Home and loving it: Stories of adopted pets

There’s nothing quite like the reward of seeing once-homeless pets living their best lives in new homes. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is their home-between-homes, where we get to know them, help them feel happy and healthy again, and ultimately match them with families. The best part of all is hearing back from adopted pets’ new people. Here are just a few of the notes shared recently about pets who are home and loving it.

Since adopting Sierra in December, we have done our best to spoil her. Dogs don’t get enough birthdays, so we had to celebrate Sierra’s fourth in a special way. She devoured a groovy doggy cake from a local baker and opened gifts from her favorite people. We cannot wait to celebrate again next year!

First time I laid eyes on Cheddar, I thought, “There’s a guy who needs a friend.” Turns out he was probably thinking the same thing about me! Cheddar is such a happy kid who is literally learning new things every day. He just really needed somebody to show him the ropes and help convince him that new experiences can be fun. He loves playing with his toys, taking car rides, and WWE-caliber roughhousing. Mostly, he just wants to be by my side. How special is that? He has so much love to give that it can be overwhelming at times. I’m excited to watch him grow up into the great dog he’s destined to be.

Havarti now goes by Ajax, a name he has earned for looking like he is going to be a very big cat when grown and for being completely fearless, especially when it comes to picking a fight with his big sisters. He is a very active little kitty who loves to play but also enjoys cuddling with the human portion of his family once he is in downtime. This typically has him cuddling with our feet while we sit at computers, in our laps while we are on the couch, or curled up between my wife and me while we are sleeping. We want to thank you all again. Ajax has been a great joy and constantly brings smiles and laughs for all of us.

I’m happy to say that Indo has grown most of his feathers back! I’ve been working with him on clicker training. He’s stepping up more with treats (that way we can put him in his cage), and he’s also learned to play basketball, which he enjoys. I can’t wait to see what else he opens up to with clicker training because it keeps him busy, and it helps us create a greater bond with him. My sister also just adopted a little cockatiel from Best Friends, and I am excited about teaching her what I’ve learned so she can bond with her bird.

This article was originally published in the November/December 2024 issue of Best Friends magazine. Want more good news? Become a member and get stories like this six times a year.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill in 2025. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.