Not one but Two! Two happy rescue kitten stories by the same volunteer rescue group, and we are twice as happy. An adorable black kitten, now named Kevin, has been rescued from inside of a car engine in Ballymena. And the other kitten, a calico kitten beauty named Cotton, was rescued after getting trapped in an industrial site under a raised oil tank. Twice the rescued kittens, twice the good news, and twice the gratitude.
happy ending
Or tiny little animal friends have a tendency of getting themselves into trouble all the time. Pet owners and pet lovers alike know that. And though normally, it's little things like your cat getting its nail stuck in the curtains or your dogs getting its nose stuck somewhere because puepper just had to try to get that fly, sometimes, things get a lot more dangerous than that, and we have situations where animals truly need us to come to their rescue.
Every single month, we cover as many stories as we can about these heroes- the people who put everything aside to save the little animals who've gotten themselves a bit too deep into the mud. And every single month, happily, there are too many stories to cover, so we make this little list for everyone, so that we can all give the most deserved appreciation to these heroes.
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A match made in heaven! Earlier this year, a friendly 14-year-old gray cat, originally named LL Cool J, was brought into the Anne Arundel County Animal Care and Control in Maryland. The shelter arranged a foster home for this gentle cat so he could live comfortably until the right person came along.
Little did anyone know, the person who would come along would be the absolute purrfect match and that they would both need each other.
Story via LoveMeow
Found in below freezing temperatures last month, Xerxes the kitten has officially been adopted by the good man who saved her! She was only five-weeks-old then, hanging off the side of one of the truck tires, with her tail and paws completely frozen to the metal surface, trapping her. 9NEWS reports that to free the kitten without causing her additional pain, the man who found her splashed warm water on the areas of the tire to which her pas and tail were stuck, gently removing her paws and tail from the tire.
The man brought the kitten to the Denver Dumb Friends League (DDFL), wrapped up in tiny blankets to keep her warm, where she received the care she needed as well as the name Xerxes. On Monday, after recovering, she has officially been adopted into the forever home of the man who saved her. "Before her adoption, Xerxes spent time in a foster home where her frostbitten paws recovered, and her initially frightened exterior began to crumble," DDFL recounted. "Healed and healthy, Xerxes is settling in with her new family."
They add that, without the help of the man who saved her, the kitten would have most likely not survived through the night. So, we can only be thankful, encourage others to help the little creatures in need that they come across, and thank every savior we hear about for doing the right thing.
A story truly fitting the Christmas cheer. A tiny little owl was found inside of a Christmas tree. Yup. Inside of the iconic Rockefeller Christmas tree, workers discovered the tiny owl "clinging for its life to the 75-foot-tall Norway spruce". After surviving a 200 mile journey from Oneonta to Manhattan, the owl was found as the crews that were about to erect the tree were unwrapping it.
The New York Post reports that strangely, though the bird is tiny and looks like a baby owlet, since owls are born in the spring, it was immediately understood that this owl is not actually a baby. She is a northern saw-whet, a bird that only grows to about 5 inches tall and 2 to 3 ounces in weight. "I thought it was such a heartwarming Christmas story, that there was this secret in the Christmas tree," said Ellen Kalish, the director and founder of Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in New York.
Workers at the Rockefeller Center, after the New York Post reached out for a comment, said: "We inspect each branch of the tree individually before it's wrapped, but birds sometimes can find their way into it on the journey." For three whole days, the owl didn't have any food or water, but once in the hands of Kalish, she got all the mice she wanted.
Today, in an update to the story, we found out that the little birdy has been set free at last to its natural habitat to continue her migratory journey. And though her journey was harrowing and incredibly long, she's gotten herself a little Christmas miracle in not only being found and rescued but also in making a full recovery and getting to continue her life in the wild as she was meant to.
Check out pictures of the owl and her release below. And for another story of an incredibly feisty owl with singed wings getting rescued from a fire, click right here.
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Richard Wilbanks, a 74-year-old man from Florida had his instinct take over when his 3-month-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Gunner, was grabbed from an alligator and dragged under the water.
The scary moment took place in Wilbanks' backyard pond in Estero, and the moment Wilbanks jumped into the pond to rescue Gunner was recorded on a surveillance camera. The dramatic footage reveals Wildbanks waist-deep in the pond as he wrestles with the gator's jaws to free his dog Gunner from them.
