Rescue pets bring holiday spirit to their forever homes

When asked about rescue pets, people far and wide Downeast and in the Fundy Isles immediately beam with delight at the stories they have to share. If they don't have one themselves -- and this appears to be a rare state of affairs -- they know many who do and have happy anecdotes to relay. Rescue pets come in all shapes and sizes, shy or gregarious, helpful or aloof. No matter what the personality, they are beloved members of their families bringing joy into their new homes.

New puppy is the best medicine
Dee Darling, former operator of Save Our Strays cat shelter in Lubec, has eight rescue cats living at home, and they were the first to provide a warm welcome to the new member of the household, a puppy named Oakley Annie. "I've always had dogs and missed them," Darling explains. She began looking and found a rescue operation that featured a dog from Oklahoma. She drove down to Westbrook to meet it, and fate took over. "She's not the one I went down for." That one had already been spoken for. "But once I saw Oakley ... " it was a match made in heaven.
Oakley settled in right away on the ride home, sleeping most of the way. And she's been fitting in well, only needing supervision with the cats during meal time. "She's very smart and learns really well." Darling adds, "They add such happiness. They just do something for you." She says with a laugh, "They're medicine, and you don't have to go to the gym because you're out there walking with them."

Rescued dog comes to the rescue
Down in Birmingham, Ala., a mutt with unusual pedigree was wandering the streets, abandoned. "He was fostered by a wonderful lady with a rural property," says Lubec resident Chris Farr of Vinnie, a mix that includes 20% Berger Blanc Suisse, a rare breed for this country. "They think he had been hit by a car or a bicycle. There was damage to his hip that never healed properly." At 90 pounds, Vinnie is a big dog, but Farr says, "He's one of the gentlest and happiest of creatures."
Four years ago Farr's beloved boxer had died suddenly at Christmas time. When he returned from visiting family over the holidays, "the house seemed so empty." He began his search, but he specifically wanted a dog that could be trained as a therapy dog. Vinnie popped up on the rescue site For Dog's Sake out of New Hampshire. The site started sending Farr videos of Vinnie playing. The pup was about a year old. "It was clear that he was exactly what I was looking for." Farr went to pick Vinnie up in Vermont and is still touched by how Vinnie reacted on the drive home. "He sat right by me. He spent the entire time trying to soothe me," and this was after a grueling travel schedule for both, but particularly for Vinnie. Farr adds, "He truly is my best buddy."
Now at five, Vinnie has been trained and certified as a therapy dog and before the pandemic visited residents in nursing homes, with Campobello Lodge a favorite, and also worked during exam weeks at the University of Southern Maine (USM) School of Law in Portland and with the nursing students in the University of New England program in Biddeford. Vinnie has also been to schools as part of a program to teach children how to approach and interact with dogs they don't know. "Since COVID stopped in person visits we have been doing virtual visits via Zoom with the Pets Together," a program that recognizes the need to continue with programs that combat loneliness and because of its virtual nature does not require that pets be certified. "It's amazing how it resonates with people," Farr says of the virtual visits. "The half hour just races by."

Fun loving kitten finds her forever home
Stevie and I both had pets all our lives," explains Tessa Ftorek of Eastport. But five years ago when their last cat passed away, they were transitioning to a new home that they were building. It just wasn't the right time to bring home a new pet. "Over the years I kept looking at pictures, thinking about getting a pet but was hesitant and stopped just short of doing it." All that changed a month ago.
"I saw a picture of the cutest kitten on the PAWS Facebook page and just knew it was time and that particular kitten was the one for us." Two days later Whitney Luna was ensconced in her new home, playing with toys and investigating every friend and neighbor coming over for a visit. "She has really changed our home and our lives. She is playful, loving, feisty, cute, naughty, and we are in love with her."
The Ftoreks' home overlooks Friar Roads, where the fishing and recreational boats are of great interest to the kitten. Ftorek notes, "She sits in the window with me in the morning and watches the boats go by." Also up for window entertainment are the deer and foxes as they travel through the yard. The kitten loves to be social when company stops by and then is ready for a good nap on their laps until the next enthralling activity arrives. "Luna has made us very happy. We enjoy her antics and love her companionship. We feel good, too, knowing we are giving a good home to a little kitten picked up off a busy street. I didn't realize how much I missed having a pet until little Luna joined our family."

Restful home after turbulent start
Smokey, a one year-old dog, was born during the pandemic and had an anxiety inducing early life with a family in New York State that was unable to keep him. Two sisters in Eastport, Susan Weaver and Chris Smith, had lost their elderly small dog and were looking for a replacement. They thought they'd most like a small, elderly dog, but their neighbor, Marged Higginson, knew of Smokey's plight through her daughter, who knew Smokey's owner. Hearing that the sisters were not having any luck finding what they wanted through local shelters, she mentioned Smokey and that her daughter could bring him on a vacation trip in September. The sisters said yes.
Two months later and Smokey is at home with his three cats and two humans. He's a smart dog and remembers the chaos of his early life. Surrounded by toys, a soft bed and comfy couch blankets, he sits next to the sisters and alternates between reassuring tummy and head rubs. The anxiety is still there, but the sisters are patient with him and working with a dog sitter for when they aren't at home or need help getting him into the car, which he doesn't trust.
"He loves to walk. Sometimes he even prances," with a high step and head and waving tail, says Smith. "He looks so proud." The sisters love their cats, but a dog adds a different dimension to the household mix. "Cats are so independent, they're more like roommates," Smith says with a laugh. With dogs there's the walking and "having to interact more personally," explains Weaver. And like so many rescue pet stories, while Smokey wasn't what they thought they wanted, he's turned out to be just right.

Kitten comes in from the cold
Rebecca Bainbridge's rescue kitten was born to a feral cat she'd been feeding on her deck at her Grand Manan home. She suspects Pompom was the only survivor of a litter of three. When they hadn't seen her for a couple of weeks, the family feared the worst, but she reappeared one bitterly cold night last February.
Bainbridge recalls, "It must have been about minus 25. My husband had made the mistake of telling me if I could catch her, I could keep her." She scooped the underweight, badly matted kitten up in a towel. Pompom lay on the couch savouring the warmth, "and we decided to keep her forever."
After treatment for worms and fleas, a spay and an introduction to the Bainbridges' previously adopted cat, Pompom "filled the missing piece to our puzzle. She has brought so much joy to our family, especially my four small children with her silly antics and snuggles. She's also been a great companion to our older cat, Midnight." Her mother may yet join her. While reluctant to come in, she still comes for food and lets Bainbridge pet her. "She let me pick her up the other day." They hope to get her spayed at an Animal Welfare League spring clinic.