hero

For three whole days, residents in Tredegar, Wales have been trying to rescue a cat that got stuck in a tree. The most cliché situation, right? How hard can it be? All you need to do is call the firefighters, and they're gonna get it done. But apparently, it's not always that easy. Failed attempts to get the cat down include residents offering the cat treats, trying to use cherry pickers, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), and the fire brigade. The person who managed to finally get the cat down is a tree surgeon with a four-story scaffolding platform.  

Every day, we hear about breaking stories of animals being rescued, and every day, we feel grateful for the rescuers. We try our very best to tell you about these heartwarming stories here, but there are just far too many to keep count of. Some of these rescuers are firefighters, some are shelters, and others are just regular people like us who saw an animal in need and decided to do their best to save them. So, to show some more gratitude, highlight the wonderful people who put in their time and effort to save our furry little friends, and celebrate the animals saved, we made a collection of some of these stories from the past month.

A new legend is born! Meet the hero from Cambodia who's got the whole world buzzing -- Magawa! And Magawa just so happens to be a giant African pouched rat. Magawa isn't just any rat, he was trained to sniff out landmines and has now been awarded British charity's top civilian award for animal bravery!

In the past seven years, Magawa has discovered a total of 39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordnance. People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) start began as a free vet clinic in 1917 and has been honoring heroic animals 1943. Magawa was awarded the PDSA's gold medal for his "lifesaving bravery and devotion," according to the charity.

Having cleared over 141,000 square meters of land (imagine 20 soccer fields), it is without a doubt that Magawa is worthy of this award! 

APOPO Chief Executive Christophe Cox had this to say about the heroic act, "it is big for the people in Cambodia, and all the people around the world who are suffering from landmines. The PDSA Gold Medal award brings the problem of landmines to global attention."

But why use rats to sniff out landmines? Turns out, rats are perfect for such a task! Their small size (and weight) allows them to walk across minefields without triggering any explosives. Before Magawa, this was a canine job. 

PDSA also happens to have a Dickin Medal for military service and the medal has since been awarded to 34 dogs, 32 pigeons, 4 horses, and one cat. However, Magawa is their rat to ever receive a PDSA award! 

Congratulations Magawa, thank you for your bravery and helping make this world a safer place for us all. 

Story via The Guardian

9/11.

You don't even need to say more than those two numbers to know what someone is talking about. It's been 19 years since the unforgettable day of destruction and thousands of lives lost. It's a day anyone who lived through it will always remember. It's impossible not to. 

And while each and every year. there are countless memorials in honor of the heroic police, firemen, first responders, and all those who were lost. Today, we would like to take a moment and honor all of those who were impacted by 9/11, and the heroic dogs who were on the scene, trying to locate and save all who they could. More than 300 dogs joined the emergency rescue workers. These dogs are heroes in every sense of the word, from searching to rescuing, to comforting, to even bomb detection. The canines of 9/11 were pure acts of courage and will forever be remembered. 

There's a reason dogs are man's best friend. They are the epitome of heart and strength. 

What a beautiful heart 14-year-old Meena Kumar has. 

At 9-months-old, Kumar was found abandoned in a basket, on a college campus, in Pune, India. Kumar spent a year in the orphanage before being adopted into her forever home by a couple in Mumbai. The family currently resides in San Jose, California. 

While she was living in Mumbai, Kumar would care for a litter of puppies. And now, living in California, Kumar spends almost every weekend at the Humane Society or Muttville Senior Dog Rescue.

Muttville rescues 1000 dogs per year and is a cage-free rescue. A cage-free rescue whose mission is to give these senior dogs a second chance at life. 

Kumar tells CNN, "More people should adopt senior dogs. They give you the same unconditional love as any other dog." As someone who understands what it's like to be left behind, Kumar wants to help these dogs find their forever home, just like she did. 

However, to volunteer at the Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, you have to be at least 17-years-old, Kumar was 12. So, Kumar decided to come up with an idea that can help the dogs without being a volunteer. She advertised on Nextdoor, a popular neighbor community site, offering pet sitting, and thus, Pet Fairy Services was born.

Story via CNN

All across the world you can find timeless metal tributes to all sorts of adorable beasts doing heroic deeds.   

And yes, they are all good boys and girls. 

Check out some of the world's most heartwarming bronze creatures below. 

This little boy is a hero. 

When Owen, a six-year-old boy living in Massachusetts, heard about the devastating fires of Australia, earlier this year, he not only wanted to help the animals -- he actually did something about it. 

It all started with a drawing he did of a kangaroo, dingo, and koala in the rain. This drawing was Owen's wish for a storm to come and stop the fire, thus saving the animals. When his mom asked him if he wanted to help in some way, Owen didn't hesitate and came up with an idea of creating clay koalas in order to save the real ones! 