Wilbanks describes the terrifying moment to CNN, "We were just out walking by the pond and it came out of the water like a missile. I never thought an alligator could be that fast. It was so quick. I just automatically jumped into the water." He also added that opening up the gator's jaw was "extremely hard" and that his hands were left "chewed up" afterward. He also added that he went to the doctor afterwards for a tetanus shot. And Gunner was of course taken to the vet after the incident where he was treated for one puncture wound in his belly.
Thanks to Wilbanks courage and rescue without hesitation, his adorable pup Gunner is doing just fine. From now on, Wilbanks will be keeping Gunner on a leash and far away from the water's edge.
"Our pets, they're just like family to us," Wilbanks concluded.
Story via Insider
Via The Dodo
Tiny Tim, the tiniest out of 14 small rabbits that were born to a rescue rabbit, had a long journey. From being 1.15 pounds and feisty as heck, to having a near death experience, to being best friends with a whooole bunch of rescue puppies, this tiny bunny's life has been a huge adventure.
"You could always see him in the middle of the pile, trying to get warm," says his caretaker in the video about his time as the tiniest of 14 brothers and sisters. And later on, about him when he's older: "Tim will constantly start doing zoomies, basically just expressing pure joy to be alive."
So, despite the hardships of being so smol, little Tim is conquering and happy, and that makes all of us happy!
On Monday, Fysik, an 11-year-old retired jumping horse, sunk and got stuck up to his neck in a hole of freezing muddy water. "He was shivering and I just knew when I saw him that there was no way I was going to be able to get him out of that myself," his owner, the operator of Adorado Nino Horse Rescue and Sanctuary near Leduc, Alta, Tracy Benkendorf, told CBC news.
Knowing that she couldn't do it alone, she called 911 and posted a picture of the horse on Facebook, asking if anyone knows what to do to help it. "I'm just absolutely beyond grateful for these people that came together in such an incredible, amazing way," she says about the firefighters, the RCMP, her neighbors, her veterinarian and some other people she didn't even know who arrived to help.
Read more and see Fysik standing strong and covered in blankets below!
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Earlier in the summer, a fluffy cat appeared in Lisianne's garden in Canada. It looked lonely and hungry, so Lisianne put out some water and food for it. That was the start of the most wholesome friendship. Becoming fond of the cat, Lisianne named her Usagi, and continued caring for Usagi every day when she showed up in her garden. After a while, the kitty started getting bigger, but not from food. It was because she was pregnant.
As reported by Unilad, a Facebook post by a local rescue group, Chatons Orphelins Montréal, wrote: "This lady with a big heart for this cause was watching her, she put food and water in order to help her… a routine has settled between this kitty and her good fairy. With this routine, the lady gained her confidence and the kitty started getting closer."
Usagi, after giving birth outside, continued coming back to eat at Lisianne's, and soon, the gorgeous black cat brought her tiny kittens to Lisianne's porch, one by one, setting up a nest near the woman's house where she and her babies will be safe. Lisianne, being an absolute angel, decided to help the kittens further, getting them a room in with the local rescue group, and saving their lives.
Lisianne decided to keep Usagi, a friend of hers adopted one of the babies, while the other five kittens stay at Chatons Orphelins Montréal and get treated, because it turns out that all five of the kittens had "breathing issues and conjunctivitis." They were treated for their issues are are now better, all thanks to the help of this one person who saved their lives.
For more amazing rescue stories, click here!
Via The Dodo
What would you do if a tiny little deer came up to you in the middle of nowhere and started licking your ankle? This woman was as lost about it as we would have been. The last thing that we or she would have wanted to do was rescue the deer while taking it away from its mother and natural habitat.
So, after a while of staying in the area with nothing to give the little guy, the woman left. But her thoughts stayed with the little deer, unable to stop worrying about it, so that night, she went back to see if it was still alone or if its mother had taken it back, and the deer was right there, waiting. Thank god that she did what she did, since, after taking it Turner's Deer Camp Fawn Rescue, they found out that the deer was no more than a few days old and that it almost didn't make it multiple times.
It's a happy ending story where the lovely deer is now doing much better. It'll stay in the rescue for a while and then be released into the wild to live on its own, and this is exactly the kind of positive news we are so happy to hear today.
Only last year, this stunning chonker weighed a whopping 41 pounds! Today, after getting adopted and living happily in his forever home, Barsik has dropped 22 pounds and is officially getting the zoomies. Barsik was once an internet sensation for being possibly the largest chonkiest cat in the world, but he's now just as sensational for having lost the weight, and hearing that the little guy is softer, cuddlier and much, much zoomier is wonder news!
