Adding a new pet to the family is always exciting. Adopting a pet from an animal shelter or rescue group is not only exciting, but it’s also a feel-good experience.
Below you will find heartwarming stories written by local teens about their experiences bringing home a rescue pet.
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Autumn
Pet's Name: Autumn
Type of Animal: Cat (Tabby, domestic short hair)
Age: 1 1/2 years
Written by: Douglas
We were looking to add a new member to our family after our dog Amelia passed away the year before. My mom suggested getting a kitten instead of a dog this time. I never had a kitten before. We went to Little Shelter in Huntington one weekend. They have a whole house just with cats there. We wanted a kitten, so we went to the special kitten room where they keep all the baby cats. We played with a whole bunch of the kittens. Some were big and some were tiny. Some were shy and some were very friendly. Autumn was one of the bigger ones and she was very friendly. She also purred loudly when we petted her. We decided on getting Autumn and filled out some adoption forms. We brought her home a few days later. This was in February 2022.
When we first brought her home, she was shy for a few days. Now she is not shy AT ALL. We play a lot together. Some of her favorite toys are the stick toy, the Bumble Bee on the string toy, pom pom balls, fake mouse toys, crinkle balls, and her favorite toys are bottle caps.
Her personality is very playful, curious, and very sweet. Besides playing with her, my favorite thing to do is to snuggle on the couch with her while watching T.V.
I would recommend adopting a cat because they make good members of the family. They give lots of love too. Also, I recommend adopting because when you adopt an animal you save its life.
Diesel
Pet's Name: Diesel
Type of Animal: Dog (Mastiff mix)
Age: 10
Written by: Dylan
Diesel has been in my family since he was 7 weeks old, he is now 10 years old. My family and I went to Riverhead for an adoption event where we saw Diesel and his siblings. After playing with the puppies, my family decided we wanted to adopt Diesel. The rescue had named the litter after Star Wars characters and Diesel was called “Luke Skywalker”. Some personality traits my dog has are he’s playful, protective, and loves to play with his toys by himself or with somebody. My dog is very big and strong. My favorite thing to do with my dog when I was younger was take naps together. He would lay against the back of the couch and then I would lay on him and we would fall asleep. Now that he's older we like to play tug of war together. He brings his toy rings or a big squeaky bone when he wants to play. I recommend adopting an animal because there are so many animals in our area waiting in a shelter or rescue that need homes.