Mickey is a handsome classic gray tabby kitten. Mickey loves the adult cats in his foster home and is learning to tolerate the small dogs. He is curious and active. Mickey is a little shy with people so the best home for him would be one without small children. He would love to join a family with another friendly cat who can show him the ropes. For information on Mickey, contact Patti at 602-943-7059 or rcartfam@aol.com. Call Patti at 602-943-7059 to rescue a forever friend! "No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove fur from your couch." - Leo Dworken. THIS FOSTER HAS MANY OTHER KITTENS ALSO AVAILABLE SOON...PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL FOR MORE INFO!
Rescue a Forever Friend!
Benji's Buddies is a non-profit (501c3) organization dedicated to the rescue and placement of pets into permanent, loving homes. This is our primary mission.
Benji's Buddies was founded by a small group of volunteers who value every pet and believe in their unique individuality and their ability to enrich the lives of others.
We believe that adopting a pet is a lifetime commitment and that no matter what turns life may take, the responsibility and obligation to that pet as a family member should remain constant. Pets are NOT disposable! They are living beings who feel love, fear and loss. Too often in rescue work, we see the result of human cruelty and negligence. These pets are desperate to be loved though their trust has been broken. We feel they deserve better!
We seek adoptive families who understand the meaning of this commitment and want to give a home to a pet in need. By home, we mean a place of love and security...for the rest of their lives. These are the lucky few who have been saved from the sad fate that 1200 pets a week find in Maricopa County alone. It is a terrible statistic. But with your help, in saving just one at a time, we can all make a difference!
Do you have the time to commit to your pet?
Are you willing to commit to take the pet with you should you move in the future?
Do you plan on getting married during the lifetime of this pet?
Do you plan on having children if you don't already have them?
Do you plan on moving away from home or going to college?
How old are the children in your home?
What temperament in a pet best fits your family environment and lifestyle?
Are all members of the family on board with this decision to bring a pet into your lives?
How will the pet fit into your family routine?
What about allergies in the family, or with friends, or anyone who would visit?
Are you willing to make the financial commitment to this pet's health as well?
Are you prepared to deal with issues that require training and patience such as chewing, digging, barking, housebreaking or any other behavioral issue? This is a BIG one. Great pets aren't born, they are made by love and patience!
These are just some of the questions you should consider and answer honestly. These pets have each been given a second chance and they deserve to have it last for the rest of their lives, not until they become an inconvenience and are then passed on yet again. Before you make the commitment and adopt one of Benji's Buddies, you need to understand that. If you find that this is the right time to adopt a rescued pet, we would love for you to consider one of ours.
If you would like help with how to go about addressing a particular problem or where to turn to for training assistance, etc., please feel free to contact us.
ITEMS - We could always use food, treats, toys, blankets,
cages, carriers, bowls and all other pet supplies. You
contact a volunteer or drop off at Glendale Pet Shop.
Just state your donations are for Benji's Buddies.
MONEY - We welcome all monetary donations to cover
the costs of vet bills, food and other expenses incurred
in rescue. Please make your checks payable and
send to:
Benji's Buddies Animal Rescue
PO Box 33063
Phoenix, AZ 85067-3063.
You can also donate by credit or debit card by going to our secured fundraising site on 
VOLUNTEERS:
FOSTERS - Every rescue group, including ours, can
use more good fosters able to temporarily care for a pet
in need. This is no small commitment. You must care
for the animal and bring them to the adoption center on
weekends. For more information, please call.
ADOPTION CENTER WORKERS - We could always use
more people who are ready to commit for specific times
and dates to man the adoption center at Petco. This
requires helping set-up, tear-down, walking animals,
keeping them supplied with water, cleaning up after
them and answering questions about the organization
and the particular pet.
You can also make a difference by spaying/neutering your pet, having a collar and tags on him/her and micro-chipping your pet!
