All Creatures Great and Small...

Last night I was out in the back yard with Bear. He was just out there walking and sniffing as is his usual way. While I was out there, my charges from next door started their usual barking to let me know to come and visit them. I went over and gave them some food over the fence. As I was doing this I got to thinking how wonderful my life is because of my pets. It is absolutely beyond my comprehension how some people can treat animals the way they do. I've just got to move faster on those 2 sweeties next door. Hopefully, something good will happen for them soon. Animals are a source of unconditional love. They always understand, never reject you, and love you 100% no matter what. How empty my life would be without my little home zoo. It always seems just as I'm jam packed to the rafters, one in need will turn up, and magically I've got space for just one more. I realize, at this point, that I'm only able to be a temporary solution for the dogs next door, but I just have to do what I can for them. I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't. I can't tell you how many times that I've wished I could win the lottery to be able to create an animal sanctuary. It's also funny how by helping them, I get so much back in return. I suppose that any of you animal lovers out there know what I'm talking about. Anyway, isn't it funny how much deep reflection you can do, while your out on a dog walk? Check out the story of a fellow animal lover below. It came from my daily e-newsletter that I receive from ASPCA. Enjoy!!

SUCCESS STORY OF THE WEEK: ALL CREATURES SMALL ARE GREAT!

Emily S., a self-described "animal lover to more of a degree than anyone could imagine," even surprised herself by the lengths she recently went to save the life of an animal.

Emily was leaving her house with her two dogs, en route to an appointment with the vet, when she heard a group of kids screaming and running around. "I was shocked to see one of the kids walk up a staircase and 'accidentally' drop something small and living," she says. Despite her chronic bad knee, she found herself running—for the first time in six years!—up the stairs. "On my way up, one of the kids lifted her foot as if to stomp on the creature, and I yelled at her to stop. When I got up there and saw that the animal was a mouse, my feelings didn't change one bit."

The little mouse was an albino, so Emily surmised the animal was most likely a pet or a feeder mouse from one of the nearby recently vacated apartments. She caught the mouse with relative ease and brought her along to the vet.

"The doctor confirmed my suspicions that this little girl was most likely a pet or feeder mouse, so I bought her a small temporary cage," recalls Emily. After waiting for a few days to see if someone was missing a mouse, Emily decided that the animal, who was "given the appropriate name of Lucky," would become a permanent member of the family.

And when Emily got her new friend a larger permanent cage, she also bought her a mouse friend, whom she named Raven. "Up until I rescued Lucky, I had never considered having a pet of this type. Now, I couldn't imagine not having them!"