The Moment that made all the waiting worth while...
"I had just turned 16 and my parents wanted to buy me a car, but unlike all the other 16 year olds I declined and told them I wanted something else I wanted a dog. After giving in we went to the shelter that day to find my perfect friend. I had even saved my own money to purchase her and everything. When we went to the shelter there were pure bred yorkies and other animals you think people would die for which I did want one cause yorkies are so cute, but then I saw Millie she was so unique looking, she had the most prettiest eyes I have ever seen, I decided I would take her for a walk and see how she would do. She was so gentle and kind and had such a personality!!! We went to fill out the adoption papers and I told her she was coming home with me, she jumped up started licking me, from that point I knew she was one of the best decisions I have ever made!!! I am now 20 and married expecting our first child and Millie is still here with me, my best friend"
"This is Lucy, or Lu, or Lucy Lu. She came to us quite unexpectedly about 10 years ago. When our boisterous black lab ran away, we went to the Humane Society to reclaim her. While passing through the shelter, a beautiful purebred Golden Retriever was being surrendered. Having always wanted a Golden, I immediately seized the opportunity to adopt him. While processing his adoption papers, I looked around for my 10-year-old daughter. I found her sitting on the floor with this sweet young beagle curled up in her lap. Both of them had begging brown eyes looking at me, and how could I resist? Her puppies had been adopted but she had been at the shelter for quite a long time. I went to pick up one runaway dog and came home with three dogs that day! Lucy is now 13 years old, and she and I have weathered a lot of things in life together. She has been a faithful family member!"
"I should tell you Dexter's story...When I casually checked petfinder.com one day while at work, I saw the picture of this black and white dog with a expressive face. I looked at that pic and thought, "that dog is mine, and I am his" The day I came to pick him up and staff brought him to me, I couldn't believe it was the same dog! He was SO SKINNY!!!! Heartworm had almost been more than he could survive. When I got him here after a drive I'll never forget, 60+ miles of him being SO EXCITED and drooling everywhere....hahaha...after he got out and met all the other dogs, he RAN! He ran along the edge of the neighboring hay field, back and forth, over and over! He was SO HAPPY to be free!!!!!!!! His name was Jacob when we adopted him, but his name is JACOB DEXTER, he is 10, and he is one of the BEST friends I have EVER HAD!!!!!!!"
"I was looking for a fur baby wither it was a dog or cat I was looking on your website and seen this picture of a cat named Aubbry and I knew I had to see her. I came into the shelter to meet her and knew she was the one I was going to take home! I adopted her that day! She has been such a great companion to me! I have spoiled her and she has done the same to me she always waits by the door for me to come home which always brightens my day! She now is 13 lbs but she still curls up on my neck like she did when I first got her and she was 2.5lbs! I am so glad I brought her home with me that day and she is too!"
"It all began September, 2012. My boyfriend and I were feeling a little lonely with our children now grown and decided we wanted to "adopt". He visited the BG Humane Society and fell in love with a blonde brown eyed girl named Roxy. Miss Roxy, a pit bull/shepherd mix was the calmest dog in the kennel that day and had the saddest eyes. When he entered her kennel, she immediately wrapped her front paws around his shoulders and gave him a big hug. There was an instant indescribable bond between the two. A few days later I went to visit Miss Roxy and decided that if she greeted me with the same sweet disposition, she would become a member of our family.....Upon entering her kennel, Roxy was eager to give me the same love and there was no doubt that she was meant to be "ours".
