When we first adopted our Maine Coon cat (from an ethical breeder), we were told she wouldn’t need to be brought to the groomer and weekly brushing was fine.

That may have been the case for someone experienced with intact long-haired cats, but one, she was our first long-hair (we also have two domestic short-hairs [DSHs]), and two, when she was spayed, her hormones thickened her coat.

As a result, within four months (and granted we weren’t as diligent about brushing as we should’ve been), she had very visible matting, bad enough that we desperately started looking for a groomer!

We found one that took feline clients about a half-hour away, and unfortunately, she needed to be shaved. It broke our hearts that we had failed her so badly! (Fortunately, she’s a former show cat and is used to being groomed.)

Now, she has a “spa day” every two or three months to ensure that this never happens again! Additionally, we have begun a daily ritual of “Brushies!” for all three cats (it helps keep shedding down for the DSHs). Dusty has learned to enjoy Brushies, and one of our DSHs thinks Brushies are the Best Thing Ever, but the other (who sheds the most, naturally) isn’t as thrilled, even when bribed.

I work in an animal rescue and adoption center next door to a large grocery store and big box retail complex. It’s common for families shopping with their kids to come by and look at the dogs in the windows, especially puppies!

A woman shopping with her two young boys actually steps into the center.

Woman: “Can my boys go and play with the puppies?”

Me: “Well, they can definitely come and watch them, but we try to reserve interactions for potential adopters, and we have a few scheduled in the next few minutes.”

Woman: “Adopters? What do you mean?”

Me: “People coming in to potentially adopt one of the animals.”

Woman: “Adopt the animals? How stupid! Why would you let them do that?”

Me: “We’re here to make sure the animals go to good homes, ma’am.”

Woman: “But then how do my kids get to play with the puppies?”

Me: “This is an animal rescue, ma’am, not a petting zoo.”

Woman: “You shouldn’t have puppies on display if you’re not going to let my kids play with them! Now I have to deal with them whining all afternoon, and I’ll have to buy them ice cream or something to shut them up! If they get diabetes it’s all your fault!”

She told the kids that the “nasty lady” wouldn’t let them play. They proceeded to cry and throw a tantrum and kick some chairs and displays as they were dragged out — further cementing how glad I was that I didn’t let them anywhere near the puppies!

A guy comes into our animal shelter over the Christmas period.

Guy: “Excuse me, but your sign outside says, ‘A puppy is for life, not just for Christmas.’ Is that really all that common? People giving up their dogs after Christmas?”

Me: “I’m afraid it really is, sir. Puppies are very common Christmas gifts, but as they get older, we see a lot of families who didn’t do the research and aren’t prepared for the realities of a growing and energetic dog.”

Guy: “That’s horrible! How old are they when they’re given up?”

Me: “It varies, but usually, we get them handed in by the end of summer break. That’s usually the point when the family is overwhelmed — or even worse, bored of them.”

Guy: “This is making me so angry. I have a big house and land, and I have two dogs who get along pretty well with each other and other dogs! If you get anyone handing their dogs in as unwanted Christmas gifts, you give me a call. I will make sure they get a good home!”

Me: “Sir, that’s very generous of you, but we also need to make sure the dogs go to good homes, and when kind people such as yourself ask for multiple dogs we need to make doubly sure.”

Guy: “My family lives in three big houses spread over our farm. We have lots of kids between us all, and they’re always asking for dogs. We can take a bunch; trust me.”

He pulled out his phone and showed me his house, his two lovely dogs, his adult children, and so many grandkids that I lost track.

That year, he and the extended family (one adult couple and two couples each with multiple kids) adopted six dogs from us. I track them all on Facebook, and they seem like the happiest dogs ever, despite having been Christmas “rejects”.

This took place a long time ago and has been condensed because the admin and legal stuff would honestly take up pages and pages.

A young-looking guy comes into the animal shelter where I work.

Customer: “How many dogs do you have?”

Me: “We have quite a few fostered on the books, and we have fourteen in the shelter right now.”

Customer: “How many fostered?”

Me: “I don’t know off the top of my head, but around twenty, I’d say.”

Customer: “What would I need to do to take all of them?”

Me: “All… the dogs?”

Customer: “That’s right.”

Me: “Uh… you want to adopt almost forty dogs?”

Customer: “That’s right!”

Me: “I don’t think any responsible animal shelter would do that. We need to make sure the dogs go to a good home, and no single person can look after forty dogs.”

Customer: “Okay, so here’s the deal. I’ve inherited a farm, and I don’t know anything about farming. I work in tech and just sold my company for good money, I have nothing but room and space, and I love dogs. That space is wasted on me, but dogs would love it. Tell me what hoops I need to jump through to get you all to trust me that I can look after all the dogs.”

Me: “I’m happy for you, but no single person would be able to attend to forty dogs, no matter how much time or space you have.”

Customer: “It wouldn’t just be me; it would be my partner and assistant, too.”

Me: “Assistant?”

