good news

Meet Sorsha, a hero that we are all going to be celebrating. She's a rescued dog who was cruelly shot by her previous owner, got adopted into the most loving forever home and, later in life, turned into a guide dog. Then, she outdid even herself by becoming an actual hero and saving her owner's life. 

After her owner fell on an icy road, the amazing dog ran in front of an oncoming car, grabbed her leash in her mouth and physically dragged her owner away from the path of the car, having never been trained for it.

We would like to thank Melissa Amos, one of ICanHasCheezburger's animal loving users for sharing her and Sorsha's stories with us. Continue reading her incredibly story and giving love to Sorsha below, and if you have your own stories to share, come tell us about them in our Facebook group: ICanHas Storytime.

Two adorable bear cubs have been abandoned by their polar bear momma and are now being rescued by four new adoptive moms, and it's one of the cutest things we've seen. The cubs get pampered so much - getting manicures, massages, warm milk, and undivided attention. They are now seven weeks old and growing super fast, and we can't wait to see these cuties get even bigger. 

As dailymail reports, the cub's "seven-year-old mother, Seryozhka, from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic, built a den for her new cubs at a safari park in Gelendzhik, but then rejected the crying pair." The keepers at the zoo attempted to coax the mother into giving milk to the babies and failed, but she "gave blood which was used to give serum to the babies, vital as an immunity boost."

Luckily, the mother didn't hurt the cubs, and keepers at the zoo were able to step in and take care of the little babies. Their new foster moms are a pair of 39-year-old twins, Anastasia and Olesya Sakhatskaya, 32-year-old Maria Moroz, and 31-year-old Yelena Milovidova.

"They don't seem to distinguish between the four of us," said Elena. "They know the scent of our skin and clothes, and sensing any of us getting close to them means just one thing: mother is here, and food is coming." Yelena Milovidova, deputy director of the Gelendzhik Safari Park, adds: "There were no previous cases of nurturing polar bear cubs rejected by their mother in a Russian zoo. This is the first experience for us."

The cubs who have only recently opened their eyes now weight over 4 kilograms and should start doubling in weight every few weeks. When they're three months old, they'll start going on walks outside. 

"In the world there were only five or so cases of polar bear cubs raised since birth in captivity," continues Milovidova. "I do hope that we will succeed." And we really, really hope so too. We wish these cuties all the luck in the world and want to thank their caretakers who are really giving them all the love.

Check out pictures and a video of the cubs below, and for more wholesome bear stories, read about a circus bear living in terrible conditions being rescued and moved to a sanctuary.

From hardship on the street to a loving forever home, the story of a cat named Floyd Mayweather is one that you'll need tissues for. He's a fighter, a blind senior feral cat who was 10-12 years old when he was found on the street crying, but now, he doesn't need to fight anymore. Today, he's best friends with another cat in an amazing, loving forever home with an owner that he loves. And though his story brings tears to our eyes, we are so happy to hear that he's better now.

Read more about his story below, and don't forget the tissues. 

Story via: TODAY

"Our Deputies are out there to keep the public safe. That also includes our furry family as well," tells sheriff Bartlett to NEWS 10 after rescuing a dog that feel through thin ice into the water, and we are so, so thankful that they came to rescue the pooch as fast as they did.

This could have ended up as any pet owner's worst nightmare, but luckily, this story has a happy ending. In the recent weeks, officials in the area have been warning the residents about the dangers of thin ice, and sadly, we found out that it's not just us humans who are at risk of falling through it. Shortly before noon on Friday, in Ancram, N.Y., the police got a call about a dog who fell through the ice. 

As NEWS 10 reports, Sergeant Heath Benansky, who is also a dog handler, was the first officer on the scene and successfully managed to get to the scared pup using a paddle board. He along with Deputy Torchia rescued the dog.  

"I am very happy to have such a well trained ice rescue team that was able to deploy so quickly. Had they not gotten there so fast, there could have been a much sadder outcome," said sheriff Bartlett.

