FOND DU LAC – Meet some of the Fond du Lac area’s pet residents.
Streetwise asked readers for their pet photos and adoption stories, and the following are tales of rescues and the community’s furry friends.
Here are some cats and dogs of the Fond du Lac area.
Pepper
Pepper’s “Parental Units” adopted her almost three years ago exactly on Aug. 2, 2021.
“She has trained us well,” owner Sherry Holmes said.
Frankie
Rachel and Cameron McGee adopted Frankie after a Texas rescue group rescued him from a high-kill shelter and brought him and 16 other dogs to Wisconsin and Illinois.
After a 36-hour ride, they brought Frankie home, and it was love from day one, Rachel McGee said. He plays with toys all day, burrows under blankets with his owners at night and never leaves their side.
“His doggie nightmares tell us his first weeks of life were scary, but those days are long gone,” Rachel McGee said. “Frankie has only happy days full of love ahead for him.”
The rescue group was The Atlanta, Texas Area Spay/Neuter Project, a 501(c)(3) organization that helps control and saves unwanted dogs and cats in Texas.
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Patch
Patch was a stray puppy in Alabama and sent to a kill shelter until Sandi Paws Rescue took him from the shelter and included him in one of its adoption events at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds, where he met his future family, according to owner Julie Olson.
After his shelter life, he had many intestinal parasites that took months to clear and chronic leg pain, and he was trained out of the shelter dog behavior of barking loudly and repeatedly at things he saw and eating everything, including stuffed animals.
About four years later, Country Hills Pet Hospital saved his life from pancreatitis, and now, at 8 years old, Patch is kept on a homemade, low-fat diet for ongoing intestinal issues to keep him as healthy and happy as possible.
“He is the kind of dog that notices when you have a bad day. He is the kind of dog that stays with you when you are sick,” Olson said. “When I get injured, he stands next to me until I seem OK again. When walking, he is always between me and any potential danger.”
She said all the work he has needed over the years has been worth it to have a one-of-a-kind dog like him.
Skippy
Skippy was captured with a pack of other cats who were hanging out by the dumpsters behind a supper club near Kaukauna, and then rescued by Tina and Paul Baleiko.
After learning Skippy’s origins, they visited the supper club and asked the bartender about the stray cats. Both the bartender and a waitress recalled the stray cats by the dumpsters, and knew of the leader, an orange boy who bites.
“We replied, ‘that would be our Skippy,'” Tina Baleiko said. “Now that Skippy has a stable home, he bites less but is still a sassy orange boy we love named Skippy.”
Alexa
Alexa is a lynx-point Siamese cat born in February 2020 in Milwaukee, “a stone’s throw from the stadium,” owner Randall Ziegler said.
“She picked me the day I first saw her. I picked her up and she crawled up onto my shoulder,” Ziegler said. “She is my family and friend.”
She has appeared twice on WISN 12 weather with Lindsey Slater.
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Oliver and friends
Laurie King of Critter Junction Pet Rescue submitted Oliver, a fun and quirky cat that has helped take care of some of King’s foster kittens.
She adopted Oliver in 2022 from the rescue. He loves to play fetch, but not before dunking his toys in water, and has taken it upon himself to be a therapy cat to kittens like Tucker, who was rescued from a ditch in Campbellsport.
After a few days of care — Tucker needed antibiotics for his brain and assistance eating — he was introduced to Oliver, who proved to be gentle and kind. Tucker is considered to be a “foster fail,” according to King, and will stay with her and Oliver permanently.
Nemo spent time with Oliver after her stitches came out from getting her leg removed: she was found in a garage with a fish line stuck around her leg.
“Nemo is a champ soon learning to walk, run and climb with three legs like she never knew what life was like before,” King said.
Claire was born at the shelter with a litter of eight other kittens, and though she was the runt of the litter, she had no differences until she was 13 weeks old. She started shaking uncontrollably, crying and acting very scared. When she came home with King, Oliver was immediately drawn to her and helped calm her when she was crying. She has since gotten used to being a kitten and can now run and climb.
“She is now deaf but that doesn’t stop her, it just makes her not afraid of the vacuum cleaner like the rest,” King said. “Claire sleeps like a rock because that is the only time she does not shake, and no noise will wake her.”
Hagrid and Halloween
The oldest cat of the Lemke family is Hagrid, who was adopted in 2007, part of a litter of kittens under someone’s porch. He is sweet, vocal and clingy, but he hates when a work laptop gets between him and his owner’s daughter, Daphne Lemke.
“There’s too much to say about one little cat,” owner Debbie Lemke said.
Halloween Pumpkin Pie — now known as “Halo” for short — was adopted just before Halloween in 2021 after wandering Oakfield as a stray. As a kitten, he had noticeable scars under his eye and on his tongue, but they’re less prominent after he’s grown exponentially. Despite his size, Halo loves to be babied.
Hagrid was the only cat of the house when Halo came along, and he did not care for a rambunctious kitten in his space, but soon, they learned to share the house.
Daphne Lemke is the Streetwise reporter for the Fond du Lac Reporter. Contact her at dlemke@gannett.com.
