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50 Soul-Healing Rescue Pet Pics To Make You Smile (January Edition)
Approximately 6.3 million companion animals enter US animal shelters every year. (Of those, around 3.1 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats.)
And while the numbers sound huge, they're actually getting small. According to some estimates, the number of dogs and cats entering shelters in the country annually has declined from approximately 7.2 million in 2011.
Also, roughly 4.1 million shelter animals are adopted each year and 810,000 animals who enter shelters as strays are returned to their owners.
To illustrate what difference a second chance at life and a loving home can make to a critter, we at Bored Panda are continuing our monthly installment, sharing the most adorable rescue pet photos we find on the internet.
Continue scrolling to enjoy the images and when you're done, make sure that you're up to date with the series here: December, November, and October.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
This Man Was Forced To Give His Dog To The Humane Society Due To Undergoing Lengthy Hospital Stay. This Nurse Found Out And Immediately Went To The Shelter And Adopted His Dog. She Brings Him To Visit Daily And Will Return Him As Soon As The Man Is Released!
RELATED:
#2
Good Guy Adopts An Old Timer So He Doesn’t Have To Die Alone
#3
Meet Finley. He Followed Me Home On A Night I Was Sad And Feeling Especially Lonely. Then He Walked Right Inside Like He Owned My House. (I Did Check For A Chip And Officially Adopted Him From His Feral Cat Agency.) Everyone Says He Chose Me.
#4
This Cecil. I Adopted Him Through The Starbucks Drive Thru. The Customer Showed Me A Passenger Seat Full Of Kittens And Said “Do You Want A Kitten?” And I Said “Absolutely I Do”. I Took The Kitten, Put Him In My Apron Pocket, And Asked To Go Home Early. Cecil Is Now Six
#5
Bartolito The Day He Was Rescued vs. ~3 Weeks~ Later
#6
Before & After Adoption; Our Lovely Princess, Kimchi
Cecilia Herrera 4 years ago
God Bless you for giving this girl a better life. May you have many wonderful years together.
#7
My Black Kitten I Adopted Last Week Looks Like She Has “White Eyeliner” On Her Eyes
#8
My Friend Just Adopted An 18 Year Old Cat Named Cat
#9
I Think I Accidentally Adopted A Dragon. She Thinks It's Her Job To Hoard And Guard Anything Shiny
#10
Rescued Is Horrific Condition Severely Emaciated With Wide Open Sores On Her Back Legs This Girl Has Been Adopted And Is Living Her Best Life
#11
4 Y/O Rescue And His 5 M/O Best Bud. Totally Inseparable Since Day 1
#12
A Sicko Tied A Rock To This Dog & Threw Him On A Frozen River. Dog Is Rescued & Found A Good Home
#13
Meet The New Rescues: Lulu, Luna, And Nana
#14
Found This Absolute Unit Living Underneath A Pallet At Work
#15
I've Applied To Adopt This Stray, One-Eyed Fiv Cat
#16
Since Adopting This Sweet Boy 2 Weeks Ago, Our Lives Have Been Exponentially Better
#17
He Finally Trusts Me Enough To Sleep In My Hands
#18
My Foster's Adoption Profile Has Zero Views After A Week.... Why Does Nobody Want Her??
#19
Brick Got Adopted!!!
#20
Rescued From A Shelter Where He Was Scheduled For Euthanasia. Now He Is My Happy, Snuggly Best Friend. My Sweet Boy, Macaroni
#21
This Is Juniper, A Super Happy Rescue Fox!
#22
When I Adopted Her, I Made It My Aim To See This Smile As Often As Possible
#23
Vet Told Us The Stray We Adopted Wasn’t Pregnant, So This Was Quite The Surprise Last Night!
#24
Just Adopted These Bonded Babies Thursday… Crying
#25
Chonky Cat Mister Weighs 30 Pounds And Available To Adopt From Michigan Humane
#26
His Name Is Zorba, He Has Behavioral Issues Due To Abandonment And Bad Shelter Experience, I Adopted Him. He's Coming Home Today
#27
One Of My Saddest Beginning Rescue Cases. This Senior Declawed Girl Was Living In A Hotel Storm Drain Starving. As Soon As I Got The Call, I Rushed There. She Had To Be Sedated And Shaved, As Seen In The Before Photo Due To Matting. She Was So Thin.
#28
The Power Of Rescue! I Rescue Animals.this Is Pearl The Day I Got Her, And Her Today In Her Forever Home!