The pooch was later identified as "Andy" and was returned safely to shore, and after finding Andy's owner through social media, she was returned to her owner as well. 

This is a lesson for all of us to learn to be more careful with our precious little pets, and thankfully, this lesson was learned with no permanent harm caused. It's the kind of happy ending story that we love to read about, and for more of those, read about an owl with three gunshot wounds getting released back into the wild. 

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. 

About a month ago, Atlantic Veterinary College staff found an emaciated and dehydrated snowy owl near Souris, P.E.I. and rescued it. Finally, after a month in capable hands, the beautiful bird was released back into the wild. 

As reported by CBC news, an intern with the Atlantic Veterinary College Wildlife Service, Dr. Hugo Gonzalez, said that it was "amazing" for the students and staff to see the owl fly off back into the wild. And we have to agree, seeing a wild bird released back to where it's supposed to be is always a beautiful thing. 

"To be able to see a patient who came with severe emaciation, not even able to properly move or eat, up to the point where you can see that the full recovery process has been successful and just have that moment to see her properly [fly], it's definitely an amazing moment for you," Dr. Gonzalez added. 

He also reminds people that if they ever see a snowy owl in the wild, it's important to only admire it from a distance. If you come across a bird in distress, contact local officials.

Read another beautiful story about an owl getting released back into the wild right here.

This is not your common 'cat in a tree' rescue story, let's start with that. 

What was going to be a tense and chilling heroic story of firefighters coming to the rescue of a helpless kitten, hoping for a happy ending, turned into a documentation of the bravest kitten in the world. This little kitten had eeeeeverything under control. Just as our heroic firefighter reached out and almost managed to pick the kitten up, the fierce kitten decided "to heck with it" and jumped down on its own... then immediately climbed up another tree. 

Check out the picture by picture documentation of this fascinating tale below.

Story via: york daily record

Not all BFFs look the same, nor do they need to, but for these three BFFs, looking the same is the main thing they have in common. That, and their love for each other. 

An Appaloosa stallion, a Shetland pony and a Dalmatian dog are all different sizes, different species, and have different habits, but they are best buds and love hanging out together, as reported by Metro. Their mom and horse trainer, Greetje Arends-Hakvoort, "regularly catches them running, training, and having fun." Her daughter, Jolie Lune Arends, also loves the gorgeous-looking animals, and together, all five of them make the most amazing family. The mom rides the horse, the daughter is on the pony, and the dog is accompanying them everywhere. 

"Appaloosa horse Nevada, 10, Napoleon, six, and Dalmatian Jack Sparrow, two, regularly stun strangers with their unique matching spots," and we are totally not surprised. If we had seen these three hanging out together, we would probably do a double take too. 

"Napoleon was actually born at the same time as Jolie so they grew up together and now they are the best of friends," says Greetje. "People always smile when they see the three together; often people refer to the 101 Dalmatians film and it brings up nice childhood memories for them... When Jack was younger, he saw himself as one of the horses and he fits in perfectly."

She adds: "Trust is the key word here; horses thrive when trust exists and they need to feel comfortable and self assured and Jack does exactly that. 'There's a lot of horse and dog love there between them."

Check out more amazing pictures of their amazing friendship below! For more heartwarming interspecies friendships, read about a fox who's brother was run over getting adopted and befriending two dogs. 

The story of Dobby the doggo is one that'll really make you feel like the year started off the right way. It showcases how every animal, no matter where and in what condition, deserves care and love and how important working as a team is. It took a lot of people to help Dobby, but it was more than worth it in the end. 

From being malnourished and sick into a forever home with an amazing NASA pilot dad who we know will do anything for her, Dobby is now a a happy pupper, and we are happy for her as well as incredibly thankful to everyone who helped her along the way.

Read her story and go through the rollercoaster that it is, and for more heartwarming dog stories, read about a dog who was mistreated for barking learning to bork again.