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In New Jersey, when coronavirus cases were high and most of the state was sheltering at home, a little one-room NICU Kitten Nursery that has saved hundreds of little kittens had to close its doors.
nj.com reports that, since "[t]he space was too small to safely social distance," a veterinary technician with St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center named Friedman who was also the manager of the nursery and a vet tech called Nick Eckert "took the animals into their own homes to care for them." Dozens of kittens, many of them badly injured and desperately in need of help.
"It was very depressing that when we should have been celebrating our one-year anniversary, we were moving our nursery into our homes," said Friedman. "I was terrified that we would lose the program because of COVID-19. And I knew that because of COVID-19, it was critical to keep the program going." No one was popping in to help, and there was no team of volunteers coming in and out to help the kittens.
"I literally had kittens being dropped off at my house at midnight almost every night," Friedman tells nj.com "It was the hardest work I ever had to do because I was by myself."
Now, not only was their operation in their homes successful and they are able to keep helping the kittens, their nursery is expanding, so much so that they had to move the make-shift nursery out of their homes and into a bigger location - "three times the size - complete with 28 cages and multiple rooms to provide separate spaces for healthy, sick, and critical kittens."
The problem is that, even with more space, the nursery can't take in many more new kittens since they do not have the volunteer support that they need. "We can't run this program without volunteers," explained Friedman. So, now, they are looking for volunteers, and we hope that if you are in the area and are able to help, you would lend a helping hand to this wonderful operation and help them help these incredible kittens.
Read about some of the rescued kittens and their stories below! And if you're in need of more positive, happy-ending rescue stories, read about this feisty little owl that got its wings singed off in a fire.
We always tell you guys about stories of people saving animals, but sometimes, it's the animals who save us. This time, we're not even talking metaphorically about pets who save us by just being in our lives. No, in this case, a parrot literally saved its owner from a huge housefire. The fire was so bad, the entire house was burnt down, but thanks to Eric - the rescuer parrot - the owner is okay.
An update on the terrifying story of the cat who was shot in the face three weeks ago, and it's good news!
Gulliver, the one-year-old orange tabby cat, was found about three weeks ago with a gunshot wound to his face. The person who found the cat immediately took it to the local clinic from which he was moved to the Ottawa Humane Society. Ottawa News reported that Gulliver was "in terrible condition", suffering a "broken jaw, broken teeth and an infection in the wound." On top of that, an x-ray revealed that there were metal fragments from the bullet still in his jaw. Reading the story, we were all scared and worried about the fate of the cat, and today, we finally have an update, and Gulliver is "doing amazing"!
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"This is our first victim of the Silverado Canyon Fires," says the Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital in a post on Facebook. Fortunately, this is one of the lucky animals who got rescued from the fires - an adorable little feisty owl who got his wings singed by the fire.
He was found by the firefighters of the Orange County Fire Authority. In the beginning, the owl seemed to be entirely unable to move, exhausted, as the firefighters wrap it up in a yellow blanket. In a video released by the Orange County Fire Department twitter account, you can hear one of the firefighters say: "I'll get you some help, buddy." And we are just so, so glad this owl found its way into such good hands.
The Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital reports on Facebook that the owl's injuries seem to mostly be burnt feathers. At first, they were unsure about the damage from the smoke inhalation, but a few days later, they posted that "[t]he little owl is still feisty as ever!" So, whatever the damage, the little guy is doing much, much better.
The owl will stay in the hospital "until he molts new feathers," and then, he will be released back into the wild. We wish this cutie a quick recovery, and we are thankful to everyone involved in its rescue and hope that many, many more animals like this one will be rescued from the fires as well.
Take a look at pictures of the owl below along with the video of its rescue. Another little guy who was rescued from California fires is a little adorable puppy, and you can read about them right here.
Every single month, animals find themselves in precarious situations for various different reasons. And every single month, the lucky ones get saved by some incredible people. We attempt to bring you as many of these stories as possible as they come out, but there are just too many of them. When you think about it, that's really amazing, having too many happy rescue stories to cover.
But since we can't cover all of them throughout the month, we've decided to collect some of these stories for you at the end of each month in a list right here to celebrate these incredible people who put their love and effort into saving animals and the animals that they celebrated. Even so, we will never be able to cover them all, but this is a start, and the people in this list are definitely deserving of more appreciation.
So, let's say thank you together and hope that next month, there will again be too many rescue stories to cover!
