Here’s What Pet & Shelter Won the Happy Tails Contest

It's no secret that all of us here at Townsquare Media are big supporters of our local animal rescue community and we celebrated pet adoptions with our first-ever Happy Tails contest!

We have been helping area shelters and rescues find forever homes for the animals in their care for years because we truly believe in the mantra "Don't Shop. Adopt." Happy Tails, proudly sponsored by Robert John and Associates, is a celebration of those forever home success stories!

We asked you to share your stories of pet adoption from accredited shelters and rescues in Western Kentucky, Southern Indiana, and Southern Illinois. To say that the response was overwhelming would be an understatement!

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It was an absolute joy and a blessing to read through every one of the Happy Tails that have been shared with us. And last week, we opened voting to the public to decide their favorite Happy Tail!

We tallied the votes - well, actually our polling partner CrowdSignal tallied the votes - and here are your final results.

Pet Name: Rick

Shelter: Kentucky Kitty Cats

I met Rick via foster fail adoption thru Kentucky Kitty Cats February 2023. Rick came into the rescue 16 long painful days after being hit by a car. When I finally got my hands on him we all knew he was home forever. Rick came into the rescue with severe trauma to his face, a ruptured eye and a broken jaw. While he was on the run for those 16 days his jaw had already started fusing back together oddly. Making his dumpster diving for food impossible. On intake he weighed a mere 5 pounds 6 ounces. We contacted larger rescues in hopes to find someone capable of such a medical case. Immediately vet care was taken on hoping and praying. We spent many long hours just controlling the pain, figuring out how to get him to survive with a jaw that never will completely close. After about 2 weeks into this whole medical disaster of a hot mess of a cat. My heart fell in love, and he was home forever. Finally another rescue was potentially gonna inquire on how they could help. We were so far into treatment and a bond had been made. Every long night. Every single second of treatment. Every purr. Every biscuit made me so happy I was the one who would save him. He had such an incredible will to live. Such a loving thankful spiri, such an amazing story to tell. I saw him the morning he was hit by the car. I tried my best to rescue him that morning, but he was literally finger tips lengths away from me. Maybe he knew I was there that morning 16 longs days ago as I fished his poor broken mangled self out of the dumpster. Maybe he knew I was the person who tried to save him once before, I just couldn't reach just inches more. Rick is perfectly broken still. He has lasting injuries and will always have them. Rick has so much love now. He literally is super blessed. Actually I am super blessed to be able to really call him mine. He went from an injured stray, to rescued, to officially adopted and loved by so many.

- Brandie Siedlik, Owner

Kentucky Kitty Cats is a small shelter in Cromwell, KY that has been helping felines since 2013. They assist pets and humans through adoption services, offer access to low-cost spay/neuter, community outreach programs, educating pet owners, and pet food pantry assistance. They currently care for about 100 cats and a few dogs at a time. They are always looking for volunteers and donations to help support their cause.

We had lots of amazing stories and tons of votes but Rick and Kentucky Kitty Cats are taking home the big prize today.

Big shout out to Robert John and Associates for sponsoring this contest and for the $1000 donation to Kentucky Kitty Cats!