Penny, I am the same way about taking animals in. A black lab got lost a few years ago, and I brought him home and tried to find his owner. We had 3 cats at the time and he was scared to death of them. It was the oddest thing. He would run to the door and growl though if anyone knocked. He just didn't want anything to do with those cats.
I only have one cat now, the other two died of old age. He is 10 years old and still acts like he is a kitten. He goes by the rules when we are here, but leave for two days and it is a free for all about him getting on tables etc. He actually managed to turn the coffee maker on once and nearly caught the house on fire!
He is pretty good about lizard and palmetto bug control though, so I cut him some slack.
Dwayne