Happy Adoption Stories

On December 6, 2008 we adopted Baldwin. That morning, I saw his picture in a Los Angeles Times story on the “Black Dog Syndrome” (how black dogs don’t get adopted as easily as other dogs). It was love at first sight. We drove to spcaLA in Long Beach. We quickly changed his name to Bruno because my wife and I are from Argentina and had a hard time pronouncing Baldwin. Bruno has enriched our lives immensely. He is our companion, alarm system, and fitness trainer.

We have two teenage grandchildren that don’t need us as much as they used to. Now, Bruno is the baby we take care of. He lives a pampered life. We cook special meals for him, put his raincoat on him when the weather is bad and cover him with baby blankets when he sleeps.

Bruno alerts us when someone is outside, when squirrels and birds dare to enter the backyard and when our neighbors decide to take a walk.

Bruno has managed to do what years of nagging from my wife and daughters had not been able to do. Get me off the couch! I walk with Bruno every day. I used to hate walking if it wasn’t on a golf course.

As you can see, Bruno is loved! He is the intelligent, bilingual and affectionate dog we have longed for.

Thank you! Ricardo and Mary Olszewski

My name is Thundercloud. I am a Border collie that was adopted from spcaLA’s P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village & Education Center in Long Beach. In September, a dog came in to the veterinary hospital where my owner works because it needed a blood donor. My owner volunteered me. I donated a pint of my blood, and the transfusion was successful. The dog’s symptoms went away as did her bruising. She visits the hospital for regular checkups, and she is still doing well.

She was the model dog on the drive home. Very quiet, looked out the windows and laid down on the seat. Once we got off the freeway, she sat up and looked around – very interested in her surroundings.

I bought a shallow rectangular storage container that is intended for sliding under the bed and put it outside full of water for Missy to play in. We also bought a ball with ropes sticking out of the ends, and she really enjoys playing with that.

She’s very affectionate, climbed up in my lap and sat for a long time.

Thanks so much for the good work you all do, these animals are fortunate indeed to have such loving and dedicated folk to look after them.

- Linda

Attached is a picture of my wonderful dog Roxie. I adopted her in January of 2003 when she was only 9 months old. I found her at the spcaLA in Long Beach. She was a gorgeous dog but did look a little scary. I decided to take a chance on her, thoug,h because she was young, and I thought I could train her. What I didn't realize is that she didn't need training. She just had a lot of built up energy from sitting in a kennel. After all, she is a boxer. When I got her home, the first thing she did was run across the grass and duck her head flipping end over end. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. Now 2 years later, we are best friends. We do everything together, and she is the best and smartest dog I have ever been around.

Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to meet.

Dear spcaLA,

I know that Sydney was at the shelter for a little while, and you have probably wondered how she is doing. She has fit into her new home very well. At the shelter she seemed to bark a lot. Since arriving at her new home, she is very well behaved, only barking when someone is at the door. She has the reign of the house and backyard. She mostly stays indoors and sleeps on the bed and couch. The neighbor kids really like Sydney and come by often and take her on a walk. Thank you very much for taking care of Sydney while she was at the Pet Adoption Center in Long Beach. She is a welcome addition to our family.

To everyone at the spcaLA,

We have given our rabbit a new name "Satchmo".  We are having soooo much fun with him. He is the best pet ever! We took him camping to Jalama Beach and last weekend we were in Palm Springs. He stayed inside the air conditioned hotel room. We're sending pictures for you.

Sincerely,

Sebastian Mills and family

Hi there!

Just wanted to send you over some pictures of Necco. She is a wonderful bunny and we are so happy to have her. She seems to be very comfortable in her new home and is not shy about exploring the living room. For a tiny little bunny she has a huge personality and is always doing silly things to amuse us - like jumping up in the air and spinning around or zooming back and forth for no apparent reason. She even found this crawl space between her cage and the window, and walks/hops back and forth down this little "bunny run" over and over again. She absolutely loves to be pet and will let you pet her forever. The only hard thing is having to put her in her cage when we go to work in the morning or to sleep at night, though she does get around 6 hours per day out of the cage. Thanks for giving us the best, most adorable bunny ever!

Jessica

Here are some pictures of our boy!!

He really is a great dog...i got so lucky!!
Let me know if you go to the beach again, maybe we can come up there and see you!!

<3

Jenn and skoobs

To Allison Ryan,

Here are photos of "Chuck" and "Polly" whom we adopted from you September 17, 2008. Please let their foster mother know that they are thriving and happy. "Polly" has completely taken over her new territory and has no fear. "Chuck" has overcome his initial shyness and is purring and making sure that he gets his share of attention. I'm so glad that we adopted them together as they are great pals.

Thank you for all your help with adopting them.

Kim

Hi, my Friends at Hawthorne Shelter,

You probably remember me as Cupcake, I looked like a black lab/shepherd mix. My new name is Zimmy. I've been in my new home almost a week and have given my new mom and dad some nice surprises.

You can probably tell, we're a very happy family and I'm enjoying my new home and neighborhood. I was a very good dog when I met them, and am getting even better! : )

Thank you for all the good care you gave me while I was staying with you!

Love,

Zimmy

spca -

You all do "awesome" work. We like to visit the Long Beach location off Spring St. We shop for our food & treats there.

Thank you -
Polly & Scooter

We adopted Rose from the Hawthorne Shelter. She is very happy in her new home in Newport Beach!!

