Emily is looking for her forever home and Pepper is Part What?

Part What?  

Pepper- 
Our guest blogger today is Bill Kahle, datable animal lover and all-around good guy. 

Pepper was a “country rescue.” A friend from work noticed two aging puppies at a crossroads notorious for abandoned litters of dogs and cats. My friend had long ago given up on trying to catch the loathsome humans, or adopting every puppy. There’s only so much one can do, and country drop-offs often require expensive vet care.

For some reason, after one of the pups remained after a day, she mentioned she was willing to pick it up and deliver it to us. Her description? “All black, part lab, probably.”

Part lab. Good start. Vet said Pepper was healthy, and our 11 years together were wonderful.

Pep was our school bus stop mascot. She loved all kids. She never snapped, growled or hinted that she was not happy to be with kids, even clumsy and clueless, eye-poking, fur-pulling, ear-tugging toddlers.

Part lab. But part what else?

Bus stop kids heard me tell other grownups we didn’t know all Pepper’s parts. One morning they noticed her eating grass. “Look, Mr. Bill, she’s part COW!” So began our decade-long neighborhood joke.

Silky soft fur, she’s part mink; prancing through tall grass, she’s part deer; squeezing under a fence, she’s part cockroach; pushing her head into your petting hands, she’s part goat; trying to settle her 40 pound body on your lap, she’s part cat; digging holes and looking up from time to time with a dirty snout, she’s part hog.

A generation of school kids giggled with ideas and debates, and Pepper clearly loved the attention.

One vet listed her as a lab-collie. Another decided she was australian shepherd mix. One kennel thought she was lab-chow. One day a girl from down the street excitedly showed us a school library book with a picture of a flat-coated retriever that looked exactly like Pep. But since she (Pepper, not the girl) was a country drop-off and not a $2000 purchase, I never gave that much of a chance.

Nowadays, it’s possible and very affordable to have pet DNA lab tested. About the time I thought it would be fun to settle the part-what? story we received the bad news that Pepper had untreatable bone cancer.

The end was too soon for such a gentle soul. It’s terribly sad that such a friendly and sweet dog was deprived of loving twilight years.

We never had her DNA tested to find out who (or what) her parents were. I’m OK with that.

We know Pepper was much more than the sum of her “part-whats?”

She was purebred lucky.

So were we.

Ms. Emily- stunning cat, really gorgeous

BIG AND BOLD.  Everything about Emily will make an impression!  Her coat is the shiniest and most glistening we've seen, a very thick and compact coat.  The black is VERY black and the white, pure white.  And her markings will make you smile!  Her eyes are large and clear gold.  She's a big girl, round without being overweight.  She's friendly and will nuzzle your hand, then stretch and raise her rear as high in the air as she can with sheer pleasure :).

 The sad part is that Emily lived her entire life with a family, they chose her as a kitten, declawed her, and now after 11 years has given her up.   Change is hard for all of us and especially for adult cats.  She's handling it like an absolute champ - much better than we would have expected.  It doesn't appear that she has been around other pets- she is working on learning to be friends with other animals. Emily is fostered in Huntsville, AL and we'd love to introduce her to you - she needs a good friend and fully committed family.  Please complete our application at www.FORrescue.net (click on resources) and/or email info@FORrescue.net to speak with her foster parent.  THANK YOU! 

If you would like to contribute a story to the FOR blog, please mail the contents along with an image or two to blog@forrescue.net.

 At the end of 2014 individuals who submitted content for the FOR blog will be entered in a drawing for a free pet portrait.

 Other FOR animals available for adoption