Welcome to the Fauquier SPCA
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Happy Tails
We will post the shelter success stories on this page.  If you have a "Happy Tail" yourself, please contact me with stories and photographs at cfolker@fauquierspca.com and I will add you to our page.
Dear SPCA supporters,
 
My name is Boston.  I was adopted from the Fauquier SPCA.  I'd like to tell you my story because I think it is a little different than most.  I knew my owner far before my adoption.  My owner was working at the SPCA cleaning the cat cages, as a summer job during college.  She saw that I was very thin, had a coarse coat, a shortened tail, and ear mites.  Known by Drako at the time, I was often overlooked by visitors as a sick cat.  It seemed like everyone wanted a kitten.            
 
When my owner took me out of my cage I would try to make friends with the other cats.  At times they were mean to me but I was determined to have a buddy, anybody.  I would herd the kittens together and try to give them baths, a real nurturer.  I also loved to sit with my arms tucked in and meditate like a small furry Buddha.  Being brushed could be dangerous because my purr is thunderous and lasting.  I am also a compulsive cuddle-er.
 
Because she worked with me daily, my owner got to know the cat behind the hat, you could say.  While others saw a sick stray she could see that I was the sweetest of the bunch.  The shelter was reaching maximum capacity and I had been there the longest out of the cats, four months. Despite a vow to herself to not get attached and bring a pet home, she decided that she could bare no alternate future for me other than to take me home.  Luckily, I came home to an older brother cat and dog to play with.  They were unsure of me at first but I won them over with my sweetness.  I went to the doctor, got a new diet, and the space to play outside.  I'm now a plump, mite-less, silky and soft coated, handsome boy.  I'm still a furry Buddha and a big cuddle bug that loves to spend as much time as possible showing my owner my love and appreciation for saving me.  I hope others will chose wisely and have a happy ending to their pets tail as well!
 
 
Loyaly,
 
Boston 'Drako' Geary



We adopted Teya in March of 2009 knowing she was in need of surgery for a badly broken leg.  Her leg was repaired with a plate and 5 screws and she's had a complete recovery!  She's has gone through obedience class and we are working on     getting her Canine Good Citizen certificate.  Her leg has healed so well that we are thinking of enrolling her in agility courses as well!  In December we heard of a tiny twin of our Teya that came into the shelter.  We saw him and fell in love so we adopted him as well!  The two of them get along fabulously and have made great additions to our family!! 

 

Tina Ritenour & Rich Pomerleau


 

Walking through Tractor Supply a week ago we stopped to say hi to the SPCA volunteer Joan and give a "quick" pet to the cats up for adoption. That was all it took. My husband Mike is a dyed in the wool "dog man" and he had personally picked out our lab Neo from Fauquier SPCA 4 years ago. THIS time the cat picked him! Last weekend he had agreed to hold the cat for a minute ( I'm sure just to be nice) and as he held him he was shocked to find the cat purring, nuzzling and being as loving as any dog he had ever known. Basically, the cat is a dog in feline clothing. Mosby ( formerly "Freedom") and Neo met the next day at the shelter to make sure they would get along and that was all she wrote. Mosby the cat came home the next day and he has decided we all belong to him...a truly great addition to our family. We can't thank everyone at Fauquier SPCA for all their hard work, attention and care....

 

Andie and Mike Rodway

 




We had two cats of our own Billy-Bob & Kee-o. One I raised on a bottle, when we saved him from a trash heap. The other from a stray litter of kittens. Both lived to be 14 teen and 17 teen. A third cat Fraaannk later became part of the family. Due to a family member going thru a hard time and needed us to care for him and ended up staying, he lived to be 16teen. They all died recently in the same year, from old age. The last, I'm sure just from a broken heart.

 

Need less to say after that, I swore off any more cats, I was done.

 

My mother was dying from cancer, a year ago this coming April. She really wanted some thing a live to sit and lay with her, for the time she had left. So, I broke down and adopted  the oldest cat at the SPCA to be with her. "Kelly" cat, sadly Kelly died three months later, (before my Mom). She did die in a loving, warm home. So again I broke down and we then adopted "Oh Henry" from the SPCA. This time the biggest cat there, though much younger than I wanted. The papers said "he was aggressive, not good with children or dogs". My mother being in her own little apt downstairs, we thought he would be fine. So home came "Oh Henry"

He sat and laid with and sang to my mother all the time. He was a very clean boy with the litter box, even if I missed a day in cleaning it.

He made my mother very happy.

 

When my mom went to "the next place" as we call it. We had to then start letting Oh Henry come up stairs into our lives, much to my husbands displeasure. So he would not be lonely, he needed to be acclimated into the up stairs part of the family.

As it turns out, with some patience on his part and ours, Oh Henry has become a wonderful member of the family! 

