Success Stories

Amelia "Mia"

Amelia arrived at the shelter as a stray June 2012 with 6 kittens! All the kittens were adopted and Amelia patiently waited for her turn. While waiting, she was transfered to one of our satelite adoption centers at Petsmart in Delavan. She was there for a short time before someone came in and fell in love with her. She was adopted in February! Her new owner has messaged us a few times giving us updates!

She LOVES her kitty tower The ONLY thing that has spooked her was the ceiling fan when it was turning on or shutting down . She has explored her new home & has taken up birdwatching & squirrel watching from the kitty tower She is honestly the most easy going & relaxed girl, even the ride home didn't phase her.

Her purr sounds like a helicopter
And she is such a talkative girl !!!!!!!
My grandgirl said her meows sound like a goat,LOLOL....and I must admit I agree !!!
Thank you again for our wonderful girl

 

 

Blackberry & Coyote

Blackberry arrived at the shelter in May of 2012 as a stray. She patiently waited to be adopted and was transferred up to one of our satelite adoption centers at Petsmart in Madison. She didn't have to wait too long before a family came in and fell in love with her. At the same time, they also saw another cat named Coyote. Coyote arrived at the shelter as a stray in August 2012 with a large wound on his side. Coyote was very unhappy upon his arrival and wouldn't let the staff handle him for a few weeks. To get antibiotics and ointment to he, we had to use a fake hand and a pole to care for him. Lucky for us, Coyote began trusting us and let us care for him by hand! After a short few months, his wound cleared up and he was also transferred to our satelite adoption center at Petsmart in Madison! Though he wasn't completely comfortable their first visit, when the family came back to adopt Blackberry, Coyote decided to ask for attention, and they fell in love with him too! Both cats have now been in their home since February! We have received a few messages from the adopters!

Yesterday my husband, son, daughter and I were at Pet Smart in Madison looking for a cuddly cat for our daughter who is 11. Initially when we walked in my husband and I were drawn to Coyote. He was sweet and mellow. However he was less than thrilled about my daughter holding on to him. SO we continued to look around and met Blackberry who snuggled right up to my daughter.
Today we returned to pick up Blackberry......Coyote stood up and greeted me with a soft Meow when we entered the cat area. He walked over to the door of the cage and started rubbing up against the cage as if to say "Hey I remember you"
Needless to say I left the store with BOTH Blackberry and Coyote. Since we got home Coyote has been sweet and letting our 8 year old son haul him around. Coyote has taken over my son's closet as his "safe place"
Blackberry and my daughter are cuddled up in her room. Blackberry is right at home on her bed.
(Our other cat Huey is not quiet as thrilled as the rest of us, but I am sure he will adjust )

 

 

 

Wheelie "Mack"

Wheelie (now Mack) is one of hundreds of “bully” breed dogs that have been available for adoption at the Lakeland Animal Shelter over the last several years. Despite the negative reputation the breed has developed, the Lakeland Animal Shelter does not “judge a book by its cover” and takes the time to develop a relationship with each and every dog that comes to the shelter, regardless of their breed. One of the volunteers at the Lakeland Animal Shelter, Amy Amann, writes a letter to Wheelie, the first Pit Bull she was assigned to work with as her “project” dog. She worked with him for 5 months before he was adopted.

  “Most people think that for the past 5 months I have been teaching you. The truth is I have learned so much from you. You have taught me so much about myself. You have shown me what a pit bull is made of...willingness to learn, desire to please, and mixed with a need for love, affection, & praise. You placed your trust in me and I placed mine with you. We were a team. So, thank you for the lessons. I will miss you greatly, but couldn't be any happier for you. Make me proud, be a good boy, and keep a place in your heart for me. A piece of my heart will forever belong to you. I won't say goodbye, just see ya later, Mack.”

