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My childhood would have never been the same had I grown up without a pet. Through all my achievements, painful moments and days when I didn't feel that I had a friend in the world, a rescued dog or a cat was always there. I have been lucky enough to have had many animal best friends over the years and all have been rescues. Now I am sure that pure breeds bought from breeders are just as nice as rescued animals but what I want to do is ensure readers that rescued animals are just as wonderful as animals that come with papers or who can trace their bloodlines.

Two of the rescues that I was blessed to have been given the opportunity to befriend were old souls. Not only were they old souls but they were gentle souls. These old girls were the most passive dogs that I have ever known. I am convinced that their gentleness came from their mixed bloodlines that so often make up a rescued dog. Mandy, my mixed Labrador retriever, slept with an alarm clock, when she was a puppy because the tick tick tick soothed her to sleep as it reminded her of her mother's heartbeat. Mandy's demeanor was remarkable for the abuse that she suffered. Our house was the neighborhood hangout and her dog days of summer were plagued by 20 kids yelling and screaming while she lay lazily on the front porch trying to nap. She was stricken with cancer and God decided to take her from us when she was 16 and I was 19. I rescued Jasmine, the other old soul, when I was older and living on my own. She was a German Sheperd mix and a farm dog. To this day I have never met a more passive dog. I still don't understand why someone would have chosen to give her up. The entire eight years that I owned her I never heard her bark. However; she was an excellent guard dog. People who didn't know her were petrified of her because of her appearance. But to those who knew her, she was a blessed dog. My niece would ride her like a pony and Jasmine was all too happy to follow Lauren anywhere. Jasmine died at 18 years of old age. One morning she looked at me with her cataract filled eyes and told me, "It's time." Her kidneys failed her and she was rendered immobile.

Blue was the only cat that I had ever had the pleasure of rescuing. He was Jasmine's best friend and mine too. Out of all the animals that I ever lived with he remains closest to my heart. He came to live with me after I rescued him from the street. He was a six week old kitten, oil stained and infested with fleas and worms. But oh, what

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