An injured and lost bear cub was rescued this week by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The female cub was wondering around for days in the Electra Lake area, getting into the bird feeders. The poor cub had cut injuries on her paws. And though there's no way of knowing exactly what happened to her, it is assumed that she is one of the survivors from the fires who got lost and couldn't find her way back to her family. Regardless, we are happy to hear that the cub is now in good hands, is being taken care of by capable people, and will be released back into the wild once she'll be healed. 

As reported by The Journal, Joe Lewandowski, a CPW spokesman, said in an email to The Durango Herald: "It had been getting into bird feeders in the area... It's not unusual for bears to go on walkabouts occasionally during the winter," Lewandowski added. "But they usually find a way back to their dens. This one didn't."

According to an official Facebook post, wildlife officials decided that the best course of action for the cub is to be taken into the Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center where the "staff will further evaluate and treat its injuries. The young bear will spend the rest of its' hibernation at the facility and be released back into the wild in the spring."

We are so happy to hear that the sweet cub is getting the help that she needs and that she will be released back into the wild. We wish her a quick and easy recovery and thank everyone involved in helping her! For more feel-good bear stories, read about a circus bear who lived in terrible conditions getting rescued and moved to a sanctuary right here.

Moments from being crushed by the machinery at a recycling plant, workers at the plant spotted the kittens and rescued them. The kittens were only a few days old and still had their eyes closed and their cords attached. It is believed that a feral cat gave birth to the kittens in a garbage bin which was then collected and taken to the plant. Thankfully, the babies were rescued in the nick of time. 

As reported by BBC, "[t]he pair of males are now being cared for by the RSPCA." The RSPCA official who collected them, told BBC: "These kittens were incredibly lucky to have been spotted by the eagle-eyed workers. If it wasn't for their quick actions they could have been killed by the machinery at the plant."

"Feral cats can be extremely resourceful and thrive in the wild. But, sometimes, mother cats can choose rather unusual places to give birth," he explained. "It may be that this pair's mum chose a bin for shelter before being separated from her babies when it was emptied."

He added: "They were extremely cold and quite weak but, thankfully, don't seem seriously affected by their ordeal so hopefully they should pull through and, eventually, we'll be able to find them loving new homes." We hope these cuties will be able to find a forever home where they will be treated amazingly as quickly as possible. 

For more wholesome animals stories, check out our collection of the most positive animal news from December!

There no better way to end this month - and this year - than with some wholesome animal positivity. 

With all the difficult to hear news out there every day, all we wanna do is turn off the news, get off our phones and not look at news ever again. But this news list is one that we promise you won't want to turn away from, because it is all animals and only positivity. It is the celebration of happy-ending stories, new and exciting discoveries, heroes who save animals, and sometimes even hero animals who save humans. 

So, please, enjoy this nothing-but-animal positivity collection of our favorite news stories and start the year off with a true smile on your face and some actually good news to talk to your friends and family about. Have an amazing year, animal lovers, and may next month have as many, if not more, positive animal news stories!

"[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!

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!

Happy 120th  birthday to the oldest known Nile crocodile in captivity - Henry! 

It truly is a rarity for these gorgeous crocodiles to get to 120 years of age, so, to celebrate, the Crocworld Conservation Centre on the KZN South Coast threw Henry the Nile crocodile a birthday party! Henry and the staff celebrated his birthday together, with the staff eating birthday cake, and Henry getting his favorite of all meaty snack. 

The crocodile arrived at the Crocworld Conservation Centre in 1985 when he was at the young age of 85. Today, he is five meters long, 700 kilograms in weight, and he is the father of over 10,000 offspring with his six female cohabitants. So, one can easily say that getting older has definitely not slowed Henry down even one bit.

Being the oldest known Nile crocodile in captivity, Henry has got many, many more years of leisure, relaxations (and a good time with the ladies) in his wonderful sanctuary. On top of all of his other very impressive achievements, he has also been listed at the second oldest crocodile in the world, with the number 1 spot having been taken by Mr. Freshie who was 140 years when he passed in 140. 

We wish Henry many more birthdays in the future, and may he break Mr. Freshie's record and live long beyond that as well.

Story via: The Witness