Customer: “My assistant from the tech company. She’s still with me; I pay her too well for her to want to leave. I told her about my dog plan and asked if she wanted to continue earning six figures to help me look after dogs. She didn’t hesitate!”

Me: “I’m going to need to talk to my manager about this.”

Customer: “Whatever you need!”

So, my manager and this crazy tech guy go into the office and have a long meeting with the owner of the whole shelter chain. The meeting lasts almost two hours.

The guy leaves, seemingly happy, and is back again next week with several boxes of documents. This time, the owner, the manager, and the owner’s lawyer are all present for a meeting.

This lasts a fair bit longer than the first meeting. Finally, they’re all done, and I corner my manager.

Me: “What was all that about?”

Manager: “We were talking to that guy about how we can’t let him adopt forty dogs. No matter his means or his intentions, it just wouldn’t be responsible for us to do so.”

Me: “Yeah, I sadly have to agree. So, is he just gonna adopt like, two or three?”

Manager: “Oh, no, he’s still getting every dog.”

Me: “Uh… what?!“

Manager: “We can’t let him adopt all the dogs, but legally, we can let him foster them. The owner met with his lawyer and a vet, and they visited his site. It’s huge, apparently. They’re going through the paperwork required to essentially turn his home into a satellite branch of our shelter. He’s even offered to hire and pay for staff to run the place as a long-term foster home, and they would be trained by us.”

Me: “So… he’s just jumping through lots of legal loopholes to ensure he gets the dogs on his property?”

Manager: “He genuinely seems to want to have the dogs live their happiest lives with him until they’re adopted, and honestly, we could use the help.”

Me: “Why doesn’t he just donate?”

Manager: “He literally just donated a million dollars.”

Me: “Oh… wow. So, what happens now?”

Over the next few months, this crazy dog-loving millionaire renovated most of his farmhouse to be suitable for fostering dogs. He paid for the training and salaries of three staff members (technically our employees) to help look after the fostered dogs. He was fully hands-on himself, too, generally living his life walking them, feeding them, learning how to check them for health issues, and playing with them. That’s all he and his partner seemed to want to do.

A couple of years later, when I left for college, this guy was fostering mostly senior dogs who had difficulty getting adopted, and most of them stayed with him until the end. He asked for no fame, no recognition, no media, nothing. He just wanted us to make sure every dog that needed a home lived on his farm until either that dog had a forever home organized or passed over the rainbow bridge with him.

I’ve never known another human being like him, and I doubt I ever will. Most tech geniuses sell their companies to live a glamorous lifestyle. This guy just wanted to play with dogs.

This story is part of the Best-Feel-Good-Stories Of-2023 roundup! This is the last story in the roundup, but we have plenty of others you might enjoy!

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I work at an animal rescue that happens to be connected to a mall. We’re technically retail as we have an animal supply and food store at the front of our space. We’re not part of the mall, but when they have a fire alarm go off, we have to evacuate also.

I’ve just started working here, and I am still going through some training. The manager and supervisor have stepped out for a moment to deal with something, and it’s just another trainee and me staffing the place for a few minutes.

Suddenly, in the worst timing ever, the fire alarm goes off, and we need to evacuate.

Me: “Oh, no! What do we do?”

Trainee: “We need to evacuate, right?”

Me: “But… the animals?”

We currently have fourteen dogs, nine cats, two hamsters, and a parrot (not a rescue, he just lives here) in the store.

Trainee: “I haven’t been trained on how to evacuate them!”

Me: “Me, neither!”

A customer is in the store area and has heard us talking.

Customer: “I have an idea! I left my shopping outside!”

He runs out, and we wonder what he meant by that. Then, we see him take his full shopping cart and tip EVERYTHING onto the sidewalk. He then rushes in with the now-empty cart and shouts:

Customer: “Let’s get as many as we can in here!”

Between some of the bigger dogs that we can walk separately, we are able to fit all of the animals into the large cart — thank goodness they all get along! — with the exception of one nervous cat we can carry in its case.

Thanks to the customer, we are out of there in roughly two minutes!

This is about as much time as it takes to see the manager and supervisor rushing over as quickly as possible.

Manager: “Oh, thank God! We heard the alarm and came running back!”

They both take stock of the situation: all the animals either sitting in the shopping cart, with my coworker and me carrying or holding a bunch more, with a crap-ton of grocery shopping all over the ground and another customer comforting a nervous puppy.

Supervisor: “How did you get all the animals out?”

We point to the customer who helped us and explain what happened. The fire alarm ends, and thankfully, we can get all the animals back inside.

Manager: *To my coworker and me* “Okay, ladies, we’re going to train you on what to do in a fire emergency right now!” *To the customer* “But not before we get this man free dog food for life!”

Customer: *Still holding the nervous puppy* “That will come in handy, as I don’t think I can explain to my wife why all our groceries ended up on the floor without coming home with this little guy as evidence!”

He took home the rescue puppy and lots of puppy food, and we helped him salvage as much of his groceries as we could and carry them into his truck! He’s been a regular ever since!

This story is part of the Best-Feel-Good-Stories Of-2023 roundup!

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