#29
Just Rescued This Handsome Man. His Name Is Appa
#30
His Adoption Fee Was Discounted Because He Only Has 3 Legs
#31
Adopted 2 Pups From The Spca And Caught Them Holding Paws Comforting Each Other
#32
My Bonus Mom Rescued A Pirate Pitty So Her Other Pitty Could Have A Friend. Meet Remy!
#33
Just Adopted These Two Partners In Crime
#34
Rescued This Handsome Yelly Void After He’d Been Coming To My Door For Two Weeks (Getting Him Checked For A Microchip At The Vet)
#35
Lemon Before And After Adoption
#36
My Husband Developed A Fever And Our Rescue Lab Mix Daisy, Won’t Leave His Side. She’s Even Been Sleeping With Her Head On His Head
Cecilia Herrera 4 years ago
Our pets are so comforting. They always seem to know when we need them close by.
#37
Less Than 24 Hours After I Found Her Getting Into My Trash.. Brought This Pretty Girl To The Vet, And We're Adopting Her. Shadow Says Hello!
#38
My GF Got Toby For $5 At A Rescue. Best $5 Ever Spent
#39
My Wife And I Adopted These Two Goobers In 2020. Sienna (Back) And Miho.
#40
After A Year Of Feeding, Spoiling And Small Cautious Head Pats, She Has Finally Adopted Me. Help Me Name This Sweet Thing
#41
My Old Man Brody, Rescued Him After Being Returned 2 Times. He Must Have Been Waiting For Me Because He’s Been The Best Dog. We Have Been Threw A Lot Together, He’s My Rock And Loves Wearing Hats!
#42
One Of The Two Cats We've Adopted, It Was Her First Time Outside
#43
Sumi(Tabby) & Waka. Adopted Together And They Were Golden. We Sadly Lost Waka A Year Ago And This Was The Best Picture Of Them Together
#44
Just Adopted My First Hippo. He Gets Compliments On How Good He Looks From Strangers On Every Walk
#45
Adopted Little Miss Freya Last Weekend. 1.3 Lbs Of Love
#46
Before And After 2 Years Of Being Rescued
#47
My Wife Just Rescued This Baby Tonight. She’d Been Outside For A Few Days In Sub Zero Temps, Abandoned By Our Old Neighbors And We Weren’t Sure She’d Make It Another Night. Glad To Bring Her In And Warm Her Up!
#48
The Day Before Adoption And 11 Months Later 1 More Month Until Gotcha Day
#49
BF And I Adopted This Sweet Girl Last Week From A Coworker Who Had To Rehome Her! Meet Kali Our Wonderful 9 Month Old Chocolate Lab!
#50
Rescued This Poor Fella From A Neglect Situation Last Night. Hoping I Can Bring Him Back To Good Health!
Vortex Lazer 4 years ago
Awe, being a huge reptile fan, I hope he gets well soon! That puppy-like eye is something to live for.
#51
My Rescue Girl Who Was “Likely Never Going To Be Able To Trust”
#52
Senior Rescue Has No Teeth So She Can Be A Messy Eater!
#53
Rescued My 2nd Kitty
#54
Just Adopted This Sleepy Girl!
Yettichild 4 years ago
Zzzzzzzzzzz. That's what I should be doing right now instead of looking at all the cute pets, it's 1 am.
#55
His Name Is Zsasz, He Was A Semi Feral Rescue And Now A Love Sponge
#56
This Is Fin. Fin Is A Rescue. The First Pic Is The Night He Was Found, And The Second Is From A Few Months Ago. I’d Say He Got The Golden Ticket
#57
My Rescue Boy Bear. He Was In A Shelter For Almost A Year. He’s The Friendliest Dog Ever, Wonderful With My Grandkids And A Giant Lap Hound
#58
Her Name Is Baby, Vets Think She Is ~19 Yrs Old. She’s A Rescue And Loves To Be Held And Has One Tooth. Baby New Year!
#59
Just Adopted A 10 Year Old Cat At The Shelter. His Owner Died Recently And So Did My Son So We Kinda Need Each Other Right Now
Cecilia Herrera 4 years ago
Sorry about your son. May you and your new cat bring each other many years of comfort and joy.
#60
Adopted Him 1 Week Ago, Already So In Love With Him
#61
Thanks To This Subreddit I Have Just Adopted A Rescue, 6 Months Old Kitty Void. Her Name Is Katja
#62
Long-Term Blep Waiting 600+ Days To Be Adopted
#63
I Trapped A Void Named Linda. I Rescued Her And Her Babies. I’m A Proud Mom Of 5 Voids!
#64
Our Dumpster Rescue Chai, Then And Now. Went From A Little Sweetheart To A Total Drama Queen. We Love Her!!
DUN DUN (she/her) 4 years ago (edited)
That expression went from "Hug me" to "Watchu lookin' at, hooman?"