 Mack has been in his forever home for over 14 months now after waiting 8 months for someone to fall in love with him. His adopter recently wrote to us and said,

“When I first went looking to adopt a dog from the Lakeland Animal Shelter, I had a short list of dogs to walk around. However, the first time I saw Mack in the kennel, I knew he was the one. The staff let me take him out for a meet and greet and when I walked him over to the grass he laid down on his back saying “me, me, take me!” I had so much love to give and knew that he could fill a void in my heart. He was mine from that moment on. One problem - I was living at home and had some convincing to do with my parents. The reason, Mack is part Pit Bull, though nothing to really worry about as he is so lovable. He won them over right away. Some other members in my extended family had some reservations because of his breed, but as soon as they met him in person, they saw how wonderful he was and changed their minds at least for this dog. Mack is definitely an advocate for his breed because he is loving, gentle, and can make you smile no matter what mood you have.”

 

 

Magnolia

Magnolia arrived at the shelter as a stray in August of 2011. Though she was a little bit older, you would have never known based on her love to play. When no one came looking for her, she quickly became a staff and volunteer favorite and they were determined to find her a new home. During her stay, Magnolia was diagnosed with a Grade 1 Heart murmur during an exam for a rabies vaccination. On top of that, she needed a dental. Her visit to the veterinary clinic ended with losing 9 teeth. Then, her day finally came on January 26th, 2013. A family that had previously adopted came in to find a new friend and fell in love with Magnolia. Her new family reports

"Magnolia is doing great! She made herself right at home immediately.   We may have had her for only four weeks now, but we don’t know what we would do without her.  She has been so happy since she got here and she enjoys exploring as much of the house as she can. She is definitely a cuddle bug, her favorite place to sleep is right on your chest or right next to us in bed.  She may be eleven now, but you wouldn’t know that by the way she likes to run around and play (her latest favorite toy seems to be her tail lol).  She has a lot of kitten left in her.  With all that energy comes a healthy appetite and she will definitely let you know when she wants to eat.  We can barely get her food in the dish before she’s ready to dig in. When she isn’t running around or eating she loves to nap on the furniture (usually in my spot on the couch) or in one of her hiding spots." They have also found she enjoys watching the printer while it's printing!

 

 

 

 

Ramzee

Ramsey, now Ramzee, originally arrived at the shelter as a stray in January of 2011. No owner came forward to claim him, so we placed him up for adoption! He was quickly scooped up, but after a few months, ended up not being a good addition to the family. The owner returned him to the shelter to find a more suitable home. After waiting 4 months and getting to know the volunteers really well, and going through our Bright Futures obedience class, Ramsey was scooped up yet again, and this time for good!

"He is such a sweet snuggly boy and just now starting to come out of his shell. He LOVES the game of frisbee and is able to jump up and catch it in the air!
Him and Penny Lane didn't always see eye to eye when he first came into our home but with time and love things became, as you can see, much more relaxed now. Both our adopt-a-bulls came from you and we couldn't be more thankful for their second chance because of the amazing and dedicated work everyone there does."

Thank you for giving our boy a second chance!

Sampson

Sampson was surrendered to the shelter in September with another dog named Drake. Their previous owners didn't have a place to have them any longer, so they brought them to the shelter to find a new family. We recently heard from his adopter with good news!

"We adopted Sampson (Sam) in late September, and we know that you like hearing success stories. Sam is doing great. He is no longer skidding and unsure of fast movements (in fact, he runs around like a nut if you make any because he thinks its time to play!), and is adjusting very well being a part of our family. We have even caught him watching TV. He is starting be socialized around other dogs and already has a couple of girlfriends. He has made a place in our hearts, and on our sofa."

Babette

Pretty Babette arrived at the shelter as a stray in August 2011. This sweet girl had come a long way in the year she had been awaiting a new family to come scoop her up! She completed several rounds of Bright Futures Obedience classes and knew all her basic commands. Although Babette has had playtime with other shelter dogs, she can be dominant with others. While out on lots of field trips with her best friend and handler Lisa, including going to local parks, the Walworth County Fair, and PetSmart in Madison, Babette continued to look for a new family to adopt her. The day finally came when a gentleman and his son came to the shelter to look. They saw and fell in love with Babette, and took her for a sleepover. You see, for as long as Babette was in the shelter, and her coming in as a stray and no owner coming forward, we never knew how she was going to do in a home environment. Luckily she did great and loves her new home and her new family!

                         

Rose

 

Rose was surrendered to the shelter in January of 2011. Her previous family was moving and couldn't take her with. She lived in the home with two other cats, but didn't really get along with other dogs that well. Rose enjoyed her time at the shelter going on car rides to Madison, and to outreach events in Walworth County and the surrounding area. Rose was adopted this September and her new mom emailed us saying "We adopted rose a couple weeks back. Everything is going great with her! She's getting along great with the family, neighbors & even the cat. I thought I would take a second and forward a picture of her with our son on a recent boat ride. I think Rose was smiling the entire time!"

Jimmi

Jimmi was surrendered to the shelter in November of 2011 due to barking. Jimmi was very shy and overwhelmed being in the shelter it took him months to adjust to his new settings. Many of the volunteers fell in love with him and worked to socialize him. After being at the shelter for 305 days, Jimmi was adopted into a loving home with his new best friend.

 

Helen "Ellie"

                                 

Helen, now Ellie, is settling in just great in her new home. Helen arrived at the shelter as a stray in January of 2011. She went into a staff foster home for observation and learned she was mostly blind, hard of hearing and scared of loud noises and fast movements. Though difficult for her to see, she had no problems finding her food, water or litter box. While at the shelter, she was offered dry food, but preferred canned. Helen was recently adopted on October 15th, 2012, after waiting 633 days to find her forever home. Her adopters email and said “She settled in immediately and has already wandered around the house and then found her way back to her bed/food/litter area.  We could not be more happy and my husband is just in heaven to have such a loving, willing snuggler!”

Scott

Scott arrived at the shelter as a stray in January of 2011. No owner came forward to claim this handsome, all white BIG boy.  After waiting a year, he was adopted in January 2012. Unfortunetly, late spring, his new owner had to move and couldn't take him, or the other 3 cats she adopted from the shelter with her. When he was supposed to come back to the shelter, he escaped from the residence and wasn't able to be found. Then, in August, Scott ended up as a stray at a local vet clinic. They scanned him and found his microchip and called us to come get him! Scott was loaded with parasites and had lost a lot of weight, but was happy to be back to safety at the shelter. He was quickly adopted and is now in his new home!

Peterbilt

                            

Peterbilt arrived at the shelter as a stray in March of 2011. Being large and strong, Peter was hard for some of our staff and volunteers to handle. After rounds of the Bright Futures Obedience Classes and field trips with my human friends, he was doing much better behaviorally.  After 6 long months and a visit to the local Walworth County Fair, Peter found his forever home! He is doing great! Peter follows his new dad Gary around everywhere and loves to cuddle! He loves car rides and sitting on the couch watching television. He has even found a new friend in a little Chihuahua named Bella. Bella can be sassy at times and Peter minds his manners and gives her kisses! He also listens very well and has had no problem adjusting to his new home!

 

 

Coal

Coal arrived at the shelter in August of 2010. He was such a sweet and loving guy the staff was shocked when no one came forward to claim him. After a few months, we noticed Coal started to lose some of his hair. He constantly groomed himself due to stress, and the hair just wasn’t growing back. We ended up putting Coal in our Cat Colony thinking he wouldn’t be as stressed living in an environment where he was free to roam. Coal resided in the Cat Colony for over a year and the hair he lost did not grow back. Our volunteers Kim & Ashley fell in love with him and so did her mom, he was adopted in April and is doing extremely well in his new home. Kim has emailed with updates and reports that “He is growing hair back in all of his bald spots. He looks great and my mom totally adores him. He has the coolest personality. He is like a dog and follows her around and comes when he is called. He is busy all day and jumps all over the place. It was a perfect match! He runs around all the time and sits in her lap whenever she is sitting down. He is extremely affectionate and I think he loves the attention. My mom is home most of the time, so he has someone with him a lot. She also has two dogs and he plays with one of them quite a bit. They are really cute together.”

Luther

                                                                             Luther arrived at the shelter in mid-April as a stray. He had been abandoned on a residences property with another dog. The resident already had a few dogs and just couldn’t take on two more. Luther was a shy guy that loved attention. We hoped it wouldn’t take long for him to find his forever home. He was out for a walk one day with a volunteer when a family that had been looking at another dog took a seat on a bench in the yard. Luther walked up to the gentleman and jumped on the bench and sat down right next to him. The family adopted Luther at the end of the following week! The family said it’s like he’s been with them the whole time!

