My Personal Story About Adopting a Shelter Animal for Adopt-a-Shelter-Animal Month!

Looking to expand your family? Why not head for your local shelter and find a new friend there? Shelter animals can provide you with great friendship and love, not to mention that it's very likely you'll be saving a life! Read on for my own experience with shelter animals and how I welcomed a new friend into my home!

It had been about a year since Jazz, my 15-year-old street cat, had passed away, quietly at home in my arms. The months had been rough, but I knew that I couldn't leave my house empty for too long, since I've had cats around for as long as I could remember. So one day I phoned my veterinarian and asked for a referral to a good local shelter.

I've always tried to adopt shelter animals instead of paying money to a pet shop. And, in this case again, one shelter had some cats in need of a good home. The cat carrier went into the back seat and we sped off to the address, anxious and excited as to what we would find.

The shelter was filled with animals, dogs barking frantically as we walked by the cages, all vying for our attention. The volunteer led us to a back room, obviously for the smaller shelter animals waiting for adoption. Gerbils, rabbits, rats, hamsters... and a few cages holding cats and kittens, all waiting patiently for someone to take them home.

One cage caught my attention - a small tabby, mewing as he crouched in the far corner, obviously rattled by the sounds echoing off the cement walls around him. I asked the attendant to open up the cage and allow me to see him a bit closer.

As soon as I put my hand inside the cage, he snuggled up to it with a loud gravelly purr. Within a minute he was snuggled under my chin, grabbing onto me for dear life as my husband laughed and began to fill out the paperwork for the adoption. Mitchell, as they had named him, didn't want to detach himself for the ride home in the cat carrier and spent the next few days curled up around my neck, purring and happy for possibly the first time in his life.

It's been a few years since we went to the shelter to expand our family and I can't recommend it enough to anyone looking for a new friend. Shelter animals are always in need of new homes and if you have the room and the love, please consider driving by the expensive pet shops and going to the shelter instead! I know that I don't regret the day I went to the shelter and found my new best friend!