It was our 3rd trip to Caring Hands Animal Shelter in the past two weeks. After the death of my beloved cat, Oscar, a month earlier, I thought I was ready for a kitten. Oscar had been my special buddy for over 18 years and losing him was very hard. I had no hopes that any cat would ever replace his sweet and gentle self in our home, but thought a baby kitten might be just the thing to bring some life back into the house.

Truth be told, I would have loved to take all of those hopeful, homeless cats home with me, but I knew that one more was all we would be able to add to our family of cats. There were several who tugged at my heart in a particular way, but for some reason I just couldn’t make up my mind. I was sitting down holding another cat and I guess he was determined to get some attention too. Once before we had been “chosen” by a cat at an animal shelter and he had turned out to be the smartest and most loving kitty we’d ever had, so I thought that was a good sign.

After holding him on my lap for awhile, and seeing how much he enjoyed cuddling and being held, we made our decision that he was the one we would take home. He wasn’t a baby kitten (about 9 months old), but was still young enough to have the playfulness we wanted in a new cat. So I carried him to the staff to let them know who we had chosen and they told me about his history.

He had been adopted from Caring Hands some months earlier, but had been returned to the shelter when either he or another cat in the house started marking inappropriately. Now what was I going to do? I had already looked him in the eye and promised him that he was going to have a new home with me and my husband. And we already had other cats at home. Would he feel threatened and make a mess at our house? I knew what a problem that could be, especially in a house with multiple cats. But I had already promised him, and knowing he had already been sent back once before, I just couldn’t deny him a second chance. Plus I knew that most people, knowing his history, wouldn’t give him a chance at all.

So we filled out the paperwork and made arrangements with our vet to have him checked out before taking him home. They couldn’t see him until the next day, so he would have to spend one more night at the shelter. The next day we took him for his checkup and found he was healthy except for a bad case of fleas. The vet recommended that in addition to a bath and flea medication, we leave him at the animal hospital for several days to make sure all the fleas were dead before taking him into the house. Those were three of the longest days of my life.

When we finally got to bring him home, we had to decide on a name. His name from the shelter was “Vance” but I didn’t care for the name and he didn’t seem particularly fond of it either since he never responded to it. After spending a whole afternoon with him, playing, napping and snuggling, I decided that he was a “Murphy.”

So, to make an already long story short, Murphy has become a wonderful addition to our home. He is very easy-going and gets along wonderfully with our other cats. When I’m home, he follows me around the house and when I work on the computer, he sits right beside the keyboard and takes special delight in hitting the Escape key. One of his jobs is retrieving the labels as they come out of the label printer on the desk. At night he shares my pillow, although he’s a bit of a pillow hog and ends up with it all to himself by morning.

I’m so thankful for the wonderful folks at Caring Hands who make it possible for these animals to get a chance for a loving home. And I want to encourage folks who may be thinking of adopting a pet to not hold an animal’s history against them and to not always just look for the most beautiful animal. The homely and average ones might just love you the most. Because now, to me, Murphy is the most beautiful cat in the whole world...LuAnn.

We came in looking for a family dog, and saw Jenny and heard about her story. We have two small children and we took her back to the visitation room to get acquainted with our boys. She did great! She was so polite and friendly we knew she was the dog for us! We weren't able to take her home that night and I could barely stand the thought of her not coming home with us, but we came back to get her the next morning.

She loved the car ride home and spent most of the morning exploring her new home. We were pleasantly surprised that she appeared to be housetrained and we haven't had any accidents with her since she came home. She also rarely barks! but loves to play ball with the boys. She is so gentle with them, in fact my youngest learned to stand hanging on to her back. She is such a great dog and a wonderful addition to our family. She hates to be alone so are adopting another dog to keep her company. We are so happy with our Jenny, we can't imagine life without her!

