Stuffed animal rescues

[Jocelyn]

Hi, my boyfriend and I recently went on a rescue mission. I figure if anyone will appreciate this story, toy people will

Over a year ago, we started to notice a balloon stuck in a tree a few blocks away from our apartment. Tied to it with red and pink ribbons was a stuffed animal, dangling almost 20 feet off the ground. I assumed it wouldn't last the week, and kept an eye out for it every time I passed by since. To my surprise, through several heavy rainfalls, thunderstorms, and snowstorms, the plucky little thing was always there! So I dubbed him the Intrepid Explorer.

A few days ago, my boyfriend decided to embark on a rescue mission. Under the cover of darkness, we went to its tree with three broomsticks, zip ties, duct tape and a curved boxcutter. (At this point, I was really worried we would get in trouble. What we were doing wasn't necessarily illegal, but it may have looked shady?? Thankfully, we did not get in trouble!) The awkward contraption was thrown together on location, and it was windy, but through perseverance my boyfriend managed to free our plucky hero from captivity! And that's when we figured out it was a dog!

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Surprisingly, the dog was in pretty good shape. There were no holes, no signs of mold, and his fabric wasn't thinned. Still, it was outside for a year, and needed a good deep clean. He was very much gray, but on his stomach you could see a little stripe of what was possibly his original color, where the balloon ribbons were tied. My boyfriend wanted to be as much a part of this as he could, so he was the one to give him the intensive scrubs and Oxyclean soaks.

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After that I gave him new stuffing, recovered his needlesculpting and patched him up, then he was declared good as new! There is now a sparkle in his eye! We've named him Saxby after the coffeeshop on the corner he was stuck on.

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So, that is our Saxby We really did get quite cheesy throughout the whole process, to be honest. But this was the first time my boyfriend was just as invested in a toy as I was - maybe even a little more than me. And now he wants to find more stuffed animals in need, haha.

Ever since Saxby, I've been reading the sweet stories on this blog: http://doctorbeth.tumblr.com/ It's the blog of a stuffed animal doctor, and it's crazy cute, so right now I'm kind of obsessed with stories of stuffed animals getting a new lease on life. So I'm wondering if anyone here has any similar stories of a found toy getting rescued, or even a beloved childhood friend being brought back to its former glory. So please share any stories, I want my heart melted!

[PJSparkles]

What a cutie! I love your story, and I'm glad it got a home. If a tree service person got to him before you, he might have ended up in the trash! I remember I used to see someone's baby doll stuck up a tree near my old apartment complex. There were a lot of kids in the area, so i'm sure someone did it as a prank to a sibling or something. One day I resolved to actually get her down, but she was gone.  Someone must have got to her before me!

I haven't really done rescues of stuffed animals, but I did try brushing out my favorite childhood plush, a Labrador retriever named shadow. She was my constant companion, so she's taken a lot of rides in the washing machine and had slight matting. I used a dog hair brush on her that I bought for brushing out yarn and it worked fairly well at making her look fluffy again!  Plus, the process somehow made the trapped laundry soap smell escape and now she smells like nice and clean. It's quite nice, actually!

[Honeycomb]

That's such a sweet story, and your boyfriend sounds like a wonderful guy! I don't think many guys are so invested in rescuing a toy. Where can I find such a man?
Thank you for sharing!

[Taxel]

Oh how sweet! Saxby looks so great all spruced up!

I don't have any plushie rescue stories but totally spent all day reading that blog and sent an email to Doctor Beth. A few of our stuffed friends need a bit more love than we can give them. My mom destroyed the hair on the BAB horse by putting her in the dryer to "remove the dust". I never thought her hair could be fixed but I bet Doctor Beth could do it

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

wow, they look brand new  you did a very good job of restoring them!

[EnaRocketQueen]

Awesome restoration- I love stories like this!

[Uninu]

Lucky puppy looks as good as new!

[glitterball]

Oh what a cute toy - and well done fir fixing him up so well - he looks brand new! 

I wonder what his history is - being tied to a balloon and flying away... so nice to see him being loved again INSIDE a warm, dry home instead of up a tree exposed to all the elements!

[Bekuno]

I just don't understand why it took so long for someone to retrieve him? Not that I feel like you should have done it sooner but anyone could have climbed up there and freed the little guy.

He's very cute and you restored him well! I'm glad to see I'm not the only fan of Doctor Beth, I love stuffed animals that are old and well loved. Her technique of making a heart with the old stuffing is my favorite part of her treatments 

[lovesbabysquirmy]

awww sweet of you!

[cvinger]

My dad and brother own a constuction company that also does demolition. I'm not sure where they were working but they were tearing down an old house. My brother remebers seeing a Winnie the Pooh bear in the house as he pushed it down, but thought nothing of it. Well, I guess as he was working on tearing the house down Pooh just kept "comming to the surface" of the debris pile. After about the third time he saw the bear durring the demolition he rescued it and brought it home. Mom gave him a good bath and Pooh now lives in the toyroom.

Another one-
Several years ago I was riding my horse on a remote canyon trail when I saw a stuffed beennie baby rabbit in the trail. I rode by it on the way up, but on the way back I just couldn't leave him there. He must have been in that trail through a few rainshowers, he was pretty grubby. He rode home in my saddle bags A trip throught the washing machine and he is now one of my kids favorite stuffed toys.

[Galactica]

Wow, that dog is surprisingly cute now! Great job saving him, poor guy must have been so miserable up there 

[sailorstitch]

Awesome story! I've lost track of how many stuffed animals I've rescued.

[Shy Violet]

Aww that's so sweet you rescued him and he looks good as new! Great story!

[Leave a Whisper]

What a cutie!

I'd be leery of mold, bugs and other junk in something like that. Plus there are a lot  of roadside memorials around here and I wouldn't have the heart.

I remember passing a bulldog toy in a fishing hat on the side of the road and telling myself. If he's there on my way back I might pick him up. If not, then eh. Yup. Rescued him.