Meet The Inspiring People Who Made Us Smile This Year With Their Animal Kindness

• 01

  The woman who risked her life to save burnt koala from the Australian Bushfire

  
  via NBC News

  Twitter is in tears after a video of a woman rescuing a badly burnt and wailing koala from a bushfire went viral. The koala was spotted crossing a road amongst the flames when a local woman, who told Nine News her name was Toni, rushed to the koala's aid, wrapping the animal in her shirt and pouring water over it. Toni then transported the injured koala to the nearby Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, a facility that is treating up to 15 affected koalas. Unfortunately, the adorable koala didn't make it and died a few days later. 

  Here's a linkto the full story

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• 02

  The Nanny Who Stole A Family's Aging Cat To Rescue Him From "The Needle"

  
  via New York Post

  Here's a brave and caring woman, Rebecca Katz, who couldn't let the family she nannied for euthanize their aging cat. Katz says she heard her employers threatened the 15-year-old Tabby cat named Tigger with "the needle" every other day. It got to a point where Katz was afraid to come into work and finding out Tigger was gone. "For a few years, I've been crying because I didn't know that the cat would be there the next day," said Katz. She offered to take the senior cat and give him the proper care he needs, but the family refused. So she did what she felt she had to do -- steal Tigger.

  Here's a link to the full story

• 03

  The Priest Who Brings Stray Dogs Into Sunday Mass So Families Can Adopt Them

  
  via Metro.co.uk

  The Brazilian and dog-loving Priest, Padre Joao Paulo Araujo Gomes, is the hero we need. Gravatá, Brazil, is a city where there are too many stray dogs in desperate need of a forever home. Kind-hearted Father João Paulo Araujo Gomes, who is the head of the parish of Santana, brings in these stray dogs into the mass on Sundays, in hopes families will provide them with a forever home. And it's working.

  Here's a link to the full story

• 04

  The Woman Who Quit Her Job And Searched 57 Days To Find Her Lost Dog

  
  via Daily inter lake

  And she did! The love we have for our pets can sometimes astound us! Meet Carole King of Deer Park, Washington, who lost her beloved 7-year-old border collie named Katie. It happened on July 20th, when Carole, her husband, and Katie, traveled to Flathead County for a four-day getaway. The couple had gone out to dinner and left Katie in their hotel room, and when they returned Katie was nowhere to be found. King told the Daily Inter Lake that she was devastated and sick to her stomach. She frantically searched her room for her Katie, looking for any signs of her beloved canine before rushing to the front desk in hopes Katie was still somewhere in the building. King said, "I said to the clerk, 'please tell me you have my dog.' The clerk says 'no, she left about 4, 4 1/2 hours ago,' " 

  Unfortunately, the moment those automatic doors opened, Katie ran out without a trace. The devastated couple spent days that soon turned into weeks looking for Katie. Carole King worked as a postal worker but quit in order to continue her search and dedicate all her time to it.
  The news about Katie was beginning to spread online and in doing so, multiple Facebook pages popped up, filled with users who were offering words of encouragement and sharing and information about recent sightings that could help bring Katie home.
  King hung up 500 flyers around the county, searching into the night and gone as far as setting up a few game cameras in spots where Katie had been spotted. "I never gave up. I never lost hope," said King.
  
  On September 15th, 57 days later, King got a call in the early morning from a man in the Country Estates neighborhood. He told her there was a dog in his backyard that matched the description of Katie. It just so happened that the day before the call, King and a friend were in that very neighborhood posting flyers around. King called up that same friend for help as they rushed out to find Katie but by the time they arrived, the dog was already gone.
  The pair decided to search the neighborhood again with no luck in sight. As they decide to return back home, a woman called out to King, "As the lady was walking back, she points over to the tree where it's real dark and says, 'Is that your dog?'" King said. "And I turn and it's Katie."
  Heart skipping a beat and beyond excited, King called out to her beloved dog, "Katie. Katie girl!" Katie came running over. "I just bear-hugged her; I wasn't going to let her go," King recalled. "Tears were flying, we were screaming, everybody is high-fiving, hugging each other. People are stopping in their vehicles, getting out and hugging us. I think the whole neighborhood knew that we found her."
  
  Immediately from there, King took Katie to a local emergency vet clinic where King learned that she had lost 12 pounds, was severely dehydrated and in starvation mode. Even though Katie was skin and bones, she is in good spirits and expected to make a full recovery. Congratulations to the King's who never gave up hope! Katie is lucky to have you!