Whatever you do to help is deeply appreciated! For more information, please email daisy320@cox.net.
DOGS and PUPPIES start at $140. This includes spay/neuter, current vaccinations, microchip and collar/tags.
CATS are $80 and KITTENS are $100. This includes spay/neuter, current vaccinations, microchip, collar/tags and FELV/FIV combo test.
FORSAKEN ANGELS CLUB: These particular animals are the sweet angels, who, for one reason or another, have been in foster care longer than most others. They are equally deserving of a loving home. They may require extra training, care or simply haven't had the perfect family find them yet. Reduced rates apply to these precious angels in an increased effort to place them, at last, in their forever homes.
Please call to discuss the particular animal you are interested in and your home situation.
Please note that we do not have the ability to accept payment with credit or debit cards. Must be check or cash at adoptions. We can only take debit or credit card donations through the link indicated above. This is not a resource to process your adoption fee, only a donation link. Thank you..
We are at the Petco at Ray/I-10 (southwest corner) in Ahwatukee every Sunday and the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Saturday as well from 10-4 PM. We also go to the PetsMart at Desert Ridge (Tatum and 101) on Saturdays from approximately 10-4 pm.
If you are seeking a cat/kitten from 8 weeks to 5 years old, please contact Kathy at 623-878-4305. She has a variety of foster kitties to choose from in every color and temperment. They are in a home with cats, kids and dogs. Most are not listed on the website at any given time. We welcome your call and ask you to consider adopting one of these darling rescues who have been given a second chance at a happy life. No matter where you are in the valley, it's worth the trip to find just the right kitty for you. Kathy often takes some of them to PetSmart at Desert Ridge in the north valley on weekends. Call her for details. We need good, loving, permanent homes for these sweethearts. Our kitten fosters also include Patti, whom you can reach at 602-943-7059. She always lots of cute, adorable, lovable kittens in need of homes. Most of those are usually posted when ready for adoption. Thank you.
Recently, Benji's Buddies, and over 25 other local rescue groups, joined with Mill Dog Rescue Network at www.milldogrescue.org to save 121 dogs from the horrific puppy mills of the midwest. We are so proud to have participated in this rescue effort. We took 14 of the dogs who were slated for a continued life of misery in a tiny cage or for death as "excess inventory". On May 10th, this heart wrenching event took place. They will slowly be available for adoption since they are still learning how to be dogs outside of a cage, and they will need very special homes full of patience and love, but they will be well worth the effort.
Here is one of our volunteers account of the evening.....and in the spirit of this rescue effort, we urge you never to adopt from a boutique or mall puppy store...for they come from, and support, absolute misery and suffering and death of those left behind!
"Saturday night was one of the most wonderful, heart wrenching, things I have ever been involved with. I am still tearing up when I think of it. It was so very hard….but so rewarding. Everyone was struck by the emotions that overcame them. I am so touched by this experience.
We waited all day for the truck to arrive since it had vehicle problems, snow in the mountains from Colorado, rain in the Midwest from the storms up near Missouri and so forth. We had all worked so hard for this night. 25 groups wound up being involved. 100 people waited in this doggie day care facility with 3000 sq feet filled with puppy pens, vet stations, groomers ready at the waiting. There were 6 vets,10 vet techs, donated medicines and vaccinations, everything we needed. People all assigned to duties to get the ball rolling for 121 little lost souls. The pens were filled with food, water, treats, toys and soft blankets and pillows. The media were there as well to document this touching event.
Finally, someone yelled out, “they’re here”. We had been asked to keep it quiet. They would be tired, traumatized, sick and in desperate shape, most of all frightened. The only crowd of people they had ever seen in their lives outside their tiny cages in windowless buildings were at auction blocks of other breeders. They were filthy, stinky…and pathetic. The large bay doors were pulled open. 100 people gathered round and watched as 10 or so volunteers carefully lifted out the carriers one by one and placed them on the floor. No one said a word. We had waited so long for these precious souls. Many had eyes filled with tears. Then, some volunteers opened the first few crates and almost reverently coaxed the little beings out of their tiny cages. They peeked out, but were so afraid. As each one was lifted out of their confines, they were swooped up in a loving embrace of a volunteer and brought to the pens with food and water. Volunteers reluctantly let go of them to go and get another. Then more began to take them out and the business of rescue work began.
