I share my ark house with a dozen critters. It’s a bit much, I know, but there’s as much love as there is hair.
Haley Pita Lipizzaner Wigglebutt Bologna-Tongue Snakebite Stegosaurus Ause came into my life in late July 2008. I had to take a routine photo of her for our magazine, but got so much more than I expected. A self-proclaimed cat person, I had no desire for a dog, but she put her spell on me, and I took her home a few days later. Not knowing where she came from, I dug up her story online during our first sleepover. Nestled in a comment on the Best Friends website was a link to this video of her rescue. I watched it, crying my eyes out, as Haley slept on my arms. I knew right then she was never going back.
Haley has since become a bit of a celebrity. National Geographic followed her for their television show Dogtown (check out a clip here), and her face has been in Best Friends Magazine so many times, we’ve lost count. This Christmas, her face is set to decorate a brand of coffee!
Jemma Suki Yammy Yammy followed a year later. Her story is more of a mystery, but she ended up at an Arizona shelter shortly before its closing. A friend sent me her photo, and her she reminded me of Haley. The rest is history. In our time together, I can conclude that she was an outdoor cattle dog (full of cattle ticks, pro at crossing cattle guards), rode in the back of a pickup truck (tried to jump into coworkers’), and has a history of guns (freaks out at the sight of them). So needless to say, I think I provide a much better home… no ticks, truck beds, or guns.
Stella, my “first born,” was found at a Black Hills ranch in 2004, running amongst dozens of feral cats. Definitely not from that clan, beautiful Stella stood out like a mini skirt in a Mormon church. She loved people so much that she’d run into the road to get their attention. Fearing for her life, some family friends took her away from there and gave her to me. Purebred and plagued with health problems, it appears she’s an overly-inbred Tonkinese who was dumped at the farm for not being profitable.
Baby joined the family a few months later when she was found in the wheel-well of a truck. She was only a few weeks old (and seconds away from being smushed to death) when she meowed loudly enough to get the attention of the truck drivers before it was too late. She has grown into a hilarious black fuzzball who is part dog.
Foster kids Jack, Thammy, Kizzy, and Sony (plus Tab, Bobo, and Misty, RIP) lived with a woman for many years until she died. She left her house to my employer in her will, on the condition that the cats get to stay there. I moved in in July 2008, and have served as caretaker to these furry felines ever since.
I’ve had my cockatiels, Sunny and Dusty, since I was three years old. They are way (WAY) past their expiration date, but I’m hoping they make it to my 30th birthday.
Sun conures Pippi and Monkey are the newest critters in the household, having joined us in March 2009. A coworker and I rescued them and 20 other parrots from a hoarder in Salt Lake City. Used for decades as breeder birds, they lived their lives in a dark, cement basement with no sunlight. Surprisingly, these two are very sweet and healthy birds. They are loud as shit, but I forgive them… birds will be birds.