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Twenty-one years ago, when I was 15-years-old, I picked up the local newspaper when I got in from school and I saw an advert that read "Three ugly kittens in need of good homes." Can anyone ignore that? Certainly not!

So the phone was picked up, number dialed, and me pretending to be my mother. I gave my mother's name, date of birth, etc, etc, and bagged a time and day to go see these ugly kittens.

We got there, and oh my stars! All three of them were nothing but big eyes and bigger ears, and they looked like little black and white gremlins. Their names were Groucho, Gonzo, and Gizmo.

Four-weeks-old they were and had been found in a farmer's field, half tied in a bin bag that was filling up with freezing cold rain. If they had been there even a few hours more, they would not have survived.

Anyhow, Gonzo was the one who came up to us, all meowing and purry, and rubbing her little head against my hand. The lady at the Cats Protection League told us the other two would stand a better chance of finding homes if we took the "bully", as she said, and so we took Groucho home.

Groucho was renamed Smudge, and by the time I got in from school the same day she was brought home, Mudgey ruled the roost! We've had her for 21 years now, and she's still going strong. She caught more mice in her 18th year than she has in all her others years put together!

She truly is the epitome of love, and there are no words that can describe what she means to us.

Story submitted by Judith Herdman from Durham, United Kingdom.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!