#65
Just Adopted This Sweet Girl Yesterday
#66
Adopted This Guy Last Week. He Was Found Chained Outside An Abandoned House.he Goes By Kilo.
#67
Rescued This Little Stray 2 Weeks Ago. He's In Quarantine Because Of Ringworm But Is Already Looking So Much Better! I Would Die For Frodo
Yettichild 4 years ago
Will that's one ring he definitely needs to get rid of. And make sure you don't end up with it and have to journey to Mordor yourself. It's actually a fungus for those that don't know and people can get it too.
#68
Adopted A 10 Month Siamese Cat
#69
My 5 Month Shiba. Adopted Just Yesterday From A Local Rescue. I Feel Like I Won The Puppy Lottery
#70
My Fiancé And I Adopted A Senior Cat. Everyone, Meet Doug!
#71
Rescued My Boy From A Dude That Bought Him And Just Chained Him To A Tree For Months And Had Him Sleep In A Broken Freezer Outside. Now He Gets To Run Around Free And Sleeps In Bed With Me At Night
#72
Rescued A Lost Tabby During Monsoon Rains But Was Lowkey Worried If My Other Boy Would Accept Him, I Guess They’re Doing Just Fine
#73
Before And After Adoption. In A Span Of 3 Months Loki Went From An Outdoor Loner To A Pampered, Mindless Chonk
#74
The Adoption Pic vs. What I Adopted
#75
My Girlfriend And I Adopted This Sweet Boy Earlier This Week. Now Flapjack Is Living His Best Life!
#76
My Blue Nose Pit Selena Rescued And Saved Her From A Terrible Home Where She Was Abused And Starved And Shes Gained Almost 60 Ibs And Is A Happy Girl
#77
Superb Rescue Saw Whet Owl Maple With Her New Stuffed Monkey Pal!
Dukes Miller 4 years ago
Such wonderful little owls...had a small community of them who would gather in a large tree in our yard when we tossed a frisbee in the evenings. Calm and friendly.
#78
Happy 15th To This Old Lady, We Adopted Her At 14 Weeks Old
#79
Also Sharing My Skye~ She's The Last One To Be Adopted From Her Litter 'Cause Other Says She's "Ugly.". Who's Ugly Now?
#80
My Missy Girl Two Months After We Rescued Her
#81
Our Little Rescue. We Need Name Suggestions! Please Help!
Nuku Nyara 4 years ago
Cinnamon or ginger if they are spicy or female kitty, Rusty or Oscar if they are quirky. Boi kitty.
#82
Meet Tiny Syd, Just Adopted And He Is Very Polite
#83
Please Help Me Name My New Rescue Bunny! I Can Decide What Suits Him
#84
Adopted This Aussie/Golden Retriever On Christmas Eve And Her Name Is Maddie. Not Only The Best Gift I've Ever Gotten But A Literal Dream Come True
#85
We First Wanted To Adopt One, But I'm So Happy We Couldn't Resist And Adopted Both! Meet Sushi And Zorro!
#86
This Is Bee, Our Rescue Hippo. The Rescue Listed Her As Staffordshire/Dalmatian But We Aren’t Sure
#87
Please Help Me Name Him! We Just Adopted Him, He's A Cream Colored Fur Baby
#88
BF And I Decided To Adopt The Kitten We Rescued - Any Name Suggestions? She’s Such A Sweetie!
#89
Cops Told Us To Shoot Them. We Didn’t - They Will Both Make A Full Recovery And Hopefully Be Adopted Together!
#90
Adopted Him Off The Streets Of Hollywood. Now He’s 14 Lbs And Meows At Me If I Don’t Top His Food With Bone Broth
#91
When I Rescued Him vs. Now
#92
I Rescued The Sweetest Cat Tonight From The Cold. She Has A Warm Bed And Food Tonight And Is Resting And Purring. She Is Very Malnourished Though So I’m Pretty Worried For Her. I Will Take Her To Vet In The Morning. Send Positive Vibes Her Way!
#93
Meet Our Newly Adopted Dog, Lincoln!
#94
Freya Our Adopted Norwegian Elk Hound
#95
Adopted Ringo Yesterday :) Can’t Decide If He’s Dark Grey Or Black… Depends On The Lighting!
#96
Bowie On A Bookshelf. Rescued Street Kitty Settling Into His New Home Nicely
#97
Rescued This Baby From A Bunch Of Dogs
#98
My Sister Rescued This Cute Stray Kitten That Came In Her Garden. He Hasn't Stopped Purring Since We Turned Him Into A Purrito
#99
Just Adopted My Third Piggy (Middle)!
