My husband and I adopted Chester on New Years eve. He is adjusting extremely well. He loves his toys and cuddling on the couch! Because he is an older guy, we go on short walks, which he loves. When we adopted Chester, he had a difficult time walking. He has arthritis in his hips. He is now on medication for that, and seems to be feeling so much better. He is awesome with all of our friends and family. My husband and I love him so much. We feel so lucky to have such a wonderful dog. Chester had a dog that he lived with, who was also at the shelter. Friends of ours adopted him. We are very excited to have a play date with them! We can't thank the staff at AWS enough for all their help through the adoption process.

"Wilma"

I am writing to tell you of Wilma (as in one-eyed Wilma), the one eyed little kitty we adopted in June. Our home has been run by our bulldog/pit mix, Apollo, for some time now; and though one of us is home at different points throughout the day, we felt he should have some other companion in the house. I had always had cats, and missed having one around, and Apollo had shared his previous home with a cat, so we knew he knew how to behave around one. I happened to be in the Kennebunk area, and decided I would stop by to just "look". When I asked about a cat who would be ok living with a dog, I was shown Wilma, who was dubbed to be "very laid back". Upon looking at her, I discovered she'd recently, as in the week before, had her eye removed due to infection, but it didn't seem to bother her, or stop her in anyway, and it still doesn't.

Wilma is an absolute joy, except when she's attacking our moving feet at 5am haha. She's full of mischief, dive bombing the dog when he's not looking and frequently shredding mail or cardboard boxes! She is loving, and always happy to see us; she even loves the dog, even though she doesn't like to let on (I see her rub up against him when she doesn't think we're watching). She has doubled her weight, from a mere 4lbs at 8months old when I got her, to just about 8lbs at one year and 2 months. The vet says she will always be a little small, but that she looks wonderful! We couldn't be happier to be the people to give her her forever home, thank you for finding her so that she could end up with us!

Amie

"Leopold"

Dear Animal Welfare Society Staff,

We wanted to drop a note to let you know how Leopold, formerly named Wizard by AWS, has enriched our lives. He had been at the shelter for one day in May of 2004 before we came in "just to look" on a rainy day and were told that as he is a very shy kitty, he needed a home without children and dogs. Our home fit the bill, and we adopted Leopold that day two months after our beloved Baxter passed away. He is the most wonderful kitty, so intelligent and so much company. When we brought him home, he stayed under the bed for two months (except for brief runs during the night to his cat box and food) and then gradually began to sleep with us, race us up and down the stairs and call us from the basement every morning to get his treasured brushing on the pool table. He is now our constant companion. However, if you came to our house, you would never know we have a kitty because he hides under the bed whenever anyone approaches the door.

We travel to Florida in October and back to Maine in May, and he is quite the traveling companion. He flies with us on the airplane quietly under the seat in a carrier, and sometimes the three of us drive the 23 hour trip. We have had him seven years, and he is constantly entertaining us.

We thank you so much for the wonderful care that stray and homeless cats and dogs receive at the AWS. We are sending our yearly donation in honor of Leopold.

Sincerely,

Cindy & Bob

"Diva"

My daughter and Diva. This is a great success story, they love each other. We adopted Columbus Day 2011, we thought you'd like to see a real loving fit.

"Oriana"

This is Oriana. I adopted her a little over a year ago after I lost "Oddity" after 13 years. She is a joy and a darling. She was abused as a kitten and rescued by the shelter. She lost a eye and had a rough start to life. But when I saw her on the web site, I ran out of work and raced down the see her. When I entered the room, she came right up to me and I fell in love with her right then.

She is amazing. She loves to play, snuggle up next to me, and explore the halls where I live. She helps me manage the building!!!! The other residents love her. Her nickname is "O" because she is Oh so cute, or Pretty girl. She inspects the building and follows me around. She also loves to sit in the windows looking outside. When I come home, she runs to her blanket, lays down and i rub her belly. In the morning, she sits on my lap as I have my coffee and we play before I leave for work, and at night she will lay next to me as I watch TV. If I am sleeping and she wants to play or is hungry, she snuggles up next to me with her whiskers and wakes me. Its fine, I do not mind. I can not imagine coming home and not having her here. I hope this helps other in their choice to adopt. It is worth it.

Stu

"Lynx"

Hello AWS!

My partner and I adopted Lynx on October 20, 2011 at PetSmart. We had no intentions of adopting a cat as we already had a rabbit, but when I went to PetSmart that night to pick up bunny food and I walked passed all the cats my heart just melted! After a few days of debating and talking with the landlord we decided to take a chance on a furry friend. In the few days that we were debating we looked online at the pictures trying to figure out who would be a best fit for us. We went in on a Thursday night having made up our minds on who we wanted to take home with us, but the funny thing is he didn't respond well to us. I was disappointed until I walked by Lynx's box and he made this heart warming meow. I looked at him and it was love at first sight. We played for a few minutes and he even let my partner hold him. We were SOLD!

