What is it with me and strays?!

So Tuesday, on Election Day, at the polling place, Jack and I found a stray pit bull puppy.
So we took her home, and named her Sarah ;-)

Then, yesterday, while going out horseback riding with a friend from elementary school (the price of living in one's hometown is running into people you ave known since kindergarten), we found another pit bull puppy tied to a tree in the middle of the woods. She was 3/4 starved, but desperately friendly when I approached her on foot.
I couldn't take her home, not after having just spent $75 on Sarah's vet bills, with a potential $475 pending.
So we called the Sheriff's office, and he sent a deputy to pick her up. I just hope that the county doesn't automatically euthanize pit bulls the way that the city does.

But I didn't have the courage to ask.

What is it with me and strays? Why am I unable to pass them by? It really makes me wonder what is it about them that strikes such a chord in me- because they do. I can't pass a stray cat or dog anywhere without wanting to stop and take them home, give them better lives.

Why do strays strike a chord in me?
I think that I think of myself as one. As a child, I was shuttled off from one family member to the next because my parents didn't have the ability or desire to care for me. I was dumped off on family members, like a puppy on the road when it became too much trouble to care for.

And on some level, I am still a stray puppy just looking for a place to feel safe.

Is it any wonder that I cannot resist the need to take home other strays, and offer them safety?