On our ride home to Alvaton that beautiful September day, we were unsure of how Roxy would handle the ride so we purchased a kennel before we left the shelter.... However,we didn't have the heart to tell her she had to ride in it, so we opened the back door to our vehicle and she spent the trip in the back seat staring out the window letting the breeze hit her in the face and smiled all the way to her new home. I will admit, I was one of those people that "never" wanted a dog in the house. I didn't want the early morning wake up calls, the poop in the floor, the hair on the furniture, and said I would "never" run home on my lunch break to let a "dog' outside. I learned to Never say Never!! Oh, how our life has changed!!! Roxy is the absolutely most loving dog ever! The things that I said I would never do is nothing compared to all of the joy she brings to us. She has become our companion on road trips (she especially loves the vette with the top off, hikes at Lost River Cave, celebrating family events and shopping at two of the local stores that realize dogs are humans too!. As our day winds down after a long day at work, what a joy it is to arrive home to so much love, hugs and kisses!! Our day ends with Roxy going to sleep...yes, you guessed it, right in the middle of the bed!!! I wouldn't have it any other way!! The love of an adopted dog is amazing" 
"This is Arnie and Leo. We adopted Arnie from the Bowling Green shelter (he is on the left) and we adopted Leo from a dachshund rescue. I was 20 and about to move into my first apartment with my boyfriend and we didn't have any pets at the time and I knew I wanted to adopt one but was going to wait awhile before doing that. Well I volunteered at the shelter on a regular basis at the time. One day I just felt the need to go to the intake building to give some of the animals their some attention. I walked in the back where the dogs were and saw this sad, scared dog. His hair was matted and he was on the thin side. He was so afraid and had no idea how to react to me petting him. He just coward down and didn't know if he could trust me.
I visited him over the next couple days and took him on walks and he started to warm up to me. I was told that he was found as a stray and no one came to claim him. I decided to adopt him. I took him to get groomed and plumped him up. I could tell someone abused him. For the first couple months anytime someone would approach him he would coward down to the floor and be totally submissive to them. If he heard a loud sound he would run frantically and look around as if he were watching out for something. He eventually stopped doing that but at times is still weary of strangers and loud noises. We adopted Leo a year later and these two are best friends. They sleep on each other and are freaked out when the other is gone even for a minute. Arnie was given the chance at a great life because the shelter found him and took him in. We are responsible for giving Arnie his Independence but so is the shelter because of the great work they do!" 
"Since I moved to the Bowling Green area in 2005, I have stopped into the local humane society to walk or donate to the local animals. In May 2009, I adopted a dog from a friend who could no longer take care of his pup and was about to take him there anyways. My friend knew I had been looking for a few years, and he wanted to see if I wanted to take him before he had to do that. I have always loved his dog Gunner, so I knew I would be the perfect fit to take him.
I was still a full- time student at the local college, so the idea of another dog in my life was far from on my mind, but I still continued to donate and walk the dogs at the shelter. One day, during an outing I stopped off at the local pet supply store to pick up some dog food. The shelter was there with a few animals that were up for adoption. I looked around and played with a few animals when I came across a big dog hiding under the table. She was extremely skinny, ugly, sad, and scared. I asked the wonderful people from the shelter about her, and they told me her name was Grace, and that she was from a hoarder situation in Barren County, where she was believed to be abused and that she had a permanent limp from the situation. They told me she had been a resident of the shelter for a while, and that they hoped someone wouldn’t pass her up today. I asked if I could walk her around the store if she let me. She came out scared, but I let her take the lead. She eventually came out and we walked around the store together. We came to a stop in the back of the store where I sat down on the ground. When I did this, something happened that made me realize that I wouldn’t leave the store without her. When I sat down, this big, skinny bag of bones came right up to me and sat her head on my shoulder. I brought her home that day. She hid behind the chair for the majority of her first few days, but I worked everyday with my sidekick Gunner to get her out. I changed her name to Gracie, to honor my childhood dog that had recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. If it wasn’t for the chance meeting at the pet store with the Humane Society, I would have never met the dog that changed my life for the better. Gracie has showed me that the world can be cruel to animals, but with a little hard work and love, a great love and friendship can form." 
"This is Marty and last Feb. 2012 Lorri put on the shelter's Facebook page asking for a "foster" for a Senior male Beagle named Marty. Cold concrete floors where no place for this older fella to await his transport to a rescue the following Friday. I had never fostered an animal before but was willing to give this sweet boy and warm place until his transport date. We answered the call and went and picked up Marty that day. We fell in love with this Senior Beagle boy over the next week and as Friday approached I would cry everytime I thought of him having to leave on transport. I knew he would find a good home eventually, but he just needed a warm bed and some tender loving care to live out his "Senior" years and after spending a week with this big brown eyed boy I knew there was no way I could part with him! Marty become apart of our pack, which included 4 other rescue dogs. He gained his "Independence" and became part of the family. We love this little Senior boy and couldn't imagine our lives without our "Marty Moon". Please consider adopting a "Senior" pet they still have so much love to give and while they may require that little bit of "going the extra mile" there is nothing more rewarding than these precious animals. Many of them have been part of a family for years and sadly in their last years, weeks or even moments have dropped them and desserted them and it is just so heartbreaking to see their gray muzzles and sad eyes wondering what they did to have gone from living in a home for years to have ended up in a shelter, alone in the last years or moments of their lives. Please open your hearts to a "Senior", we will all be there one day!"
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Adopted in 2004, Rex was the only survivor of a dumped in the country litter. He was bloated from starvation, dehydrated, covered in fleas and had a mild case of mange. I was able to visit him when he had outside time from quarantine. He really stole my heart and when he was cleared for adoption, I brought him to his forever home. He is a super sweet fellow, very loving and smart. He loves to chase tennis balls and squirrels. In spite of his rough start, he has been the picture of health. My husband and I adopted our first dog on our wedding day from the BGWCHS and have been fortunate enough to have the room and the resources to provide a home for multiple companion pets. They have all been such a joy to us and we have nothing but respect for the wonderful and caring staff at the BGWCHS. I am so thankful that our community has such a top notch shelter."
"We had decided it was time to get a dog. My number one rule....NO BEAGLES!! We stopped by the humane society and found a precious puppy...unfortunately that puppy was going to be over 100 pounds and we were living in an apartment. My husband pointed out a dog that he really liked and I said NO WAY! I said no beagles!. We walked up to the front and explained to one of the girls our living situation and she said she had the perfect dog for us and our family...and she took us back to the dog my husband pointed out...the beagle >.> Well we spent some time with Nobalee and took her for a walk and I fell in LOVE We have had Nobalee for almost two years now and she IS the perfect fit for our family. She is one of the most loving dogs I have ever met and has become a very spoiled puppy! We love beagle and I wouldn't trade her for the world! We now have another beagle mix that we rescued almost a year ago."
"We adopted Linus a beagle/dachshund mix. We saw some kids walking him and he just kept rolling over wanting them to scratch his belly. He had such a playful attitude, not to mention was super goofy looking, but oh so adorable. We walked by his kennel and he was sitting like a prairie dog. on his butt, straight up, with his paws up by his chest. He must have know that trick would win our hearts over. Not only did he sit goofy, but he had an extremely bad overbite which was also super cute. Even though he is a handful at times, we love him to death. He makes me laugh and smile everyday, he always keeps us good company, and is just a bundle of joy to be around. adopting from the shelter can be life changing for families, as well as for the pet. They really just want to be loved, and when you give them love, you get a whole lot more in return. Adding a wonderful pet like Linus to our family has made us extremely happy. We could not have asked for a better pooch."
"Ralphie and I met on election day, 2008. I had finally decided I was ready and able to take care of a dog, and I really needed a companion to come home to. I went to the BG shelter that morning after my mother and I had voted. It was rather hectic inside; all the staff and volunteers were busy helping people already. Someone handed me a clipboard with the adopt application form on it, so my mother and I went outside to sit on the bench while I filled out the form. I figured it couldn’t hurt to go ahead and fill it out and then go back to the kennels to see who would steal my heart. While filling out the form a volunteer came by walking a sweet looking blonde dog. The dog came right up to me at the bench and laid his head in my lap. His name at the time was Ralph, and he had just been returned to the shelter the previous day by a family who had adopted him and changed their mind. It truly was love at first sight. Ralph became Ralphie and we have lived happily ever after since!"
"About 12yrs ago my family and I were looking for a new pet. We knew we wanted a small dog that looked like a boston terrier or was a boston mix. We were VERY specific about what we expected from this pet regarding temperament and personality, so after searching the local shelter for a while, we posted to Petfinders in the classified section. About a week later, a lady from the Humphrey Co Humane Society in Waverly, Tn sent us a picture and profile of baby available for adoption.