 

 

Angel

Sometimes a rough start in life can still lead to a second chance for a deserving animal. Angel is just such an animal. Below is a bit about angel as written by her foster mom.

“Angel is a beautiful pastel tortoiseshell female kitten that was thrown out of a car window when she was 4 weeks old. A kind lady in the car behind stopped, picked her up and brought her to the shelter. She was not afraid of people when I received her as a foster kitten, she just hated them! Can you blame her? And who knows how she was treated before she was thrown out of the car window! She has been here with our family since June 28th and the progress she has made since then is remarkable."

"She has grown into a wonderful 7 month old kitten that is so sweet and gentle and loving. She has had 4 other foster kitten sisters that have come and gone here and after a few days of adjustment, she has really enjoyed playing with all of them, so I think she would be fine with other cats if given a few days to get used to them. But she would also be fine alone as she really grows attached to her humans, too. She has very soft fur, she loves to be brushed, she loves to sleep and snuggle with people, she has never had any litter box issues while here, she is trained to stay off kitchen tables and kitchen counters, she comes when she is called, she knows what ‘no’ means and she has very good manners."

"When she is stressed out her eye becomes a little weepy, but it doesn’t bother her one bit and I just wipe it with a soft, warm, wet cloth and it’s fine. She has come such a long way since that fateful day when she was thrown out of the car window and she is really deserving of a home of her very own.”

Angel has been adopted and as you can see she has happily settled into her new home and family. She even has the added bonus of... a kitty "sister"(Gretel) that was previously adopted from our Shelter. To make it even better Gretel was cared for in the same foster home as Angel....so the girls had already been friends and playmates when they were younger! What a happy ending! Special thanks to the adopters who were willing to give Angel a second chance and to the foster home that loved and cared for Angel for so many months!!! This is the work our foster families are doing every day!!! Saving lives!!

Cora

I arrived at the shelter in December of 2009, I was an older kitten and I was not in good health. I was pretty sick and in need to antibiotics. The staff took me in and started helping me right away. They tried many different medications and for the most part they worked, but I got sick quiet often. Though I was sick a lot, I had an incredible personality. I was very outgoing and full of energy. I got along very well with other cats, and had my fair share of cage mates while I waited for someone to adopt me. I waited a year for someone to come in and fall in love with me.

Then it finally happened. One of the Animal Shelters long time Volunteers came in looking for a new kitty and fell I love with me. She brought me to the vet to get my condition checked out and see why I was getting sick all the time. The vet diagnosed me with a polyp in my nose that was causing me to get sick all the time. They scheduled me for surgery to have it removed. Once I recovered I was all better! 

Elmo & Avitar

Avitar arrived at the shelter in in October of 2009, she was surrendered to the shelter when her owner couldn’t keep her any longer. She was very shy when she arrived, and didn’t adjust very well. The staff was determined to help me adjust, so they tried to spend a lot of time with me helping me adjust to my new kennel life. They gave me a friend, which did help, and I slowly came out of my shell. After about a year, they decided to bring me to their adoption center at PetSmart in Delavan. I was there for a few months, and they could tell that I didn’t like being there, so they brought me back to the shelter. I was given a new cage mate, and was much happier back at the shelter.

Elmo arrived as a stray in March of 2011. Such a pretty boy he was, no owner came forward to claim him. Elmo was very scared when he arrived, and took a long time to adjust. I finally found a home in November, but was only there for a few weeks. I did not adjust in that home, and hid under their bed and didn’t come out. When I came back to the shelter, the staff started working with me again with my socialization and brought me in the Cat Colony Room. Luckily I wasn’t in that room too long before someone came in and saw me.

Elmo and Avitar have been in their forever homes since February of 2012. They are the only kitties in the home and are doing very well!

Gus

I arrived at the shelter in October of 2009, and I was not feeling very well. The staff thought right away that I either had a liver infection or a urinary tract infection. They started me on antibiotics rightaway and put me on a special diet. The staff cleared up my original infection, but I ended up getting a few more after that. 

I was switched to a canned food only diet and did much better after that! I was moved into the adoptable Cat Room and placed up for adoption. The staff found out at that point that I was great with dogs, but didn’t really care for other cats. That made it harder for me to find a home.

