Henry's Story

Pet's name: Henry
Adopted by: Katie
From: A rescue group in the Dallas area (via PetSmart)

The story of Henry, who was adopted eight years ago, originally appeared on Katie's blog, Chocolate-Covered Katie. 

Let me introduce you to the best birthday present I ever received: Hello Mr. Henry!

As an avid animal-lover, I always loved to go into PetSmart on Saturdays. Well, loved and hated it at the same time. You see, Saturdays are adoption days at PetSmart, which means that the store is filled with adorable little critters in desperate need of a loving home. Visits to the store would play out like this:

CCK: Mommy, can we please adopt a dog? Pleeeease?
Mom: Katie, we have a dog. Molly would not be happy if we forced her to share the limelight with another dog.
CCK: But Mo-om, otherwise they’ll go back to the shelter, and many of them will be put to sleep.
Mom: Don’t think about it; it’s too sad, and we really can’t adopt another dog. Your dad wouldn’t allow it.

About a week before my 18th birthday, Molly needed dog food. A trip to PetSmart was in order. And it just so happened to be a Saturday. By now, I knew not to even ask anymore if we could adopt one of the wide-eyed, tail-wagging pups at the store. Resigned to my one-dog life, I silently cuddled with an especially-spunky puppy. So my jaw almost fell through the floor when:

Mom: Would you like to take him home?
CCK: That’s really mean. You know how much I want to save one; why would you joke about something like that?
Mom: What if I’m not joking? It’s almost your birthday.
CCK: (Still not letting herself believe it.) You said Dad wouldn’t go for it. Nor Molly.
Mom: I don’t know, Katie. He’s really cute. Your dad couldn’t stay mad at a face like that for long. And I bet Molly would at least tolerate him, if not learn to love him.

And so…

It always makes me sad to see all the dogs for sale in pet shops (mostly from puppy mills). Why buy a puppy when you can rescue one as cute as Henry? It’s cheaper and you’re saving a life! I shudder to think of what would’ve happened to Mr. Henry had we not adopted him. He came from an abusive home, so at first, he was terrified of people, animals, and especially feet. In fact, it was months before we even knew he could bark. But the poor (well, not anymore) guy has come a loooooong way. Nowadays, he is the ultimate lap dog, and you can’t stop him from giving you kisses!

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If you adopted a pet from a shelter or rescue group and you'd like to share his or her story, please email me. I'd love to hear from you!