He loves our fenced in yard and he’s the typical rambunctious puppy, but we wouldn’t trade him for anything!  He could use a good dose of obedience training, but we’ve already taught him to fetch, shake hands, and sit (which apparently means roll over to him!) and we’re still working on more commands!  But most importantly he house broke so fast!  He’s definitely a smart guy! 

You know, there’s some people who wouldn’t waste there time at a shelter or on any type of dog that’s not a pure bred, but I’ll take my mutt over any pure bred!  He’s the best!  Thanks, Caring Hands!!!

Sincerely,
Kory, Jennifer, Bryce and Morgan Barber

Dear Caring Hands Humane Society,

We adopted a little brindle Scottish Terrier from you in December.  We named him Henry.  He is the sweetest, funniest, and best Christmas gift we’ve ever received! He is loving his new home, and getting along really well with our cat (we also rescued from T.Russell Reitz Animal Shelter in Manhattan, KS) Dave.  At first, Dave hid from Henry for the first week or so…but now they “play” and wrestle for a good percentage of the day.  Henry prefers sleeping in his kennel we bought him. He just outgrew his first kennel and is now loving his much more spacious one.  We’ve taken him to the vet in Hesston and he’s received all of his shots and heartworm medicine. Henry enjoys looking at his reflection in his water bowl and then pawing at it, and dipping both paws waaay into the water.  He also enjoys growling at all of his stuffed toys.  Our favorite thing he does is tilt his head way up high and let out a high pitched “whooooo” when there is a CD playing in the house. It’s adorable.  Attached is pictures of Henry with us, and also sitting in the rocking chair with his new “brother” Dave.

Thank you so much for all you do for these animals. We love Henry so much!  If possible, can you let the people that gave Henry (previously Farley) to Caring Hands know that he is in great hands?? Thank you so much! 

Joel and Shelby Dryden • Hesston, KS

I just wanted to let you know that my kitty, Beatrice, who I adopted at the end of January is a wonderful companion.  Beatrice is playful and loving.  She loves to be with people and makes guests in my home her guests, too.  She welcomes them and makes friends immediately.   After I had to have my almost 18-year old cat, Buster, put to sleep last June I had decided not to get another pet.  It is just too hard to let them go.  My neighbors kept encouraging me to go the Humane Society and look.  I had in mind that I would get a calico, but not so.  When I went into the room with the adult cats Beatrice found me, purred and stayed with me while I looked.  I could not leave her, she chose me and I'm so glad she did.

I would encourage anyone who is looking for a pet to go to the Humane Society.  There are so many wonderful pets that would love to have a home. 

Thank you.   Virginia

Upon receiving Bear we decided to change her name from Darla to Bear. She just looked so much like a bear to us. She is doing great! We go on hour long walks everyday when the weather is nice and at least 30 minute walks when it’s cold. Bear loves the snow and was always out playing in it. It didn't take long to potty train her either. She always runs for her leash or goes to the door when she has to go out. She knows how to sit on command and we are still working on shake. We are just in love with her and are very happy she is part of our family now.

Joshua and Chelsea.

We adopted Dutchess Oct.13th 2006.  We decided to get another dog so that Jake, our other outside dog wasn't so lonely.  We went to visit Caring Hands, and saw Dutchess. She stole our hearts.  When we walked up to her we knew she was the one we were going to get.  She is very playful.  She likes to tease us and play ball.  Her favorite thing to do is bark at squirrels all day. She loves her treats.  She hides them for when she is ready for them. She loves when the kids run and play with her. Chelsey was so happy when she found out that we were going to go out to Caring Hands to adopt a dog. She  told us which ones would be good for Jake, since she has worked out there for awhile now. She would want us to adopt more if we could.  Chelsey loves all of her animals. We added Dutchess to our family of 1 cat, 1 hamster, Jake our outside dog and Maci our little Pug.  We are very happy to have Dutchess!!

