(708)301-1594 
Open 11 am-4 pm Tuesday through Saturday Closed Sunday and Monday webmistress                   |
Here's the happy ending story of Harley, Twinkie and Sampson:
Dear staff and volunteers:
We adopted Sampson from the shelter on Saturday, August 26, 2000. We came to the shelter to find a new brother or sister for our 12 year old male cat Twinkie. Our family suffered a tragic loss on March 21, 2000; we lost our beloved 15 year old male cat Harley to cancer. I adopted Harley from TLC Animal Shelter in January of 1985 when he was a tiny 8 week old kitten. When I adopted Harley I was single so he was my buddy, companion and confidant. Harley was the best cat in the world and we shared everything! Later I adopted Twinkie from a litter of my sister's cat and Harley gained a brother. Twinkie had been with Harley his whole life. When Harley died I was devastated, I cried nonstop for five days. I could not go to work, I was a wreck. Twinkie also missed him terribly, he would go to Harley's favorite spots looking for him and crying out to Harley. I didn't think I would ever stop hurting or crying over my Harley's death.
After a few months went by I started thinking wouldn't it be nice to get a new companion for Twinkie. My husband and I talked about adopting a new family member, but thought we better talk it over with our veterinarian. We took Twinkie in for his check-up and brought up the idea of a new member in the family. Dr. Miller was excited for us since he knew what Harley meant to us. He suggested we adopt a kitten due to Twinkie's age and having spent his whole life with Harley it would take a little adjusting. So, we decided it was time we would take the big step. I told my husband I had one stipulation: I wanted to adopt from the same animal shelter Harley came from.
We knew a kitten would be extra work, but the reward's well worth the effort! So I arranged to take a one week vacation from work to help with bringing a new kitten into the home and help Twinkie to adjust to his new companion. We came to the shelter that Saturday August 26th, 2000 and Sampson picked us! We walked into the cat room and Sampson stuck his little black paw out from the cage and that was it for me and my husband! He was an older kitten, 4 months old, and within minutes he had his little paw paws wrapped around my heart! My husband and I played with Sampson in the prospective adoptees room and within 5 minutes we knew he was the one!
Now we had to take him home to big brother. At first Twinkie did not like this intruder in his house, but within a short time they became buddies. Twinkie has become more active now that he has a younger brother to chase him around the house!We want to say Thank You for giving Harley a home until he came to me for 15 wonderful years. And a big Thank You for caring for Sampson until we came in that day to bring him home to join our family! We are all looking forward to sharing Sampson's first Christmas with him!
The Hetherington Family
Cindy, John, Sampson & Twinkie