hero

For mothers, living in the animal kingdom is an extra difficult task. Having to look for food, fend for themselves as they hunt, find shelter, all while keeping their babies safe. The motherly instinct is strong. It's no wonder, then, that animal momma are loving yet stern. They have to do what needs to be done to protect their babies, even if it means saving them from danger at risk to themselves. 

That is what one momma cat had to do - running into a burning barn to save her kittens. According to Cole & Marmalade, the barn was this cat's home. She and her babies had been living on that farm for a while, and sadly, when the structure caught fire, her babies were still inside. 

Read more of the story below!

When you think of heroes, cats are probably not the first thing that comes up in your mind. Most of them are not known for rushing to save the humans they've chosen. But Masha, she is a special cat, and she has a really special, heartwarming story. 

Having come across a freezing human baby, Masha took it upon herself to save the baby. she curled up around it, kept it warm through the night, and in the morning, she strolled around and screamed until someone followed her and found the baby. She even managed to get herself into the ambulance with the baby afterward. Had it not been for her, the baby would have died. Of course, this amazing cat later on got adopted, and we can only say thank you - to her adopters because she deserves the most amazing forever home, and to her - for doing the impossible and saving the baby's life.  

Thatsaphon Saii, a twenty-three-year-old Thai sailor, still wearing his pants, jumped into the water and swam toward the wreckage of a burning ship to rescue 4 kittens that were stuck on board. All of the 8 crew members who were on the ship have, thankfully, already escaped the fire and were saved by a shipping boat that was sailing past them, but 4 terrified kittens were left on the ship, clinging to a finishing crane as flames roared all around them.

According to Metro, the moment Thatsaphon realized they were there, he, without hesitation, plunged into the water and swam toward them, grabbing the three kittens - placing three into an old rice sack and the fourth right onto his shoulder. Then, he paddled back to the navy vessel and somehow managed to save kittens without a single one of them being hurt. The ship was left to burn and sink in the ocean.

Read Thatsaphon's comments about the incident and check out pictures below!

An unlikely hero showed up in Australia - wombats have been seen helping other animals in drought-ravaged areas in Australia.

As Newsweek reports, "[t]hese accidental heroes have been burrowing into an underground pool of water located on a beef farm southwest of Merriwa, New South Wales," and "[i]n the process, they have opened up the water hole for other species to enjoy." 

Read more about these heroic wombats and check out pics of adorable wombats below!

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.

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

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. 

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. 

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

"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!

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.