anyway, we both decided to start volunteering at HSHV a month or two ago because we wanted to volunteer together at an organization that we cared about and really just wanted to
Read More

Our family adopted James, now Oliver, in early May from HSHV. He was just 8 weeks old and 2.5 pounds. He’s now 9 months and nearly 15 pounds! He is a perfect fit for our family. He’s so social! He follows us from room to room and loves being right in the middle of whatever is going on. He enjoys romping on his cat towers, and he even plays fetch with his favorite puff ball toys. He likes to wrestle with his favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Fox. He carries it around the house, and I occasionally find it in our
Read More