All of our animals were abandoned or unwanted and we took them in. Bo, a shep/chow mix was about 10 months old and wandering the neighborhood. He showed up and has been with us for 11 years.
Precious, our rotti, was also astray and in heat. She was being followed around by a pack of 5 males when I rescued her with a cinnamon pop tart! The vet figured she was about 1. She has been with us for 8 years this fall.
Daisy - our newest dog - is a boxer mix who was abandoned in our neighborhood at 3 months old. Our landlord told us he would bend the 2 dog rule if we would just give her a home. That was almost a year ago.
We picked up Oliver at church. He was 5 weeks old and the folks said if the kittens didn't get gone that day, they would meet the bottom of a water bucket! So we brought him home and Precious raised him and now he is the meanest cat this side of the Mississippi!
Lastly, Mooch showed up 2 Christmases ago on our porch. My husband fed him and he never left(hence the name). We kept him for a bit before finally getting him neutered. I guess I was hoping someone would claim him. Anyway he and Oliver have a hate/hate relationship, probably since having 2 un-neutered male cats in a small house isn't the best idea.
Truth be known, our chicken raising started the same way. We got 6 hens and 1 roo from a guy who had bred them for what he wanted and then unloaded them when they were no longer useful. I don't know why he got rid of the RIRs. They are really good layers!
Then our flock expanded when a gal from church had her chicken coop raided by weasels. She didnt want the other hens killed so we got them from her.
I have re-homed all but the RIRs so I can concentrate on my Orpingtons, but we are suckers for animals in trouble around here! Big or small, 2 legs or 4, we take 'em in. I f I can find homes I do, if not they stay.