The night we adopted him we spent about an hour in the store shopping for kitty essentials and of course toys to spoil him. I have to say he's kind of like a kid. Give a kid an awesome present and the want to play with the box instead. This must be Lynx's motto! We usually find him hiding in a paper bag, or batting milk rings across the kitchen floor while his "cat toys" sit abandoned in his room. He also likes to tease his sister (Lolah the rabbit) and pull some of her hay out of her cage and bat that around. For the most part they get along good. His newest interest is our Christmas Tree! I've already had to move our lower ornaments up to higher branches! If your ever wondering where Lynx might be hiding just check his cat perch, the couch or the pile of blankets on the bed...he's usually curled up in one of those spots.

It's been a little over a month since we got Lynx (or Lynxie Boy as we like to call him) and we could not be happier! He is got such a personality and has us wrapped around his little kitty paws. He's a strange little cat in that he loves feet! He just lays on the floor and wraps his paws around your foot and just rubs his head all over them. He's a really big fan of his cat perch where he can watch the birds, squirrels and all the neighborhood cats. He LOVES to be held like a baby and will usually tilt his head back indicating that he wants a good chin scratching!

I think back to just a month ago before we had our lovey boy and wonder how we lived without our perfect little addition! I've attached some recent pictures of Lynx!

We want to thank AWS for giving us the opportunity to add to our little family and make our home Lynx's forever home!

Happy Holidays,
Brianna, Melissa, Lolah and Lynx

"Apple and Mac"

We adopted Apple (a.k.a. Susie) and Mac (a.k.a. Elliot Ness) in October, 2011. We have always had dogs and decided to adopt 2 cats. After doing some research we decided to go with an older cat and a younger cat. At AWS we found Apple, 3-years-old, and Mac, 3-months-old. In our home they have free-run of the basement, main floor, and upstairs. We cat-proofed everything that we could think of to make the spaces safe. We are glad we did as Mac is 'Mr. Curiosity'.

These 2 cats are great companions. Apple acts as the parent (mother) and teaches Mac his lessons. One minute they are cleaning each other and the next they are wrestling and play bitting. Apple has been a model mother for Mac and we are glad for the age difference. She holds the line with Mac. We feel Apple is descended from aristocracy, as she is so regal in her bearing and in her attitude. We are very pleased that we have been able to provide these two animals with a safe and happy home.

Ray, Kathy, and Jason

"Sargent Pepper"

Hello -

My name is Carolyn and my boyfriend Evan and I adopted Bob (now named Sargent Pepper) last June. I filled out your survey online today, but also got a letter in the mail from you saying you love to see photos of adopted friends. I don't remember her name, however the person who fostered "Bob" and his siblings was really great and helpful during the adoption process. "Sarge" as we call him for short, is a terrific cat, he is extremely social and well-loved. In fact I think we have spoiled him rotten. He goes everywhere with us, he loves the car and he loves meeting new people and other animals. We live on a busy road so instead of letting him out all the time, we have leashed trained him! He does better than most dogs I see on a leash, so we get all sorts of attention in the neighborhood.

Carolyn

"Brandon"

Hello, my name is Brandon, and I feel like I am the luckiest dog in the world. Well, maybe not the world, because I heard some pretty bad stories from my shelter friends, but I am one lucky boy. You see, I was a shelter dog, not once, but twice. My mom doesn’t know everything I’ve been through, but I’ll tell you what she does know. This is my story.

I was sitting in my “pen” at the Kennebunk Animal Shelter in Maine. The pen was pretty nice for a shelter, but it was still a shelter and I was lonely and pretty stressed. Truth be told, I didn’t look very good either. I had lost a lot of weight. I was very skinny and you could see my ribs. I also was very itchy. I had been itchy for so long that a lot of my hair was gone, and I had worn my front teeth down to nothing from biting myself. Even though people said I was cute and looked sad, no one was taking me home.

The people at the shelter are wonderful. They took care of me, gave me food, and I had medicine to make me better, but it didn’t really work. I still felt pretty lousy and I was scared. I also had to wear a cone on my head, and sometimes they put a coat on me. They said it was so I wouldn’t hurt myself so much when I scratched. I got to leave the shelter for a little while. This nice lady would take me home for a few days at a time. They said she was my foster mom. She would give me my medicine, and I got to go to work with her. I liked that, but every few days I would have to go back to the shelter. Then one day this lady came by and gave me a walk. We had a great time. After our walk we sat on a bench and she gave me treats. I really liked her, but then she brought me back to my pen and I was lonely again. She came back the next day, but I saw her take another dog out for a walk. I was sad and I cried. But, in a little while she came back and put that dog back in his pen and came and got me. I was so happy. We took another walk, and again later we sat on a bench and she gave me treats and talked to me. She told me that she saved me for the last walk so we could spend more time together. She told me that I had the saddest brown eyes she had every seen but that I was very cute and was a very good boy. After that she came back almost every day. We would go for a walk and then sit on the bench together. I loved our time together, but I always cried when she left. Then one day late in the afternoon, she came back and took me to a shelter training class. Now, I’m a good boy and I knew how to sit and give my paw, but she took me to 3 of these classes and I learned a lot of new things. But I was still lonely at night.