#100
This Is Marcel, A New Friend At Our Cat Shelter. Right Now He’s Resting And Eating A Lot. The Good News Is That We Already Have Someone Who Wants To Adopt Him!
#101
Hubby & New Rescue Kitten
#102
My Handsome Rescue Pup Jasper - Half Labrador W/ Lotsa Husky And A Sprinkle Of Beagle & Basset Hound
#103
She Always Wanted A "Baby", So She Adopted A Red Panda Stuffie
#104
She’s Come Such A Long Way And Grown Up So Much Since I Adopted Her!
#105
We Just Rescued This Little Pudding. She's Called Penny. She's Very Overweight. Any Advice/Tips On Getting Her Weight Down Would Be Very Much Appreciated
Lara Löwenherz 4 years ago
Just take walks. Start slowly and step by step make them longer. Also one or two settled feeding times. Wish you the best.
#106
Adopted These Two Fur Babies In October And They Are Inseparable. Meet Randy (Left) And Xena (Right)
#107
I Always Had Dogs Growing Up And Never Interacted With Cats Because Of My Mom’s Allergies. My Boyfriend And I Got A Black Cat Yesterday And She’s Changed My Opinion On All Cats Ever. (10 Month Old Rescued Off The Street)
#108
I Thought I Would Share My Boy Here. I Love Him. He’s A Rescue, But Who Really Rescued Who? He’s Been There For Me With Everything
#109
My Precious Boys Chucky And Freddy Got Adopted Today
#110
We Just Adopted This Boy!
#111
Jam Is A 7 Week Old Rescue, Very Playful And Very Affectionate, Like Knows No Boundaries 😂 People Interested In Adopting Her Ask For Better Pictures. Any Tips On Photographing Torties?
#112
Another Heartwarming Pitbull Rescue Story
#113
This Is Elvira, A Cute Friend At Our Cat Shelter. She’s Getting Adopted Really Soon,until Then She’s Rocking Her Pjs
#114
Help Me Name Our New Rescue! He’s Really Mischievous And Playful
#115
My Rescue Girl Luna Always Smiles At Me Like This When We Go For A Walk!
#116
Vet: Uhh, Your Rescue Cat, Miss Kevan, May Be A Low-Mid Generation Savannah Cat. (Next To 14 Year Old Normal Sized Clarysse For Scale)
RandomBeing 4 years ago
Wow. Also which one is which? Either way thats crazy! what does low-mid generation mean?
#117
Meet My Mom's Rescue Dog, Shayna!!
#118
Adopted Today, Help Me Name Him?
#119
Adopted This Boy A Month Ago From A Local Rescue. We Were Told He Was A Big Boy But We Weren’t Prepared Lol More To Love! Fyi - This Is A King Bed. 8lb Senior Cat For Scale In Second Pic.
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What do you think ?
Oliver Seitz 4 years ago
Adopt, don't shop. Don't buy poor animals out of a trunk at a parking lot. Animals deserve a good life too!!!
Bobbie Meyers 4 years ago
In the last year and a half, I have gotten two puppies from ok breeders and one rehome. Why....because NONE of the dozen or so rescues I contacted ever responded. You can't adopt if no one really wants to adopt out the dogs they have listed on their websites.
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Monkey Spunk 4 years ago
One of my 2 idiots was having zoomies this morning and decided to be loving, rolling around on the floor wanting strokes, 5 times I stroked her and 5 times I got "attacked". 2 hours later I opened the door for a parcel and did the Purell thing. Turns out Purell in tiny needle bites and cuts really bloody stings. Btw, she's a 9yo rescue who thinks she's still a kitten, she's not quite alll there, is funny as hell and very loving, also spiteful and a malicious little cow if she doesn't get her own way
Oliver Seitz 4 years ago
Adopt, don't shop. Don't buy poor animals out of a trunk at a parking lot. Animals deserve a good life too!!!
Bobbie Meyers 4 years ago
In the last year and a half, I have gotten two puppies from ok breeders and one rehome. Why....because NONE of the dozen or so rescues I contacted ever responded. You can't adopt if no one really wants to adopt out the dogs they have listed on their websites.
Load More Replies... Monkey Spunk 4 years ago
One of my 2 idiots was having zoomies this morning and decided to be loving, rolling around on the floor wanting strokes, 5 times I stroked her and 5 times I got "attacked". 2 hours later I opened the door for a parcel and did the Purell thing. Turns out Purell in tiny needle bites and cuts really bloody stings. Btw, she's a 9yo rescue who thinks she's still a kitten, she's not quite alll there, is funny as hell and very loving, also spiteful and a malicious little cow if she doesn't get her own way
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