Owen and his mom began to make little koalas to give out for every donation they received. The response was tremendous and the family started a GoFundMe page. So far, Owen and his family have raised over $100,000 and donated it all to the wildlife rescue organization called Wildlife Rescue South Coast. 

Read more about Owen's Little Koala's.

Introducing a new heroine to the comic universe -- Maggie! 

Maggie is a cat from space who is humanity's last hope to stop the evil Baron from unleashing his demon army on the Earth. The artist and writer behind the awesome new series is @tonyeatswords.

If you love seeing a badass feline kick some demon butt -- you can follow the series on Twitter! 

In the middle of the night, cat owner Scott White was awoken in the early hours of Sunday to his cat purring and pacing about the room. Then the rescue cat, named Joey, even stood on his chest to get his undivided attention. 

Luckily, Mr White was able to recognize something was wrong with the way Joey was acting and went into the kitchen to find the entire room filled with smoke! The smoke coming from a slow cooker he had set hours ago. 

Mr White told CBC, "We went to bed around midnight and it was fine," White said of the Crock-Pot. "And then it wasn't fine when Joey found it."

Story via CBC

Pets are comforting animals in our lives, but in some people's lives -- they are the very reason they're STILL alive. 

In a viral Facebook post, by Genial, users flooded the comment section and shared stories of how their pets have saved their lives. We've gathered the top stories and shared them below. 

All we can say is thank goodness for our beloved pets. 

One man, Kendall Diwisch of Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada, is being praised as a hero! 

Diwisch came across three abandoned kittens that were frozen to the ground, thinking on his feet, Diwish quickly returns to his truck, brings back warm coffee, and pours the fluid onto the stuck felines. Essentially, thawing them out. 

He posted on Facebook, "So today I found these three fellows on one of the back roads near one of my wells. Most likely dropped off. Poor things were frozen into the ice so they had to have been there all night. All three little rascals went to their new home today where they get to be together instead of separating them. All three are eating and drinking and very energetic. Thanks for everyone's consideration and offering to take them very appreciated."

After the incident, Diwisch took the poor little kittens back to his home where he gave him food and water, and of course, a warm shelter. 

In his Facebook post, he added: "All three little rascals went to their new home today where they get to be together instead of separating them. All three are eating and drinking and very energetic. Thanks for everyone's consideration and offering to take them very appreciated."

A million thanks to Mr Diwisch! Thank you for your kind and loving generosity for these kittens! 

Story via Independent

After all, what are big sisters for?

In the adorable now viral video (uploaded by Reddit user u/YourMumWasHere), you can see a kitten playing with a toy when it suddenly gets stuck up on the fridge. After trying to reach for it, the kitten has decidedly given up... that is, until big sister arrives! The older cat "comes to the rescue" and helps retrieve the stuck toy and walks off nonchalantly.

Pretty bad-ass move, big sis! 

Diego, a 100-year-old Galapagos Tortoise (Chelonoidis hoodensis), from the Galapagos island, is set to be released to his native island of Espanola this March, according to the Galapagos National Parks service (PNG).

Park rangers on Santa Cruz Island, California, believe Diego's contribution to the program has resulted in him being the patriarch of at least 40 percent of their 2,000 tortoise population!

Diego is a hero, he single-handedly saved his species by fathering 800 offsprings! 

Jorge Carrion, the PNG director, said, "About 1,800 tortoises have been returned to Espanola and now with natural reproduction, we have approximately 2,000 tortoises. This shows that they are able to grow, they are able to reproduce, they are able to develop."

And just to make this even more impressive, around 50 years ago, there were only two males and 12 females of Diego's species currently living on Espanola. Plus, they were too spread out to actually reproduce. 

Story via DailyMail

Meet the goodest boy we know of right now -- Bear! 

Bear is a koala detection dog. That is his job. And since the fires started raging in Australia this past September, Bear has been hard at work scouring the Earth for koalas. 

Bear is a blue-eyed border collie/koolie mix who works with the University of Sunshine Coast (USC) Detection Dogs for Conservation. Bears job is to sniff out sick, orphaned and injured koalas across New South Wales and Queensland (both of which had taken on the fires rampage the hardest). 

According to the USC site, Bear was rescued from a shelter and has an endless supply of energy, an obsessive nature, and is completely uninterested in humans -- which turns out doesn't make for a great pet, but they're the exact qualities he needs to locate and track koalas. (Sometimes he looks for other marsupials, like the endangered Northern quoll.) 

USC Detection Dogs for Conservation Senior Research Dr. Celine Frere said in a news release, "Bear is highly focused and brilliant at focusing on one thing – his ball which is his reward, which makes him perfectly suited for the job. He also has zero prey drive which is essential for a wildlife detection dog as they need to focus purely on the scent and not the animal, ultimately ignoring the animal."

Bear was trained by USC academic and also works in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Story via Mother Nature Network