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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Cooper
Pet's Name: Cooper
Type of Animal: Dog (A mix)
Age: 12
My dog Cooper has been with our family since 2013. My family searched for a puppy on Petfinder.com for months. My mom saw puppies that she loved and contacted the foster mom, Lisa. My family and I made an appointment to go and visit. We traveled to Babylon, and Lisa had a house full of puppies. My parents were talking with Lisa and her family and found out that the house they were living in currently was not their home. SuperStorm Sandy had displaced them and they were staying in the Babylon house while their home was being renovated due to the storm damage. She told us she couldn’t stop fostering after Sandy damaged her home because she loved it so much. While there, we played with all the puppies but really fell in love with the white dog with black spots. We left that day without Cooper but my parents started the application process. A few weeks later, my brothers and I were surprised when we came home and a white puppy with black spots greeted us in the foyer. We were so happy. Cooper was home. Cooper’s personality traits are that he is very protective of his family and is playful even with our chickens. My favorite thing to do with Cooper is to take walks around our neighborhood and play fetch with him in our backyard.
I would recommend adopting an animal. There are so many animals that need a home and they can easily become part of your family.
Tuzic
Pet Name: Tuzic
Type Of Animal: tuxedo cat
Age: ~16
Rescued From: our backyard
Written by: Abby
Tuzic (To-z-ic) the tuxedo cat is about 16 to 17 years old and has been in our family for about 15 years. The name Tuzic, is a Russian name. The way we got Tuzic is that one day he started coming to our backyard around when my brother was born. My mom would bring food for him and soon we rescued him and brought him home. When he was younger, he would go outside for long adventures around the neighborhood and come back home. Now since he is older, he likes to go outside in the morning, usually while my siblings and I are at school. When we would come back from school, Tuzic would come back home, waiting for cuddles, snuggles, and rubs in his favorite places. When Tuzic is home he likes to take naps on his bed or on the carpet by my desk asking for a pat on the head or a belly rub. But my dad gets mad when he is on the light gray carpet because you can see the fur on the carpet.
I would recommend adopting or rescuing a pet because you are saving an animal's life by taking responsibility for the pet.
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.