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It's the end of February, and we're about to end it in the best way possible - by talking about the most positive animal news stories of the month.

February may be a shorter month than most, but that doesn't mean that there was any shortage in positive animal news stories, and that's all that matters to us right now. Because although this month was just as difficult as the last one for some of us, the animal world is thriving, and for animal lovers like us, that is the best new to hear. And because hearing positive animal news makes us happy, at the end of every month, we collect the best ones we can find and give them to you.

So, please enjoy these nothing-but-positivity animal news stories, and let's hope that next month there are just as many if not many many more. 

An incredible friendship between a man from Turkey and the swan he rescued has lasted for decades. 37 years ago, a now retired postman, Recep Mirzan, found a female swan who he later named Garip in Turkey's western Edirne province, and they have been friends ever since. 

As NEWS CHANNEL 3 reports, "Mirzan and a group of friends were taking a shortcut in their car when they noticed the swan, with a broken wing, in an empty field. Mirzan immediately took the swan in to protect her from predators and kept her in the car until that afternoon, when he was able to take the swan to his home." Ever since then, Garip has been living on Mirzan's farm in the Karaagac region near Greece. Whenever Garip is out of her pen, she accompanies Mirzan during his chores and evening walks. 

Read more about their heartwarming story and check out their even more heartwarming pictures below.

A horse and a pony were stuck in chest-deep mud near Salinas, Calif., for up to 18 hours during a storm, before finally being rescued. It took a lot of work, and many amazing people joined in helping these horses, thankfully helping these animals get back to safety.

SFGATE reports that the two animals got stuck "on Wednesday night on Limekiln Road, off River Road in an area south of Salinas where a flood of mud rushed down a saturated hillside this week after a powerful storm drenched the River Fire burn scar." Thankfully, the moment the owners of the property spotted the horses, they immediately flagged down passing firefighters and called the SPCA. 

Not only that but neighbors also responded to the call, coming with shovels and other tools, all in the hopes of helping to dig out the horses and help them. "It definitely took a village to get these horses out," said a Monterey County SPCA spokesperson, Beth Brookhouser. 

The two horses were, of course, very cold after being immobilized in the muck throughout the night, and it took hours for them to stop shivering. They were treated overnight by Steinbeck Country Equine Clinic veterinarians, said SPCA officials. By Friday, "[b]oth horses were recovering on Friday, and were eating and drinking." 

The area remains dangerous for now, but at least this pony and horse are safe - thank s to everyone involved in the rescue. We want to thank all of the people helping these creatures, and if you're interested in more wholesome and heartwarming animal stories, take a look at the 30 most positive animal news stories of January!

Let's end the month the right way, friends, by talking about as many positive animal news stories that we can!

It's not an easy time right now, as we're all aware, and we are all in need of positivity. The news is something that we tend to try to avoid at this point, too many stories that we don't want to hear about anymore. Well, these stories are ones that you will definitely want to tune in for, because we're about to celebrate the best of the very best!

So, read these stories and bask in the positivity, start the month off with a smile and with the kind of stories that you would truly want to talk to your coworkers and friends about! If you want more, check out last month's positive animal news collection.

A great horned owl was found shot near Santa Paula during November of last year, and a few days ago, it was finally healed enough to be released back into the wild where it belongs. 

As reported by VC Star, getting the owl the help that it needed after such a tragic discovery was a team effort. Sergio Gutierrez, a Santa Paula Police Officer, corralled the owl. Following that, Nikki Ruhl, a veterinary technician with the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center (SPARC), gathered up the injured bird. Ruhl then brought the owl to the Ojai Raptor Center for specialized care. Once there, a staff veterinarian, Dr. Stephany Lewis, discovered that the bird had three pellets inside it: one in her chest, the other in her leg, and the third having broken the ulna bone in her wing. On top of that, the pellets left the owl suffering from led poisoning.

The treatment for this injury was not an easy one. "After treatment in the raptor center's intensive care unit, the adult owl moved to an outdoor enclosure where she had several weeks of flight time in a large aviary," write VC Star. A senior staff member at the center said she had never seen an owl with a gunshot wound. It is more likely to see shot hawks and vultures since they are active during the day, but great horned owls prefer hunting at twilight. 

The owl weighed less than 3 pounds and was fully grown - at least three years old, though it's impossible to tell her age beyond that. Jaclyn DeSantis, senior staff member at the center, about returning the owl back into the wild, said: "She should be breeding right now. She should be at a nest."

The owl traveled with DeSantis in a bright blue cat carrier to the release site, and patiently waited outside the Ojai Raptor Center's van. They made sure to release the owl at dusk, when she would be protected from attacks by crows or ravens. You can see pictures of the owl as she was taken out of her cage, looking around and taking in her environment before finally taking off and disappearing in the trees.