Ty became a part of my family back in September 2006. I was so nervous when I found out that I wasn't the only one interested in adopting him. I called the humane society and they told me that I could go out and pick him up anytime. I was SO excited! My dad brought him home and everything was great. I showed him around the house and showed him my room (which became our room). I introduced him to my dad's cat which is about a 15lb cat. What's funny is that the cat is afraid of my little 4lb boy. He thinks that when the cat comes around, he's trying to attack me. Ty thinks he's a guard dog.

I've taught him to go outside with me without a leash. One time, he went right across the street because the neighbor was taking her trash out. He thought he was protecting me. He's such a loveable sweetheart and everyone loves him and is jealous that I have him. People will joke around all the time that they're gonna take him home. But he has become so close to me that he cries when I leave even if it's just for a minute. If he's going to take a nap or something he has to be either right next to me to cuddle with or at least in the same room. When we go to bed, he has to stay up and make sure that I'm gonna lay down with him and that I'm not going to leave him. Anytime I walk around the house or at my mom's house, he feels like he HAS to follow me. It's absolutely adorable.

He's learned who grandma and grandpa are (my mom and dad) and he kind of knows who tia is (my sister) and he knows me as momma or mommy. Even with his weak back legs (one is twisted at the knee cap), he loves to run around the house, jump on furniture, and play just like any other dog. I've taught him "let's go downstairs" "let's go upstairs" "who's here?" "let's go!"and if my dad's home and we're going upstairs to see him, I'll as him "where's grandpa?" and he'll run upstairs and search everywhere until he finds him. When I tell him "let's go!" he automatically thinks that it refers to a car ride (which he loves) In the past year, Ty has become accustomed to many nicknames. The ones he recognizes the most is Ty, Tybo, bubba, baby boy and even sweetie pie. He's such an amazing dog and I feel so happy to have him in my life. He turned six on September 12 and I can't wait to share many more birthdays, christmas', and overall years with him. I wanna thank Caring Hands for allowing me to adopt Ty into my life.

This is Annie (aka Angel); I’m an older yellow Lab who was adopted from Caring Hands Humane Society in September of 2007.  My new Mommy received an e-mail with a picture of me and she knew because of my age it would be hard for me to find a home so I wanted to tell you how I am doing. My new Mommy and family love me very much! Because of this love I have become so playful and have lost some weight, my coat is clean and shiny and my ears which I used to have a lot of trouble with are cleaned every few days. Ohh that feels so good, I even had my teeth cleaned, I must say I am a rather good looking dog.

I have a sister named Roxy, she is younger than I but bigger we have a lot of fun together. We have a big yard to play in but only go out to potty and play, this how it should be when you are a part of a family. I sleep in my own kennel at night or if I just need to get away from all of the day care kids my Mommy looks after, she is so wonderful that way! I love my naps and am really good about going to bed when my Mommy tells me to, I know she will have a good treat and sometimes she gives me one just for looking sweet. I had to learn not to jump on the furniture but I am a fast learner and try hard to please my Mommy.

I have a fun family, there is a boy in my house who is 2 ½ years old and he loves me very much. I like to give him lots of kisses. There is also a 17 year old girl and of course my Mommy and Daddy too. In addition to Roxy there are also 3 cats. My Mommy volunteers for the humane society in Wichita and she is always bringing home new friends for me to play with, right now I have a doggy friend named Blade who is a 1 ½ year old black Lab. I like to bark at the kittens she brings home but I never try to bite them I just want to see what they do because everyone is my friend. I tricked Mommy because I didn’t bark the first 2 months I lived here (tee hee hee). I come when I am called, walk well on a leash, learned to heal, wave, high five, and lay down on command. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks! I am so amazing, my family is very happy I came to live with them and I am so happy the nice people at Caring Hands gave me a chance to find my new Mommy!

Mommy changed my name to Annie and I took to Annie right away, she says she named me that because I was dumped outside when my other family moved away.

Sincerely Annie (aka Angel)