After 2 years, I still hadn’t found my forever home. One of the staff members decided that we should try placing me up for adoption at our adoption center at PetSmart in Madison. Lucky me, I was only up there for just about two months before someone came in and fell in love with me! 

Kredos

I arrived at the shelter in September of 2011. I was left in the back kennels at the shelter; all I had on was my collar and an old Rabies Vaccination tag. The staff got to work and called the vet to find out more information about me. They learned my owners name and phone number, and attempted to contact them with no luck. I remained at the shelter for many months until a great family came in and met me in March. They couldn’t resist and just had to take me home! Now I live with a family whom I love very much!

Rhea

I arrived at the shelter in May of 2011, I was found wandering around with an injury. When I arrived at the shelter they were able to quickly diagnose me with a prolapsed uterus. They brought me to the vet just to get it check out, and all that could be done was to wait and put some ointment on my injury. After a few weeks I was all better. Then, a few months after that I walked too closely to another dogs kennel and she got ahold of my ear. I ended up at the vet again and got stitches that time! Good thing I do great in the car and at the vet! I waited months and months for someone to come and meet me.

I had a lot of interest, you see it’s not every day an American Bulldog winds up in a shelter, but from all the interest I received, no one came through to adopt me until February 2012. A family saw me and fell in love, but the battle was did I get along with their other two dogs? After many meetings, the boys and I were getting along just fine! The family with three little girls took me home and we couldn’t be happier!

Walter (The Collie)

Early one morning in March 2011, I was brought to the animal shelter and tied to their outdoor cat exercise area. The staff came to work in the morning and found me, scared and tied up. They slowly approached me, untied me and brought me inside. Confused and sad, they set me up in a warm kennel and gave me some food. They could tell I was very scared, so they gave me time to adjust. After a few weeks, I became very attached to one kennel attendant. She spent a lot of time with me. When the kennels were being painted, I went into a foster home and remained there for many months. They fell in love with me and didn’t want to see me go back to the shelter, so they kept me to work on some issues I had. Though they weren’t able to keep me, they wanted to help me.

When the time came where there was nothing else they could do for me, I came back to the shelter to find a permanent home. I wish I could tell you that I quickly found my forever home, but unfortunately I didn’t have that great of luck. The Animal Shelter had been given the opportunity to be in a magazine, and they had to take some animals to a local photography studio to have their pictures taken. I was one of the dogs chosen to get their picture taken, but when we arrived at the location, I was very nervous. When the volunteer went to remove me from my crate, I bolted in fear and took off running across the street and was lost track of very quickly. After hours of searching for me, contacting the police and local veterinary clinics, the staff and volunteers had to go back to the shelter. They put posts up on Facebook trying to find me. There was one sighting of me, but when the staff arrived to check it out, I was long gone. They didn’t hear anything for weeks.

Luckily, one rainy day, the staff received a call; I was located a few miles away from where I went missing. A lady had seen me a few times in her yard, but I was so scared I didn’t approach her. She was determined to get me, she felt bad for me being out in the rain. She sat outside for over an hour and coaxed me towards her. She finally was able to get it and saw on my collar I had a tag on! She called the shelter right away and gave them the tag number I was wearing. The staff was very excited to hear that I was safe and had finally been found! The Humane Officer drove to their house and picked me up! When I arrived at the shelter everyone was so happy to see me back! I was only at the shelter for just about two months when a lady and her daughter came in and fell in love with me. They brought their dog in and met me, and I went home shortly after that! 

Walter (The Shar-Pei

I was surrendered to the shelter in June of 2011. My previous family was supposed to be moving and they couldn’t take all the dogs they had with them. I was the one that was picked that was to be surrendered. When they dropped me off at the shelter, they assumed I would be just fine, but I wasn’t . After weeks of not adjusting, being depressed and not very nice in my kennel, the staff called my previous owner to see if they could take me back. The owners were concerned, but were not able to take me back. After that, the staff became determined to help me adjust. After months of time, I started coming around. I didn’t show very well in my kennel, so I didn’t have a lot of people ask about me, until December rolled around, a nice lady came in and fell in love with me. She had experience with the Shar-Pei breed and just couldn’t bear to see me in the kennel. I was adopted on December 31st, just in time for New Years!