We want to thank all the hard work done by everyone involved in this owl's story, you're doing an incredible job. For more stories of owls being released into the wild, click right here. 

"[w]e definitely have angels among us," say the people at W-Underdogs in a Facebook post whose animal shelter caught fire while they were picking up supply donations. A situation that could have ended in the worst way possible ended incredibly positively, and that is because of a heroic 53-year-old homeless man named Keith Walker who ran into the smoking building and saved each and every one of the animals inside. 

Walker has been homeless ever since he was 13 years old. He had already known the founder of the shelter, Gracie Hamlin, who had let him keep his dog, a pitbull named Bravo, at the shelter every night. On his way to pick up Bravo from the shelter, Walker saw the fire and ran in, rescuing all of the animals in the shelter - 6 dogs and 10 cats.

"I was nervous as hell, I'm not going to lie. I was really scared to go in there with all that smoke. But God put me there to save those animals," Walker told in a statement to CNN. "If you love a dog, you can love anyone in the world. My dog is my best friend, and I wouldn't be here without him, so I knew I had to save all those other dogs."

Sadly, the W-Underdogs headquarters is now uninhabitable, but in another lucky turn, the shelter was just preparing to move to a different location. As they say in another Facebook post: "As fate would have it, today is the first day of our lease of a new facility we planned to be the new W-Underdogs Headquarters. While the new facility is not exactly 'move-in ready' we were able to move the animals safely into the new facility for the night. They are all happy, warm, safe, and comfortable in their new temporary home."

Hamlin told CNN: "He is my guardian angel. Even the firefighters didn't want to handle the dogs. They called animal control, but Keith was already in the building pulling out the cats and dogs until they were all safe." 

We are so, so thankful to Keith Walker and all the people who helped with the rescue and the moving of the animals, and we hope the cats an the dogs will have an easy time getting used to the new place. Good luck in the new year, guys! 

For more happy ending animal stories, click right here!

A lesson learned, never to be repeated again. An owner was walking her tiny 3-year-old dog a bit too close to the edge of More Mesa cliffs on Saturday when the dog slipped and rolled off the the cliff. 

Edhat santa barbara reports that the call to the firefighters came at 3:36 p.m., and the Santa Barbara County firefighters had to rush to to the area of Mockingbird Lane and Calle Las Brisas. There, they found that the little dog, named Louis, had rolled off the cliff during a walk. 

The firefighters heroically enacted a high-angle rope system in an attempt to rescue the dog, and luckily, they managed to carry the little pooch back to safety at the top of the cliff, where Louis was able to get back to his owner. Thankfully, there were no injuries. As the call to the firefighters was made right away, they were able to come help right away, but the lesson was definitely learned by all of us. 

Be extra careful with your little animals. Accidents can and will happen, it's impossible to avoid, but where possible, take extra caution because these little guys rely on us to take care of them forever and always. 

For more positive animal stories, check out our end of 2020 collection of the best animal stories!

An off-duty rescue worker in Thailand, a few days ago, was faced with one of his most challenging situations yet. Having been called in while off duty on a road trip late on Sunday evening, Mana Srivate had to perform CPR on a baby elephant that was hit by a motorcycle while crossing the road. The elephant can be seen lain on its side while Mana gives it two-handed compressions as Mana's collogues take care of the dazed and injured motorcycle rider.

As CNN reports, "[b]oth the rider and elephant were recovering and neither had serious injuries". Mana, recalling the incident, told Reuters by phone: "It's my instinct to save lives, but I was worried the whole time because I can hear the mother and other elephants calling for the baby."

"I assumed where an elephant heart would be located based on human theory and a video clip I saw online," he added. "When the baby elephant starting to move, I almost cried."

It took almost 10 minutes for the baby elephant to get back up again, but it did. It was quickly taken to another location to be treated, and as soon as possible, it was returned to the scene of the accident in hopes of reuniting it with its family. And in a true Christmas miracle way, the baby elephant was later spotted with a fully grown elephant that is presumed to indeed be its mother. 

A happy ending to what could have ended as an absolutely heart wrenching story, and we can only thank Mana for his incredible work saving the baby elephant. For more amazing animal stories, check out our recap of the most positive animal stories of 2020!

Let's be frank, 2020 has been a difficult year to say the least. From rumors of a world war in January to a pandemic to a news cycle that just makes you want to turn off your TV. But... things weren't all bad. All the lockdowns had quite a good result to some portions of the population - namely, animals. 