He has many funny positions he takes around the home. Like the "penguin sit" while he cleans himself. He is also a "wall hugger" and a "window sitter" and loves to hide in boxes and lay in front of the heat vent in front of the kitchen sink. He is the biggest cat we've ever seen and has the head the size and shape of a soft ball. He has learned to get along with our "Sally" dog ( who came from you all also) and even my husband now, is very fond of "Oh Henry". He does not like a lot a commotion, that part it true but, when things start getting exciting around here. He just runs back down to my Moms (now his) apt.

 

I would love for the people  who gave up this wonderful cat to know. That he is very much loved and cared for and happy in his new forever home. With a dog, three kids, two birds and a lot of laughter, and much of that laughter because of "Oh Henry" :-)

 

Thank you SPCA for all you do for the animals and know that our pets will always come from an adoptive source.

 

Most sincerely,

Carolyn (Cal) Dooley and family

 


 

 

"Pandi"

 

"In late April, 2010, it will be 2 years since Pandi joined our family who include my husband, our Jack Russell, Dudley, and our domestic short-haired kitty, Pickles.  The SPCA had taken in 3 female puppies that you named March, April, and May.  I got April.  You thought she was a Jack Russell mix, but it seems she is probably more Rat Terrier.  She is really a pistol and has taken charge of everyone and everything in the household and the neighborhood.  She and Dudley are buddies, and it has been good for him to have her to run and play with.  She is keeping him young.  She is very affectionate and "owns" myself and my husband.  I hope her sisters are as loved as this cutie is.  Thank you for all you do for these sweet animals.  Whenever I stop off to visit, I always wish I could adopt a few more.  However, we have a full house at this point."

 








"Radar"

One early morning last April my Mom called me totally out of the blue and said, "John, I just saw a dog on TV." We're talking 5:30 am or so, and I'm half asleep. Now my folks live in a community called Lake of the Woods just west of Fredericksburg. I'm up in northern VA. Turns out that there must be a community-access cable channel or something similar that they receive. She had seen a dog that was apparently up for adoption on it. Not sure if she saw the show that morning or the previous evening. I was only partially awake but I asked for more details; all she had was a phone number that she had quickly jotted down, and the dog's name, which was "Montana." She didn't know anything else. I said, "Ok, I'll try to find out more." Oh, and one other thing, she said that the name of my dog should be "Radar", as she is also a big M*A*S*H fan. Right. Dog. 0530. Phone number. And Radar. Got it. 
 

The next day during lunch I popped the ph# into Goggle and up came the Fauquier SPCA's name and web info. So far, so good. I clicked on the adoptions page and looked for a lab named "Montana." Nope. Nada. Nothing. Either this dog was already gone, or (more likely I thought) just not on the web page yet. No problem. I can wait, but in the mean time, I thought to myself, why don't I just look and see what other dogs might be available. Well, that's just what I did. I came across a lab named "Raven" and I just couldn't resist coming down to meet her. That first picture had "take me" all over it.


That first meet and greet with Raven was on a wet and muddy Saturday and thus we couldn't go outside. She was pretty wired and excited but things just seemed to click. I filled out the paperwork just in case and agreed to come down the following Saturday to really see how she was once I got her outside. When I came back down to see her, we played outside for almost two hours during which she learned out to sit, stay, and give paw. One smart pup.
 

The energy level still pretty high, but I was able to tire her out a little bit. And she was attached. Really attached. How could I say no? She went home with me the following weekend and, appropriately, I called her "Radar."

I guess Montana was just not meant for me, but Radar, without a doubt, was.



 

That's basically the story in a nutshell!

 

-john



We adopted our puppy, Blarney, in December 1995. The first member of our family...he'll be 15 this week.

It was his second visit to the SPCA, when we adopted him. A family adopted him previously, and they were so disappointed when he didn't do well with the family Easter bunnies in the backyard (they had them in a cardboard box). I'll never forget the notice outside his pen that read "Great with kids... NO RABBITS!"  

Blarney is wonderful... a mix of Blue Heeler and Australian Shepherd! He's best friend to three little boys now (but I remember us sneaking him into our hotel room our wedding night in 1996 because we couldn't bear leaving him alone), in addition to John and I.

Recently, he's been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and an enlarged heart. We don't know what we'll do without our puppy.

Christy Meadows Connolly


Merlin is growing so fast, it amazes me to look at pictures of him when I first brought him home and then to look at him now.  He is quite the character, and a VERY smart boy.  He has learned from Valla & Sadie (our other 2 kitties) how to open doors by grabbing them   underneath the door and pulling, sometimes pushing, otherwise if the door is latched shut, he likes to let you know HE WANTS IN!  Haha.  He's taken up well with the pup we adopted from my Sister, he LOVES to play with tennis balls!
 
He, along with the other kitties, were VERY entertaining while I was snowed in alone during the big storms we had.  He has really brightened up our home, and keeps the spunk in our other critters, including ourselves.

