Raven, formerly known as Gunner
In June of 2007, my boyfriend and I adopted a baby hound mix pup from your rescue who at the time had the name Gunner. We ended up renaming him Raven. On November 5, 2009 we lost our best friend to a congenital heart condition. It all happened so fast, and at the time we did everything we could to save him. After going through a blood transfusion and then draining fluid from around his heart, Raven went into cardiac arrest and the U of M doctors were unable to save him. We continue to miss him every day and his urn and pictures of him through out our house remind us how much he meant to us. In honor of Raven, we adopted a redbone coonhound mix and have fallen in love with him so much already. Thank you for adopting a dog to us that gave us so much joy in his short life. He impacted my entire family's life more than he will ever know. Raven was the center of our world and some days are still so difficult. Thanks for all you do in finding dogs loving homes. If not for you, we would have never met "the best dog ever".

Butch
Butch was found one morning waiting on someones doorstep when they went to put their kids on the school bus. He was just looking for some good food and a warm place to lay his head.They wanted to make sure he stayed safe so they called animal control to come get him and he was brought to the pound. He was very underweight, but he was so sweet. He loved everyone there including the clinic cats. He was very gentle and just full of life, even though he was around 8-9yrs old. We were able to find him a wonderful foster home with another dog to play with and his very own little girl to love. His foster family gave him lots of love and good food, and even a warm spot on the couch that he loved to sleep on. He had the life he always dreamed about! He loved his home and his new family with all of his heart and soul. Sadly he crossed the rainbow bridge on 2-13-2010, but was in the only place he would have wanted to be, with his family. Thanks for being such an amazing dog, Butch, we will all miss you until we meet again.

Bernie Mac
Bernie "Mac" crossed the Rainbow Bridge on October 15th 2009. Mac loved everyone and everything! He loved playing with his human sibling and going to the dog park. He was in a loving foster home that was going to be adopting him when tragedy struck Mac and his family. Mac and his foster daddy had just returned from a long walk. Mac was relaxing on the couch when he heard his human sibling playing and having fun with the neighbor kids. Of course Mac didn't want to be left out of all of the fun and games so he pushed through the front door and started to run across the street. At the very same time that Mac decided to cross the street a vehicle was in a very big hurry to get somewhere as well. The vehicle was going 15 mph above the posted speed limit and hit Mac head on. Mac didn't have a chance! Maybe if the driver was going the posted speed limit Mac would have been able to walk away with some scraps and bruises maybe even a broken bone but not death. Mac will be greatly missed by his foster family and all of MARS! When you are driving and in a hurry PLEASE think about Mac and all of the millions of other animals and people who have lost their lives because of people who are in hurry to get somewhere! It REALLY is okay to be a couple minutes late! Thank you Mac from beinging the awesome dog that you were! Until we meet again.........

Chica
Chica`s Story Chica came into rescue in 2007,for some reason that I will never understand she couldn't find the right forever home or even foster until late 08 when she got a good foster who kept her until her adoption in Feb of 09. Her adopted Dad was a soldier who shortly after adopting her was re deployed to Afghanistan. That's when she found by Christie & Dallas who were going to keep her overnight then take her to a previous foster,who decided it wasn't convenient to take her. Christie & Dallas kept her as a foster with their family which included 2 Dogs of their own & 1 other foster Dog. Chica's adopted dad called me on 7/24/09,he was on leave & wanted to see her & said "I definitely want her back" He said "I`ll never give up on my dog. I haven't heard from him since even after many attempts to contact him & his Mom. Chica developed what I believe was a brain issue that caused unpredictable behavior which we fought for several months. Chica was with her hero Christie & I when she was sent to the Rainbow Bridge Thursdsay 10/29/09. All I can say from the heart is Sorry Chica we tried. Love ya & miss Ya.

Angel
.: When an Angel is called home :. Angel, a beautiful, happy, loving American Bulldog was taken on his final walk across the rainbow bridge on Sunday March 8, 2009. Unfortunate complications led to this very difficult decision. He was such a great boy! He dearly loved his family and anyone who would give him attention, liked to play ball, and eat all the treats you would let him. He just loved his new life as a "dog". He was truly amazing. Always curious and no matter what was going on, he was able to look you in the eye and make you chuckle because you could only imagine what he was thinking and knew that if he got the chance he would get into something. Hence, his nickname...Chaos. Angel came to MARS from Florida where he had been dumped at a local pound. He was heartworm positive, but he knew that someone would come to be his “angel”. So, he never gave up hope and continued to fight for a good life. That’s when he came to Minnesota and was able to successfully withstand the effects of the harsh heartworm treatment all while keeping his head up the entire time. No one wanted to see him go. He was a great success to have seen and loved by so many of us. He was kept company by Steve, Amanda, and Chris when he crossed over the bridge and got to enjoy a tasty McGriddle sandwich with hash browns before he left us. He never once fought the medication because he knew that it was his time to go to his forever home across the bridge. God truly called back one of his angel's. We'll miss you Angel, but your memory will stay in our hearts until we meet again…