A little over two years ago, we received a phone call with the sad news that my husband’s first cousin Eileen had passed away. She lived with the love of her life, Henry, a terrier mix whom she adopted from a shelter.

Henry was found by Eileen’s side, and thankfully taken to the DCSPCA. Eileen had named two people in her will to take care of Henry and both had reneged on their promise. My husband and I love dogs and have a lot of property in Morris County, NJ. We have six Labrador Retrievers, two of which are certified Therapy Dogs. The last thing we needed was another dog!

I can’t fully explain what made me say to my husband, “Let’s go and take a look at him, and see if we think he’d fit in with our crew.” You already know how this story ends. We went to the DCSPCA, and Henry immediately jumped into our arms and began kissing our faces. We took him home, and my Labs and Henry absolutely love each other. Now Henry is our love story.

~ Marilyn J. Nash

Hi, it’s me Mabel. The medical staff will smile when they hear that name for sure, but I wanted the rest of the folks to know how I got here to tell my story. I was a tiny very sick foster kitten; my 3 sisters had died and the prognosis for me was pretty much the same. My foster Mom kept trying along with the staff and doctors who visited the shelter. Daily, I got medicines and shots and IV fluids placed under my neck so I would not get dehydrated. You see, I could not nurse and keep the formula down. I slept on a heating pad wrapped in tiny wool blankets.

One night as I was getting weaker my Mom was rocking and singing to me and told me that it would be all right to go to the Rainbow Bridge with my sisters, but she would miss me. Then she whispered, "Mabel, if you can only get better, Dad and I will adopt you.” The next day when Mom looked into my cage expecting the worst, I was looking out at her and sitting up, and of course they adopted me. They call me "M&M" for Mabel Miracle.

~ Mabel (Miracle) Cote
Daughter of DCSPCA Volunteers Nancy Jo and Joe Cote

Our love story with Abigail began back in early 1984 when we went to the DCSPCA to find a cat to replace the one that we had recently lost. When we went into the cat area most of the cats ignored us except for one, "Abigail!" This one young black cat was climbing up the cage door and making such a commotion that you had to notice her. Notice her we did. She wanted out real bad and we wanted a cat real bad so it was a perfect match from the start.

After we got her home, she became very sick. We took her to the vet, who said she had an upper respiratory infection. We enticed her to keep eating, feeding the cat food that had the most obnoxious odor—the one she nibbled at the most. Soon, she was up and well.

She was independent and tolerated her sister cat, with a few "who's top cat"
discussions once in a while. One of the things that made Abby so special was her love of traveling. She would go with us camping up in the Adirondacks. During the journey, she would get up and look out the front windshield so she could see where she was. On the trip home, she would warn us that it was getting dark and we had better get home!

When her older sister passed on, we got her a younger brother. She would tolerate him and they would sometimes bat at each other through the crack of an almost closed door. Chauncey knew his place and always looked to his older sister for guidance, which she patiently gave.

As Abby got on in years, she would take her spot on our bed every night, up on a pillow. She was a part of our life for 17 years before we had to make that decision that pet people wish someone else would make for them. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share a little bit about our Abby with you.

~ Susan & Jerry Gilnack, Red Hook

It was the fall of 1998 and we had recently lost our 10-year-old dog, Fred, to cancer. We have always supported the DCSPCA and decided to visit to see if we could find another dog to share our love. A shelter employee said "she had the dog for us.” She brought Lacy out from the back to take for a walk. Lacy was skinny and timid. We filled out the paperwork and took Lacy home to meet the king of our home: Barney, our cat. They hit it off great–we caught them nuzzling each other.

Seven months later we went back to the DCSPCA thinking we'd get a cat. An
employee pointed out Roxy–a puppy rescued on an abuse case. She was sitting in a cage and looked up at us with these big pleading eyes, tail wagging, and we said "OK.” Roxy became instantly attached to Lacy and will not go anywhere without her. As for the King, he loves them both. All three sleep together on our bed because they are truly spoiled.

We have been truly blessed to have adopted Lacy and Roxy. They have given us so much pleasure and we want to take this opportunity to thank everyone at the shelter for bringing these two great dogs into our lives.

~ George and Lynn Carola, Hyde Park

PS -- The DCSPCA makes sure that every animal is spayed or neutered prior to leaving the shelter - just one way we can help end pet overpopulation.

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