Karen Milstein, a volunteer with the Adopt A Cat Foundation, rescued two kitty siblings not once – but twice. And it wasn’t easy. She had to drive hundreds of miles to get back the two cats that she originally had fostered. Shotgun and his sister, Belle, had been adopted through the foundation. But their “forever family” apparently changed their minds and anonymously dumped the pair last October at a Kentucky shelter.

Here they are today (Belle is on the green perch). And here is Karen’s Shelter Story, in her own words.

How could I have done anything different?
After all, I was connected to these guys from the beginning.

I can still, very clearly, see their little faces, peeking out from the carrier. Four small kittens, two of them very ill, waiting for the right person to come along. No one had up to that point and they were slated to be returned to the shelter, where the two sick ones would have most likely been put to sleep. Everyone knows that shelters don't have the time to care for sick animals, even babies. I was their last chance.

So they came home with me and I nursed the two back to health. Together, the four of them grew into rambunctious, beautiful kittens, ready to find a home with loving families. One was adopted immediately, and then two went together, brother and sister. The fourth, having tugged deeply at our hearts, came to be a member of our own cat family, attaching herself to one of my daughters. All were supposed to be loved for a lifetime.

It wasn't to be. The two taken together one night ended up in a shelter drop box at the Lexington Humane Society in Lexington, Ky., their owners too cowardly to fess up to no longer wanting them. When our rescue was called about the cats, time passed before we could finally make the arrangements for them to be shipped home, so much time that one of the cats became severely ill. Flying was now out of the question.

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This heart warming Shelter Story came from Diane Gaglinao, program coordinator at Seminole County Animal Services, near Orlando, via the “Orlando Sentinel.” Who could resist such a Cinderella ending?

The little beagle didn’t even have a name when he was picked up as a stray and brought into Seminole County Animal Services. He sat here for two weeks, cast aside and abandoned, hoping someone would see the potential he had to be a great dog. The shelter staff named him Perkins and hoped for the best for him.

Perkins and partner

Then along came the USDA National Detector Dog Training scout. She was looking for a dog to join their famous Beagle Brigade. The Beagle Brigade is a group of dogs that work at airports all over the world sniffing out fruits, meats, vegetables and plants that are not allowed to be imported into certain countries.

Could it be this is what Perkins was destined to do? Perkins was accepted into the program and began his education at the Detector Dog Training School, where he graduated at the top of his class on July 24, 2008. Perkins and his handler are now headed to an airport in Guam where his nose will sniff out things that aren’t supposed to be there.

Perkins and his handler had such a wonderful bond. It made us proud that Seminole County Animal Services could play a small roll in getting Perkins into this wonderful organization. Perkins will work until he is about 9 years old and upon his retirement, he most likely will be adopted by his handler.

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Last week, we started asking for "shelter stories:" tales from those of you who have volunteered with animal rescue groups. We wanted to know about the good times, the bad, and what inspired you to do this work.

Our first submission, from Mack, sets the bar high. It made my day and I hope it does the same for yours.

I volunteer for Florida Dachshund Rescue and serve primarily as "intake coordinator.'' My role is to find foster homes for dachshunds that wind up in shelters or are given up by their owners. My interest started merely by being an enthusiast of the breed. I wanted to help. Soon I became a foster home. Who knew I'd gain a family as well?

I received an email in March of 2006 from a young woman who had spotted a black and tan doxie named Rascal at the Santa Rosa County Animal Services shelter in Milton. She was there to pick up a basset hound for her basset rescue group. I was lucky Rascal caught her eye.

She went home and Googled "dachshund rescue'' and up popped my group. Her note was like so many of the 4-5 a week I receive. I responded that I would try to help, but at that moment had no foster home for Rascal.

She told me later that she had about given up when I hadn't gotten back in touch in more than a day. But then we got a break -- a foster home for Rascal. The lady pulled Rascal for me and got him into our rescue.

Rascal is now in his forever home in Auburndale, near Lakeland, one of hundreds we've placed since FLDR's inception in 2003.

The young woman who emailed me that day from Santa Rosa kept emailing -- and calling. There were 11 more dogs taken from shelters in the Panhandle -- all in a course of a couple days a few weeks later.

There was also a personal connection there, a bond that grew stronger. By September, we were married, that lovely young woman and I making our home in South Florida, merging a family of furkids that now consists of eight dogs -- four dachshunds (one from among the group of 11), three basset hounds and a clumber spaniel. And a 13-month-old daughter.

And rescue is still very much a part of us. Without it, our lives would be very different.

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Have you volunteered at an animal shelter or for a rescue group? Do you now?
What inspired you to do this? What did you encounter, what were the highs and lows?

SSS! would love to hear some "shelter stories" from our readers, because we know a lot of you are on the front lines. Send them to: dlade@sun-sentinel.com. Or post them under Comments here.

What got me thinking about this was a first-person piece, passed to me by TJ, by a woman who was a new volunteer at a Brooklyn, NY shelter for cats. Natalie Macrynikola, an editorial assistant at Studio One Networks, learns that rescued kitties needed more patience than she realized -- and ends up with some battle scars on her hands as proof. But she also finds a lot of love from creatures that, in their former lives, had been shown so little of it. Keep reading for the story, which ran in The Daily Cat:

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