Here is a photo of our daughter Catherine and Rose for your adoption wall!!!

Anne

Hi ,

I adopted James (now Rocky) on August 13, 2008. Rocky seems really happy here, plays a lot, growing, and is learning "proper" cat etiquette from the older resident cat, Emme.

Hi everyone

I adopted Wiley from your South Bay Center. He is better know now as Mojo. Its been now a year and Mojo is doing very well. He is very happy. I have attached some pictures of him. I truly believe that he was meant for me. Please send this info to the staff at the South Bay Center in Hawthorne, Ca.

Thank you
Sincerely

Veronica

I love her - she's a well-behaved gem.  You guys did a really good stellar job with Susie - your TLC kids, staff, training, etc.  I have nothing but praise for your whole organization!  And I still plan to bring Susie by in person one of these days....

Sally

Here is the latest picture of Dutchess with me.  Her hair finally grew out and I got her the Westie cut, which is really easy to keep up and much cooler for her.

I definately advise people to consider getting one of the older dogs - they really appreciate the love and attention.  The old story about "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" False!!!

You can also teach them to get along with cats within a couple of days.

Marilyn

To spcaLA,

I adopted Nora (Pit Bull mix) on June 7th, and I know animals come in and out of this shelter daily but Nora seemed to be a special case in that she'd been with the shelter for a couple of years and I could tell the volunteers/employees really took good care of her and were excited for her to have found a home. 

Nora is such an amazing dog; she is sweet and gentle.  She has acclimated well to the house, at first she was very hesitant and scared but now she knows our home is her home.  She loves to sunbathe in the yard but of course when it gets warm, she finds the shade under our ficus tree as the best spot to stay cool.  She loves her daily walks...she was a bit overweight when she left the shelter but has lost some of the pounds and has more energy. She's in such good shape, that I can take her out for a jog to the park.  She's great with my nephews and enjoyed her first 4th of July with my entire family!  I love coming home after a hard day at work to find Nora greeting me and doing what I call her "happy dance.”  Nora is also very trainable for being an older dog, she's so smart and catches on quickly.

In short, I wanted to say "thank you" for having such a great organization and amazing volunteers (I visited the shelter 4 or 5 times before deciding on Nora...everyone was so helpful).  

Helen

Crispen had been the last of his litter mates to be adopted, I got him a friend, Howie, just 2 months later.  I want to thank whomever raised Crispen before I adopted him.  They certainly know how to raise a good kitty.  He is full of love and sweetness.  What a difference to have a kitten who has been in foster care before adoption.  They (Crispen and Howie) are best of friends and get in line to have their tummies scratched!!  I'm so grateful for the Long Beach facility for finding the two most purrrfect pets for me. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

Linda

Just a quick update and picture of formerly known "Shiloh” adopted from the Long Beach CAV. She now goes by the name Miss Winks (due to the missing eye, she's continuously winking at everyone!). She has quickly grown accustomed to our family life. Over the past year, she has learned so many amusing tricks. Her favorite is to "speak," either when asking for a special treat or to let us know her favorite ball has rolled under the couch, again. She is such an important and loved family member and I have no doubt that she knows just how much she is loved.

Thanks for helping to place her with her perfect family!

Perez family

We are so happy to have Buddy in our lives.  He is an awesome and temperate dog we love to death.   He is a licking machine.  We find him to be extremely sweet with a quirky personality.

He loves to run and go places. I try to run him as much as I can.  We are so thankful to find him at spcaLA and tell as many people that adopting is the most rewarding way to find a animal that needs love.   We also think very highly of your facility.  Thank you so much.  

Take care,
Jon and Michelle

Thank you so much for the vaccination reminder, we actually adopted two boys from you last winter, "Nigel" (now known as "Oz") who is the black and white tuxedo and "Oliver" (still known as "Oliver") who is the big orange tabby.  Both are doing really well and have settled into our home.  They had a few days of drama when we first introduced them but now they are happy together.  Oz is the dominate cat (we had him about a week before we adopted Oliver) but both can hold their own; they love to play!  We had such a great experience adopting though spcaLA - everything was perfect.  Both Oz and Oliver are cherished here and our lives have been enriched by them.  I have attached some pictures of both boys, thanks again! 
 
David and Terri Hardeman

Scout (formerly Sunshine) has adjusted well to our home.  The boys are having fun playing with her, taking her for walks and being responsible for her day to day necessities.  She went on her first beach camping trip with our family last week. 

Spencer has adjusted well to his new home.  He's loving, playful, happy, and healthy.  He likes to be with his human companions and often follows us around, getting in the middle of things.  We love having him as part of the family. 

Mark

(Here are) some pics of Goofy, whose new name is Kozak, named after an old Professional Armenian wrestler.  We are having the most fun ever with him and it was truly fate that we found each other. He is awesome. Thanks for taking care of him until we got there. 

Sincerely, Buffy

We are very happy with our newly adopted beagle, and we named him "Eddie."  My wife and I were very impressed with your facility and how we were treated through the whole process. Yes, we did activate the chip, and license and tag him.  He is a wonderful dog and he will get a bunch of love in his new home. Ee even seems to love the attention he gets from our grandsons, even our 10 month old grand-daughter!    Again, I really thank you for caring for all the animals in your facility, if only everyone could adopt a pet from spcaLA and give them a loving home it would be a little better world.

Vincent and Ann -- Eddie's friends

(Here is a picture of Eddie, on what now has become "his" chair)