Suddenly, we were seeing videos and news stories about animals walking around on the empty streets, swimming in empty oceans and clearer skies. Animals absolutely THRIVED this year, and we think that's something worth commemorating and celebrating. So, for the end of this year, as a special treat, we have collected 40 of our favorite most positive, wholesome, happy news stories of 2020 that are all about animals. 

This is one news collection that you won't want to turn away from, we promise.

Jambolina the circus bear is getting a second chance in life after being forced to perform in a Ukrainian circus for over a decade. Only a few weeks old, and Jambolina's circus training had already started, and since then, she had been kept locked in a tiny cage most of her life. That is until last week, when Four Paws an international animal welfare organization took the the bear, transporting her 1,500 miles to her new home - the Arosa Bear Sanctuary in Switzerland. 

Read more about Jambolina below!

Meet Dexter - the mega chonky cat with the chonkiest personality who just got adopted! 

When there was nowhere for him to go, imgur user MizWeirdo who has known him for a few years has decided that he has a place in her home. He's super chill and super sweet, and it looks like MizWeirdo is more than happy with her decision to take him in (as are we). Dexter loves cuddles and kisses, he is the absolute best at doing faceplants, and he just went viral on imgur. 

What makes this story even sweeter is that Dexter is an older cat, so basically every adorable thing that he does is extra adorable. Thank you MizWeirdo, for picking up this insanely adorable cat and giving him his new loving forever home. And to you, Dexter, we wish an incredible, incredible long life. 

Well, we have made it to another Sunday, the week is about to start yet again, and we know that you guys need some positivity to get this this week started off on the right foot. Wholesome animals are always the right way to start anything, but with the weather getting all grey and tiring, this week, we need a little extra of it.

So, this weekly tumblr treat for you guys is all positive and nothing but positive. Animals that'll make you smile and aww and give you the exact boost of energy that you need. May you enjoy this collection of positivity, and may your week be just as positive as these animal tumblr posts! 

A hero that everyone can't help but adore, Kuno, retired British Army Working Dog who served in Afghanistan has received the highest animal honor possible - the Dickin Medal. the award was given to him for his incredible actions and bravery during a 2019 operation against one of Al Qaeda's compounds, which you can read about below. The poor pooch was injured during the operation - both of his legs getting shot, one bullet narrowly missing a main artery, but he is a fighter, and as bravely he fought then, he continues fighting now, brandishing the more than well-deserved medal on his fluffy doggo chest. 

When we adopt a pet - young or old - and don't know their story, we can't help but wonder about it. I can say personally that I've always wondered if my little kitten's ears look funny and different because something bit her or if it's just genetic. There's no way for me to know, and the curiosity has stayed all the years that I've had her. 

Sometimes though, you get lucky and find out exactly where they're from. Like this story that went viral on imgur. This curious imgur user managed to discover his little puppy's background, and it warmed the hearts of tens of thousands because it is one of the most wholesome, heartwarming stories possible. 

From adorable pupper to "weird looking leggy goober", this is the history of Jupiter. 

Reunited, and it's never felt better! After 3 long years, Debra Mejeur has been reunited with her dog, and for the dog, it took no more than a single whiff of her old blanket to jump right back into her owner's arms. 

According to Yahoo!entertainment, Lola, the dog, is an especially trained seizure alert dog, and she went missing in October, having escaped from a fenced area during a family trip to Chicago. Having escaped during such an unfortunate time meant that Debra wasn't able to be there every day in case Lola came back. Despite that, for a month, Debra and her husband made regular trips to Illinois, hoping to find Lola. They "put up "lost" signs, called on the locals for assistance, and even hired a professional pet searcher," but couldn't find her. 

The chances of finding Lola were obviously incredibly low, but, in an incredible turn of events, last week, Debra got a phone call from an Illinois animal shelter and found out that her gorgeous little Labrador has been found. "I still had an ounce of hope, I guess, but the majority of me was thinking she had already crossed the rainbow bridge," Debra said. "I was just completely stunned ... I feel like I'm in a dream right now." 

Apparently, a couple had spotted Lola in the woods and gave her food and water before taking her to the animal shelter, and the reason Debra was known to be Lola's owner was because Lola was - thankfully - microchipped. Lola had lost a little weight, but overall, she is in good health. No one is sure how she survived all these years, but everyone is happy that she did. 

"I wish she could talk because I would probably give her a little lecture, too," Mejeur said. "'You're not suppose to run away. Don't do it again.'" The plan from here on out is to not use Lola as a service dog anymore. Why? Because they "plan to spoil her from here on out." And you know what, we support that. Spoil her as much as you possibly can.

Read another heartwarming dog reunion story right here.