My family and I couldnt wait to meet her and arranged to travel the 2hrs each way to pick her up. Once we got to the shelter upon seeing "Biscuit" (her formal name), I couldnt help but think how ugly she was and what in the world were they thinking getting a Boston out of her breed. But there was no way I was gonna go home without her. Barkley had the 10ft tall attitude when we approached her while she was trying to "attack" a Great Mastiff. LOL we knew she was pefect for us! Later that evening we got her home and within 2hrs, Barkley had discovered the tennis ball! She is ADDICTED to the tennis ball and will literally make herself sick playing with it. She loves to ride anything that moves including: dirt bikes, tractors, lawn mowers, back-ho's, and bicycles. Her best friends in the world are our boys who have since moved out. She's won numerous awards for categories such as "most unusual dog" to "best tennis ball catch". She is now about 13yrs old and very set in her ways but still loves to play ball and visit with "her" boys when they are home." 
"Our beloved cocker spaniel and family pet, Matilda, passed away at the age of 14 in May 2011. It took me a very long time to get over this and consider a new pet. I discovered an adorable little beagle mix at a shelter event the following year and decided it was time. Unfortunately, my first adoption attempt was not a good match for our family and we made the terribly heart-wrenching decision to return her to the shelter. We continued to visit and walk dogs in hopes we might find a good match for our family with 3 young children. The staff at the shelter was exceptional and encouraged us to keep trying. We were introduced to Baby Girl in early 2012. She had a severe case of Demodex mange, smelled terrible and was covered in scabs. She tugged at our heart strings and we were immediately in love with her and decided to take on the challenge! After months of treatment and work, her natural shiny white coat returned and she has been the most beautiful and exceptional companion for our family! In February of this year, we came across a FB photo of Skeeter on the shelter website and could not believe his resemblance to Baby Girl! We jumped in the car and drove straight to the shelter to meet him only to learn his adoption was already pending. He howled from his cage when we left him that day but we got a call that he was available a couple of days later. He was a Valentines Day gift to our kids and we have been one big happy family ever since! We are very lucky to have such an amazing adoption center and staff who truly care about these animals and finding forever homes for all of them. Baby Girl and Skeeter are the best of friends! We couldn't be happier!"
"I have never been a big cat person. I'm a loyal dog fan, but we really needed a cat! We lived in the country and had an issue with mice, and the traps weren't working. I wasn't particular, I didn't need "pretty," I wasn't planning on a companion to fall in love with (I knew my kids would love anything furry enough for all of us). I contacted a volunteer at the BG Shelter and told her I needed a cat that would do well with my children and would be okay with a loud home. This very perceptive woman sent us three candidates and we set to work trying to narrow it down. Georgia was my pick. She is a gorgeous flame point Siamese with amazing eyes and I knew I wanted to bring her home. My daughter was disappointed because she had picked a different one, but I had a feeling. Apparently she had one, too, because she would NOT let it go. When she cried, we decided that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have two cats in our home. So... We brought home Georgia (my pick) who loves us all like we're her babies, but she has yet to catch her first mouse. And if you've ever seen Kill Bill, you know Beatrix Kitto (my daughter's pick) turned out to be the mouse assassin! What is truly wonderful is how much I've grown to love these two girls. I am now and will forever be a devoted cat fan. The personality, the love, the way we can communicate is like no pet relationship I've ever experienced. It's amazing what happens when we let go of what we think we want in a pet and allow them to pick us. I'll be forever grateful to the volunteer who is so wonderful at her job!"
"Brody and Cody's Independence Day came almost 13 years ago in September 2000. I had just lost my poodle Smokey and wanted a companion for my golden retriever, Sonny. I went to BGWC Humane Society along with my Mom and Dad hoping to find another poodle. Well, I found two! They had been found as strays and were obviously littermates. I planned to only adopt one, but needless to say, we ended up with both of them. And thank goodness we did! I can't image my life without both of them. They have been my constant companions since the day they came home. They helped me through the loss of my beloved Sonny and the loss of my wonderful Mother.
They are getting on now in years. When adopted the vet thought they were probably a year old or a little older, so they are getting closer to 14 all the time. They still act like puppies most of the time and I can't image life without them. They bring joy and happiness every day to anyone who meets them. I'm always saying that no one will ever love you like your dog, so I've had double love all these years. And I firmly believe that rescue pets had even more love to give. I will never have another "baby" who doesn't come from our great local shelter. I hope that day is very far off, but after my boys pass over the Rainbow Bridge, I will head down to BGWC Humane Society for someone new to pick me." 
"This is Dudley (left) and Coby (right). We adopted Dudley in Jan 2012 and Coby in Jan 2013. As you can see they are brothers forever and inseparable. When my boyfriend, BC, and I initially got Dudley we were so nervous about our new adventure but with a few weeks in we were in love. Dudley changed our lives and fulfilled the empty couch space we were missing. He loves to swim, go for walks and do tricks. We were ready for another new adventure and when Dudley met Coby for the first time it was brotherly love, we knew we couldn't leave the humane society without him. Together they have take our lives from good to great. We couldn't be more happy and humane society made it so easy to make the transition! We want to thank you all so much for all you do and couldn't be happier with the amazing boys we have!"
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I came by the humane society in the summer of 2007, and fell in love with a sweet dog named Zena. The staff informed she had been taken away from her owners by animal control, and that she wasn't up for adoption until the owners went to court. The next day I kept thinking about her so I went back by and the staff told me I could go ahead and fill out an application and they would keep it on file. I went by and visited Zena several times over the next week, and one day they asked if I would like to foster her until the court date and of course I said yes. Turned out the owners never showed up for court, and I was officially allowed to adopt her! She brings me so much joy and happiness. Thank you BGWCHS for taking such good care of her and allowing me to adopt her!"
"That handsome grey devil is Binx. We adopted him 2 years ago after my long time furry friend of 14 years passed away. I am convinced he reached out of his cage at the Humane Society just for us He was quite the little spitfire and still is. From the time he came home with us he's been stealing shoes (yes he does that) and hanging out with his dog friends (who are also rescues) and seems to love every second of it."
"For over a year I had been wanting to adopt a pug. I checked PetFinder every day and finally saw this precious senior pug that was at the BGWCHS. She was about 8 years and was used for breeding her entire life. When the breeder thought she was too old she was dropped off at the BGWCHS. I went straight to visit her and saw that she was already adopted. I left super upset. I received a phone call the next day that the adoption fell through and I could come adopt her. It was like it was meant to be. A few days later I finally adopted her, named her Gladys, and brought her home. During this time my mother was going through chemo for cancer. During her recovery Gladys was at the house a lot and the two bonded. Gladys was there to help my mother get through everything. The two are inseparable now. She gets to spend the rest of her life relaxing and being spoiled. Gladys is definitely one of the best things to happen to our family."
"For awhile me and my boyfriend would go to the Humane Society to play with the animals and take them for walks. We didn't have the immediate intentions to adopt just yet, but one day we came in and saw a litter of puppies. One of those puppies stuck out, so timid and shy, hid in the back the prettiest little chocolate lab puppy. We played with him and he was so shy he hid behind us, he was the one. That's the day we fell in love with our sweet Dexter. We continued to come and visit the animals even after bringing Dexter home and just a few months later we fell in love all over again. This time there was a litter of puppies and immediately one ran right up to us, we brought him in the room to play and boy! Did he have a personality! That's the day little Remington (Remi) stole our hearts! And it's the sweetest thing in the world to watch Remi look up to Dexter and stand up for him at the dog park even though he's so small."
"Tucker & Bailey came home with me on October 29, 2009. I went in there knowing I was coming home with a kitten, but I didn't know that I'd be leaving with TWO! Bailey was the cutest little fuzzball I'd ever seen, and Tucker was the tiniest one there, but he was so spunky. I got him out to see how he was with Bailey, and there was no way I was leaving without them both :)
Only it wasn't so happy ever after once they were home. I knew something was wrong with Bailey. After several visits and different dosages of pills, I found out that they had feline calicivirus, and they wanted me to put them both down right away. I was completely heart broken and cried my eyes out in front of everyone lol BUT Lorri gave me another option! With her help and with the help of the staff at the Humane Society I was able to nurse them back to health! They are now two very big and happy cats! They've completely changed my life, and I can't imagine being without them now! I recommend Bowling Green Humane Society to everyone I know. They are amazing people doing amazing things. I can't wait to add another member to our family very soon!!" 
"I wasn't looking for a dog. I live in NH and I just happened to be perusing the BGWCHS pets on petfinder when I saw him. He was skinny and the picture was just so sad. I felt like he was looking AT ME. And his story was even sadder. Something was wrong with his leg, probably broken. No one had even inquired about him during his 4 month stay.
I kept looking at his picture and I finally told my husband that I wanted to adopt him because I thought he "needed me." My husband looked at me and said, "you want to adopt a male dog with a broken leg, from Kentucky, that you've never met?" I told him, "I know it doesn't make sense, but he needs me." We've had Copper for 5 years or so now and he is an integral piece of our family. His little leg is broken and his hip smashed, but he just hikes it up and runs like the wind. Every morning, he hops up on the bed and lies stretched out right next to me. I'm so glad he found his way here. " 
"Hi. My name is Lilly but my humans think I'm a huge baby and call me Widdy. My old human was told that I looked "vicious" so he needed insurance on me in case I hurt someone (which I would never do.) but he couldn't afford that for me. So My old human had to take me to BGWCHS because the cops told my human to put me to sleep or take me to a high kill shelter(whatever that means, I just know its not as good as bgwchs) but my old human wanted to make sure I was safe. When I got surrendered, there was a nice lawyer lady named Ashlea there who shared my picture on Facebook. My new human mom was friends with this nice lady and thought that my story was very very sad. The next day my humans came to see me. They walked me and gave me love but couldn't decide if they wanted to adopt me. They ended up not putting in an application for me then because they were still in college and didn't know who would take care of me until they graduated. But my gwanma and gwanpa came to my rescue! And five minutes after my humans left the building they came back to adopt me! I was only there for one night before I got adopted! I can only hope other animals are that lucky! I got to stay with my gwanma and gwanpa and their dog Gravy for three months before my humans could take me home but they still visited. And that was ok because Gwavy is my bestest fwiend. After my humans got their edumacation I finally got to go home!! My new humans and home are the best I could ever ask for! I'm super lazy and I just sleep in their bed all day long. I really am just a huge baby and not at all vicious like those people said I looked. I'm glad my humans came to my rescue and gave me my Independence Day!"
"In the summer of 2012 we moved to Bowling Green with our husky, Sasha. We had wanted a playmate for Sasha for over a year but didn't have enough space for another. Once we were all moved in we decided it was time to expand our fur family and headed over to the Humane Society. Sasha loves all dogs, but she can get a little rambunctious for some, so we brought her with us to see how she would get along with a potential playmate. The first two dogs we put her with were afraid of her high-energy playing so we asked the staff to help recommend a dog that would play with her. They brought out a little 7 month old boy named Levi. As soon as we let him go in the yard they started chasing each other. It was love at first sight! We had to go home and think about it and make sure we were ready to take on another, but we returned a couple days later, relieved that no one had adopted him yet and took him home. He is the sweetest, cuddliest, and most energetic dog. We (including Sasha) love him to pieces." 
"In the Fall of 2010, I moved into my own apartment and found myself getting lonely rather quickly. Early in 2011 I started watching petfinder to see if I could find a furry baby to share my home with. Not being able to drive, I watched the website for a couple of months with no luck, so decided to get a ride to the shelter to look. Every dog I saw that I was interested in had already been adopted. I was getting very discouraged when a week later, I saw Murphey (formerly Richardson) on petfinder at BGWCHS.
His big brown eyes, and just the look on his face grabbed my attention immediately, and his story was heartbreaking. He'd been brought to BGWCHS from another shelter that was going to put him down because they didn't have room for him! I found myself looking at his petfinder profile all day and I couldn't get a ride to the shelter to see him until the end of the week. I was sooo afraid he'd already be adopted by the time I got there that I went ahead and filled out the adoption papers online just to make sure he didn't. Even after I filled out the paperwork, I couldn't stop looking at his profile all week until I finally got to go meet him. The lady in the shelter brought him into the room where I was sitting and he immediately jumped up in my lap and looked me in the face. I was in love, head over heels in love with him, his personality, and those adorable big brown eyes. I brought him home with me that day and I couldn't have found a more perfect baby. There's nothing like the kind of love and companionship you can get from a dog, and the way he gives hugs is just adorable. He'll stand up on his hind legs, wrap his paws around my leg and lay his head on my leg. The feeling of peace and love I feel when he does that is just absolutely amazing. I can't believe that he almost got put to sleep at the other shelter before he came to BGWCHS for me to find him. It still makes me tear up when I think of the opportunity I could have so easily lost....that I could have missed the chance to share my life, home, and heart with this amazing boy." |