  Here's a link to the full story 

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• 05

  This Wholesome Dad Who Created a Stick Library for Dogs at the Park

  
  via @taiiils

  Andrew Taylor (59) a very talented craftsman from New Zealand, decided to use the dead branches at his back yard to create a "stick library" for his dog Bella and the other dogs who frequent the park where they go. Taylor set the box filled with rounded sticks at the park entrance and politely asked the dog owners to make sure the sticks will be returned to the box like the books in a real library. Andrew's daughter Tayla Reece was the one who proudly posted her father's project online. And we're glad she did – it's an adorable idea and one we hope other people will copy in their own local area.

  Here's a link to the full story

• 06

  The man who moved into animal shelter to help dog get adopted

  
  via Yahoo Lifestyle

  Scott Poore, a Kansas City animal advocate, has moved into an animal shelter, Great Plains SPCA, where a three-year-old terrier mix named Queen has been for more than 400 days. Queen was found in the shelter near his home by animal rescue officers. She was found living behind a dumpster and had medical issues that prevented her from being adopted straight away. Poore could come visit Queen every day for the past year and it broke his heart that this loving pup hasn't found her forever home. He wanted to come up with a creative way to get people to notice Queen and his solution? To move out of his house and into hers, until she finds her forever home. Tam Singer, the Great Plains SPCA CEO, was asked to document the experience by Poore. And as wild as the idea sounds, Singer was more than willing to help out and called the idea "fantastic." Singer told Yahoo Lifestyle, "He has the ability to make individual dogs matter. He's helped so many of our dogs and dogs all over Kansas, More than anything, it highlights not only the plight of Queen but so many other dogs. It's magnificent."

  Here's a link to the full story

  
  

  
  

• 07

  The Kind Man Who Set a Food Delivery Account For a Stray Doggo In His Neighborhood

  
  via Times of India

  Stray dogs have it rough and there are days they go without eating because it's a game of survival of the fittest. However, Shadow is one lucky street dog because she has a guardian angel looking after her, making sure she never goes hungry. Arghese Oommen took in Shadow and started taking care of her after developing a very special bond with her. Shadow was regularly fed with rice and meat by Oommen and her life took a change for the good. He named her Shadow because she would always follow her around and he even found an apartment in the same area after he had to vacate his last one. But being a tour operator, Oommen couldn't be available all the time to feed the dog so he set up an account in Shadow's name with a food-delivery app. 

  Here's a link to view the full story

  
  

  
  

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• 08

  This Inspiring Woman From New Jersey Travels The City With Cages Of Cats

  
  via Cole and mermalade

  The passengers on the trains and buses of New Jersey are all familiar with one very special lady. She has been seen traveling all over the city with armloads of cat cages and supplies. But what exactly is she doing? Jennifer is a TNVR (Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return) trapper and feral colony caretaker.She is the solo hero lugging cages for trapping cats, bags and cans of cat food and jugs of water around the city. She's a voice for the voiceless. 

  Here's alink to the full story

• 09

  This Retired Nurse Who TurnED Her Home To a Hospice To Ensure Dying Dogs Will Have The Ending They Deserve

  
  via /thegreymuzzlecaninehospice

  The Grey Muzzle Canine Hospice Project is a heart-warming project of Nicola Harrison, a former volunteer at a kennel who decided to turn her home in Mansfield, UK, to a dog hospice where she provides end of life care for abandoned and terminally-ill dogs who have less than six months to live. This way she ensures dying dogs are living out their final days as happy and loved as possible. In an interview with Metro, Harrison said she makes them each a bucket list, throws them a birthday party, takes them out for steak dinners and more: "We take them down to the local pub – it's really dog-friendly, and they'll get a steak dinner too. Many have not led a very nice life too, used for breeding or guard dogs, so when they've become unwell, they're not useful anymore and left". She also said that she spends up to $500 on each dog to give them the best there is in life for the short amount of time they have left. Here are some of the heart-warming photos we have found on her facebook page. All we can say is that it's truly inspirational and the world needs more people of this kind.

  Here's a link to the full story

• 10

  These Parkland Students Who Honored The Therapy Dogs, That Helped Them Cope With Tragedy, With A Yearbook Page

  
  via Huff post

  Students in Parkland, Florida, dedicated a page in their yearbook to honor the 14 therapy and service dogs that helped them get through the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting that took place just a year ago.

  Here's a link to the full story

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