Just wanted to follow up with you about “Harley/Enzo”. He is adjusting to everything perfectly. He's super smart and catches on quickly, He already knows how to sit on command and he answers to his new name "Enzo". He has only had a few accidents in the house (which is understandable) and we're working to improve it a little bit every day. He's truly perfect! Thank you so much for letting us adopt him. He is the last puzzle piece to our family! -  -Leslie

We love having “Beckett” as part of our family !  Emily

“Harrison” is doing great and has been such a cute and funny guy !  William

“Peter” is doing great!  He’s made friends with our other cats. The former baby cat of the family was not too happy about him when he first arrived, but she’s coming around. He is so sweet! He likes to “help” me work on the computer and has enjoyed exploring the house. It’s wonderful to have such an easy-going cat who loves to be held. Thank you all for the great start in life you gave him!  Erin

Thank you and all of your team for excellent cat adoption experience. My husband and I are so glad to have two kitties that are so high spirited. We live in a three-story condo with long hallways and they love running up and down the halls. “Lexie” is the Alpha, and despite being smaller, leads “Shasta” into most of the kitty fun. I can tell you took excellent care of them during their stay. Hope to support your agency in the future and will share our experience with neighbors and friends. - Noreen and Tim

We see it far too often.  People move from a home and leave their pets behind.  The lucky ones have neighbors who step in to feed them or maybe even take them in.  Most aren’t so lucky.

For Holly and her two buddies it was almost too late.  When a neighbor realized the house was empty and the dogs were still on the property, he stopped by to check.  He found a yellow lab dead on the driveway. Two other dogs were loose and hungry. They were shy but friendly, so the man reached out to one of our volunteers for help and Cory brought the two dogs home to his already full house.  Then he called ORHS.  Nine lives were saved that day!

The female (who we would later call Holly) was very pregnant and by the next day it was obvious she was in labor.  She arrived at her new foster home just three hours before delivering her first puppy.  She had seven pups in just over 90 minutes – that was close!  She was exhausted, but very affectionate and very grateful.  She would lay her head in your lap and just relax.  Somehow Holly knew she was safe and she was learning to love and trust.  Her puppies were as sweet as she was, and they never knew anything but gentle care and lots of love.  These wonderful neighbors had saved nine dogs’ lives!

Holly was a favorite with our volunteers whenever she visited our adoption center.  She simply loved people and demonstrated it every chance she got.  Several of our volunteers wanted to foster her after she weaned her puppies, but once her story went out on social media, adoption applications started to come in.  Holly deserved the very best family and she found just that.

A family that had previously adopted from ORHS wanted to meet Holly.  They had a 12-year old niece in New Jersey who had been learning how to train animals through 4-H.  She desperately wanted a dog of her own, but none were available near them.  Susan wanted to help her niece find that dog.  She came to our adoption center with her husband and her special needs son.  Holly was out playing in the yard when they arrived. Their family in New Jersey was connected on FaceTime so they could watch the greeting.  Holly came right over to meet them and was getting lots of pets when Isaac sat down on the ground.  Holly walked over to him, laid down and placed her head gently in his lap.  He looked at his dad and said, “I love this dog.”  And that was it. They adopted Holly for their niece and drove her to her new family a few weeks later.  Cate couldn’t be more in love with Holly, as is the whole family.  She is one special dog.

Sweet mama Emerald brought her babies to the home of a nice family when the kittens were only about three weeks old. No one had ever seen this sweet cat before but that didn't matter; the family knew they had to save the mom and her babies. That's when ORHS got the call! Emerald and her five babies (who eventually would all be named after characters from Peter Pan) came to the shelter and were immediately placed into foster care.

What a good mother she was! Despite being very thin and not having received adequate nutrition, Emerald would let her kittens nurse to their hearts' content and would watch over them continuously. And to say she was merely protective would be an understatement.

All five of the kittens have since been adopted into loving forever homes. And we are so happy to say that Emerald has been adopted, too! She can now settle back on her own screened porch and be happy with the wonderful job she did.

We just love a happy ending!

The following is an update we received from Peter's new mom, Erin.

Peter is doing great!  He’s made friends with our other cats. The former baby cat of the family was not too happy about him when he first arrived, but she’s coming around. He is so sweet! He likes to “help” me work on the computer and has enjoyed exploring the house. It’s wonderful to have such an easy-going cat who loves to be held. 

Thank you all for the great start in life you gave him!