Then one day she came by and took me out of my pen and brought me into the area where we have class. She had another dog with her. A big Golden Retriever named Charlie. He seemed like a pretty nice guy, and we played together for awhile. While we were playing I heard her talking to the people at the shelter. She learned that I had been at the shelter since January (it was now April). They had me in the “hospital” area for a long time trying to get me better and find out why I was so itchy. They also wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t make my dog friends sick. She thought I had only been there a month. I learned that this dog Charlie was her dog. She seemed really sad when talking to the people at the shelter. After a little while she put me back in my pen. She said she would be back but I cried again and I thought about how lucky this dog Charlie was.

The next day she came back and I was so happy to see her. I thought we were going to take our usual walk. But this time she took me in her car. I love car rides. I was so excited I jumped all over her car. I knew it was her car because I could smell Charlie. She told me we were going to her house and that I was going to get to spend a couple of days with her. I thought “great, this is my chance, maybe she will adopt me”. When we got into her house I saw that there were two other people (her mom and dad), Charlie, and a cat. I really like to chase cats. Within the first day, I was so excited that I chased the cat. I cornered the cat, and she ripped her nail and it bled. The people in the house yelled, and I figured I had just blown my chance at a new home. I got to spend the night in a nice comfy bed right next to the lady.

The next day the lady and her dad put me in the car. I thought sure I was going back to the shelter, but instead I ended up at Animal Medical Associates Veterinarian Hospital. The people did all sorts of talking. The Dr. Mitchell said I had a yeast infection that was really bad and probably an allergy. I got 2 new medicines to take and a new cone. Then the lady took me for another ride. I still figured we were going back to the shelter, but we went to a pet store and she bought me boots for my feet. They felt really weird, and the lady laughed when I first started to walk in them, but I was a good sport about it.

We went back to her house, and that is when she told me I had a new home. She was my new mom!! I suddenly had a mom, a grandma and grandpa, a cat sister, and Charlie was my brother. Charlie is big compared to me, but he is actually my little brother.

See, since I was adopted, my mom found out that I have a computer chip in me. She learned that I was in a shelter in Tennessee in January of 2010. Then someone registered me in September 2010, but after that there is no record of me. She did learn that my birthday is April 1, and I am 7 years old. I spent a long time in the Tennessee shelter. I don’t like the heat, so that was a really rough time for me. Somehow I ended up in Maine. I didn’t like Maine very much. The people were mean. One day a police officer came and took me from the man who was suppose to be taking care of me. That is how I ended up in the Kennebunk Animal Shelter. For the next four months they gave me all sorts of tests and medicines. They were very nice to me but I wanted a home so much that I cried a lot or just slept. They said I was depressed too and the stress of being in a shelter was not helping me. I really didn’t know what was going to happen to me. I just cried, slept, and sometime would shake because I was so miserable.

Now, thanks to the people at the shelter(AWS), Dr. Mitchell, and all the staff at Animal Medical Associates, and my new mom, I have special food, have gained 15lbs, and have got most of my hair back! Mom says that my brown eyes now have a sparkle. My least favorite thing I have to do is get a bath twice a week. I don’t like baths, but this seems to be the only thing I don’t like, so I think I can live with it. I’ve learned how to play with my brother, and we get frozen kong treats every night. We live near the beach, so I get to run on the beach with my brother and his two friends Aussie and Piper. They are Goldens too. I’m the littlest guy, but I’m the oldest. Sometimes these young pups (they are 4, 5, and 6) get a little silly in the water. I’ll go up to my knees, and just watch them be silly. Mom lets me off my leash when we are at the beach. She lets me run and run and run. When she calls me though, I always come back. This place even has a puppy party/olympics every August on the beach. I was pretty busy with people and dogs. Mom had me try all the events, and I won 3 medals. I won a medal for “best kisser, best tail wagger, walking very nicely so my mom could balance an egg on a spoon”. I thought that was silly, but mom said I did an awesome job.

Now I help her help other dogs who need a home. We visit schools to teach kids how to help us get adopted, we visit nursing homes so the people who can’t have dogs anymore can visit with us, and next we are doing a 2 mile walk so we can raise money to help dogs that come into the shelter and need medical attention like I did. I didn’t think life could ever be this good, and I’ve learned that Maine is a great place to live if you're living with the right people.