Myra Litzler



Our family wanted to adopt two kittens after our beloved 18-year-old cat died in 2008.  In August of that year, we brought home Nicodemus (Nick) and Chloe from the Fauquier SPCA.  While they were not litter mates, these two cats have grown very attached to each other.  Nick has a separate language that he uses only when he talks to Chloe.  Each cat has its own unique personality.  Chloe doesn't meow, but instead chirps with a question mark at the end of each utterance.  It comes out as "mmmm??" She loves to sleep in my daughter's American Girl doll beds.  Nick is a total ball of affection, following us around the house to demand that we sit with him.  He loves to play foosball and is great at scoring goals!



Carole Avery




 

My wife and I adopted Bizzy from the Fauquier SPCA mid 2009. What a special family member she has become. Always in the middle of whatever is going on and very much protective of her two friends Boo(another Corgi) and Zues(a 100 # German Shepherd) . As always while doing snow removal on the farm she came out to watch which then turned into I want to ride. She kept me company for awhile by finding a nice sweatshirt on the consol and watched from her window as we moved snow. We are so thankful to the Fauquier SPCA for letting us adopt this sweet little dog that has become a major part of our family..

 

Jim Furr & Berk Lee


I've often thought about writing about our adoption story.  I'm finally getting around to you.  I want the world to know who wonderful adoption can be.

 

 

I'm a huge Boston Terrier lover.  Early Feb 2009, the SPCA called to let me know they had a Boston Terrier available for adoption.  They said he was really sick and didn't know if I would be interested because he was in poor shape.  They were right about him being in poor shape but so wrong about me being interested.  I rushed right up there to take a look at him and it was love at first sight.  My husband kept shaking his head and saying "No" but my heart was telling me yes.  He was in quarantine so I wasn't wasn't able to take him home with me that day.  

 

I consulted my vet, Dr. Dove to see if he could let me know what to expect with the known issues this dog had.  It didn't seem that bad.  The SPCA was kind enough to allow me to have my vet neuter him so I would only have to have him anesthetized one time.  The SPCA named him Higgins but we renamed him Remee which is short for REscue Mee.  

 

Remee was extremely malnourished weighing 14 pounds, he had a tumor like growth on his head, a tumor in his testicles, rotten teeth, corneal scaring in both eyes, arthritis in all four legs and acid reflex.   We were finally able to bring him home with us on Feb 13th, 2009.   Dr Dove checked him out and things were worse than we initially expected.  His age was determined to be about 12 years old based on his teeth.  Two weeks later he underwent surgery.  He was neutered which removed the tumor.  The tumor tested positive for cancer but the vet believe they removed all the cancer when the testicles were removed.  The tumor like growth was cut off is head and tested which came back as just a foreign object like a piece of grass or a thorn that got lodged under his skin.  Now you can't even tell he had growth on his head.   When the vet cleaned his teeth he had to remove just one rotten tooth (enabling him to eat treats).  The corneal scaring was caused from his eyelids not closing all the way so with some steroid drops they've significantly improved.  Daily he takes rimydal, glucosamine and chondroitin for his arthritis and pepcid for his acid reflux.  The surgery to remove and test the tumors and clean his teeth cost us over $900.00 but I would do it again tomorrow if I had to.

 

Currently, Remee is 25 pounds and he is doing great.  He gets along well with his 8 very active brothers and sisters and has learned to quickly move out of their way so he doesn't get pushed around.  He has mastered begging for a treat and with those big "puppy dog eyes" I just can't say "No".  To me he is an amazing dog.  He continues to find new ways to steal his mommies heart.  Although he has his own Cesar Milan bed he prefers to sleep with his mommy in the queen size bed.  I love all my dogs but I especially love Remee.

 

Kathleen Stuart




The 'Car-Wash' Cat.

When the Animal Control Officers rushed this half-drowned tiny kitten to the shelter, they did not expect him to live.

"Thrasher," as he was later named, was found shaking, bloody and terrified at a local car wash where the high-powered water hoses had ripped his skin so badly that in places the bone was exposed.  His lungs were struggling to work as he had ingested large amounts of water.  The shelter vet gave Thrasher a Cortizone injection along with antibiotic drops and fluids before he left with a shelter staff member to be cared for at her home.  Unbelievably, just twelve hours later, Thrasher was eating, purring and on his way to recovery!  Susan kept him at her home for the next six weeks allowing him to become strong and healthy before bringing him back to the shelter where he was made available for adoption.  Almost immediately, Thrasher was adopted and has been living happily in his new home ever since.  Apart from a few scars, this brave and lucky cat has made a complete recovery!


My Husband and I came in on September 28, 2007 and found our missing link.  We had heard of a black and white cocker mix at the shelter through my mother who works at New Baltimore Animal Hospital.  I was reserved at first because we wanted a puppy.  What we found was Feisty - The dog that was meant to be ours.  We met and played with him, and he licked my husband immediately.  He loves the apartment, his walks, and lounging on the bed and couch with us.  He is content as long as we are in the room.

I still catch myself wondering how someone could ever give him up.  But then I stop and think, and thank God someone did.  

He has found a forever home with us, and we have found a forever friend in him.

I have enclosed a picture of our Blarney (formally known as Feisty).

Thank you and God bless.

 Bethany and Jason Burroughs