I cannot tell you how much love there was in that room….more than I have ever felt in one room in my life. It was absolute and unconditional. Grown men and women, their eyes filled with tears, busily got to work. These pathetic creatures had more movement in their puppy pens than in their whole lives. Some ate and went to sleep…others just huddled in a corner…others looked to the gentle hands that reached out to them and responded. They “got it”.
They were watered and fed. As soon as that had taken place for all 121, the intake process began. Each volunteer took a dog through the whole process. From initial paperwork to the vet stations where 6 vets generously donated their time, expertise, equipment, medications, vaccinations, everything….to triage these dogs. One was brought to the emergency clinic, a little miniature pinscher…12 years old, pregnant and a large hematoma on her throat. She has survived. Another little min pin, old as well, bred until she had no more to give, died in the arms of a volunteer in a quiet corner….with others sitting nearby to comfort the dog and the grieving volunteer. So close to freedom only to die. It was pathetically sad.
Then, they were vaccinated, prescribed medication after a full exam, groomed and bathed, photographed, then into the other room for final disposition with the rescue groups designated to take them. It took about 10 hours even with all those people. Organized chaos. And while many tears were shed as we learned of the 30 that were supposed to come and the puppy mills opted to kill rather than to give them to rescue, we had to concentrate on the 121 there. It is a drop in the bucket of the thousands left behind…but these 121 are in loving foster homes now and learning what life is like outside of a tiny metal cage.
We took 14, two of which were severely crippled. But that didn't stop them from being bred. One was the last little dog that no other group took, a Shiba Inu (on the website listed as Jimmy). He sat on the floor alone as all the others were gone. He is hobbled from spending 5 years in a cage too small for him. He is currently running around his foster's yard, as best he can, so happy and free. He, and our other dear little rescues, will gradually be available for adoption on our website....when they are feeling more confident and comfortable with their newly found freedom. Right now, they follow their fosters around the house, never losing sight of them, for fear their good fortune might disappear. They will be more needy than most normal dogs, but the rewards of showing these precious angels the outside world for the first time will be wonderful!
One foster took her little fosters home at 3:30 am, when the whole rescue event was finally over, and was up until 5:30 in the morning out in the yard with them, giving their first taste of freedom and grass and love.
There are just no words to describe the overwhelming emotion of being there in person. It was wonderful….but I am still filled with tears at the thought of what they have lived through. Such heartless cruelty...for profit.
And on the other end of their journey, such absolute love.'
These dogs were purebreds of every kind, from Great Danes and Golden Retrievers to Cocker Spaniels and Dachshunds. Each one of them were pathetic examples of life in a puppy mill. If you can spread the word never to purchase a purebred puppy from such places, we can kill this business. We can eliminate this cruelty and truly make a difference! And while Benji's Buddies welcomes every donation made to us, we encourage you to also go visit this website and read about the issue and contribute to Mill Dog Rescue Network as well. They are such a wonderful organization rescuing the most desperate of dogs who huddle in the dark corners of tiny cages their whole lives long, suffering in silence, waiting for a rescue that rarely comes. We are so honored to have been a part of this rescue effort involving so many in the Phoenix rescue community. We hope to do this again soon. Meanwhile, please help in any way you can! Go to www.milldogrescue.org....and spread the word!
UPDATE - Benji's Buddies partnered with Mill Dog Rescue Network to rescue several dozen more of these dogs in late June. Some are now up for adoption. See all our listings on this site for more information.
Click here for a list of pets at this shelter
