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Photo by Bob Pennell Rex the three-legged dog was greeting visitors to the Jackson County Humane Society's Adopt-a-Pet event at the Pear Tree Factory Stores in Phoenix on Sunday. Wanted: someone to love me That's the message one can't help but pick up from potential pets at a series of Adopt-a-Pet events By BILL VARBLE Maybe it was the deformed foreleg the puppy's owner didn't like. He abandoned the black lab-rottweiler mix named Rex when he was just two weeks old. A passerby found the little puppy in the bushes at a Ray's Sentry market. Rex has lived the past three months with dog foster mom and Humane Society volunteer Donna Bachek, of Medford. His bad leg was amputated less than a month ago, and today he hops with nonchalance. "He's doing great," Bachek says, shaking her head. "I think the operation was harder on me than it was on him." She was looking for a home for Rex and about a dozen other dogs and cats Sunday at one of a series of Adopt-a-Pet events put on by the Jackson County Humane Society at the Pear Tree Factory Stores in Phoenix. Aptly enough, this event takes place in front of the Big Dogs store. Here are Ginger, a 1-year-old shepherd-Doberman female; Subi, an Aussie-collie female of about the same age; and Abbey, a female bull terrier-Dalmatian, also 1. In cages in front of Big Dogs are the cats. Here are Lara and Lili, 2-month-old tabby sisters. Bobby and Jim are little males, about 2 months old. Bobby is dark, almost black, Jim a dusky orange. Patti Collins, of Medford, is walking by when she spots Moira, a beautiful tortoise-shell female a little over a year old. "She's so pretty," Collins says. Walt Pierson, of White City, says he recently found five kittens behind the White City Post Office and turned them over to CATS (Committed Alliance to Strays). "We were fortunate to be able to gather them up," he says. Sera Allie, of Talent, a foster home volunteer with the Humane Society, says the Society is looking for people who can provide foster homes for kittens and puppies. She's keeping four kittens until they're old enough to be adopted. "They get held and loved," she says. "They gain weight faster than if they live in a shelter." Adopt-a-Pet events are planned at Dogs for the Deaf June 6, Pet Country June 12 and Jacksonville's Pioneer Days June 19. Big Dogs manager Marta Wittnebel says she'd like to have more events, too. The Humane Society's Dianne Quarg says she considers an event successful if it results in even one or two adoptions. A passing shopper pats Rex's head, and Rex's tongue lolls out in a big doggie smile. "Aren't you a sweetie?" the woman says. Bachek says she's become quite attached to Rex. She says prospective owners must fill out a detailed application. "It's got to be a special person," she says, looking at the three-legged dog with the shiny black coat and floppy ears. "We should all have his kind of attitude." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA