Deciding To Adopt

My family had been hoping to get a dog since my red doberman, Gizmo 2 passed away in 2003 from fluid in his lungs. My pekingese pug mix had to be rehomed when my parents moved up north shortly after Gizmo 2's passing. Northern Maine seemed to be no place for an outdoor-type dog, what with the bears and moose lounging about the yard...not to mention the average snowfall of several feet at a time.

We moved to North Carolina in 2010, where my son, boyfriend, and I got an apartment. After a year of residency and saving, you'd think the time would be perfect to get a dog. HOWEVER, God saw fit to bring us two precious kittens who had been abandoned on our steps. I knew we had to take them in when my boyfriend cooed that one of them looked "just like Tiggy" his brother's cat that my boyfriend still spoils when visiting. I'd say they were about 6 months old because they didn't have all of their teeth yet. They were clean, good tempered, and loaded to the max with fleas. I'm not a big fan of felines in general. The litter was constantly swept and sifted and they ran through the house all night long like it was some kind of party out there. They were cuddley, but I still found them a home rather quickly.

****To Find A Home****
I'm sure there are much more thurough methods of finding homes for animals, but here is what I did:
- Went to RescueMe.org and listed the kittens for Free Simple Adoption
- Posted an ad on CL for both kittens
Within days, my kittens had a home. It took 6 days because we had to drive them to a trailer in the middle of nowhere (which was about 45 minutes away).

I would strongly suggest that one who decides to foster a stray invest in spaying/neutering and then placing the animal(s) for purchase to compensate a small amount of the vet bills. I didn't know what I know now. Anyone who wants the pets should be more than willing to compensate the spay/neuter, but reasonably not the other maintainance. Fostering a stray is a charitable act that is supposed to cost.
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On August 8th, we went to Guilford Animal Shelter in Greensboro, Nc to look for a dog. We found a Boston Terrier that the family loved. I was about 99% sure because he wasn't a lap dog, but he was cute and friendly and the guys loved him. We were told to show up as soon as they opened to adopt "Plant." Yes, his name was Plant.

The next day, we waited 15 minutes for the shelter to open and by the time we got to his cage a woman was standing inches infront of us stating "I adopted him yesterday." She was a liar because the shelter told us right before closing that he'd be adopted by whoever got there first the next day. I smiled and said, "He looks perfect for you! You're both very athletic and I'm sure you're going to have lots of fun." She told me he'd be her walking buddy in the mornings. I told her we were told whoever got there first, but I'm glad it was her because they were really a good match. It's all true. I am glad because that gave me the chance to find that 1% more that I really wanted.