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Feelgood Stories - Animal Related Only

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Dec 2018 at 8:47pm
Thats a good one PT.  Now if only my recently aquired cat, and my old cat, could be such friends.  Old boy is keen but she just wants to kill him when she gets near.   2 months now with doors between . Driving me nuts.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Dec 2018 at 9:07pm
We used to have 2 cats like that AA. They lived to 25 and 22 and hated each other their entire lives together. One only used the front door and owned the front yard, the other bloke the back door and back yard. They never physically fought, but could not tolerate being near each other.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Dec 2018 at 11:36pm
OMG help me !  Unhappy 25 years ????    Cry  Please Cry No,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The new one, she, is about a quarter the size of the old bloke.  He is quite civil to her, but she is on a seek and destroy mission every time she sees him. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 10:47am
https://militaryhistorynow.com/2018/11/25/operation-cowboy-how-american-gis-german-soldiers-joined-forces-to-save-the-legendary-lipizzaner-horses-in-the-final-hours-of-ww2/?fbclid=IwAR07-H2mr7sVvc8gbKJT9sNZFWWKt8wN1XgHnijEAj87MQ3PVkjkbhXVy6I

Operation Cowboy – How American GIs & German Soldiers Joined Forces to Save the Legendary Lipizzaner Horses in the Final Hours of WW2

by MilitaryHistoryNow.com •  • 3 Comments


“The efforts to rescue the Lipizzaners would end with battle-weary American GIs standing shoulder-to-shoulder with German troops to fight a common enemy – the Waffen-SS.”

IT WAS APRIL 28, 1945. The war in Europe was just days away from ending when one of the strangest episodes of the entire conflict played out along the German-Czechoslovakian border. More than 350 American GIs had just fought their way through enemy lines to reach the town of Hostau. The settlement, which was still in the hands of a detachment of Wehrmacht soldiers, was home to some remarkably valuable treasure: several hundred prized Lipizzaner horses. The famous and extremely rare animals, which had been seized by the Third Reich as part of a bizarre wartime livestock breeding program, were now in the path of the advancing Red Army where they faced almost certain destruction. Fearing for the horses’ lives, the German officer in charge of the stud farm sent word to the Americans that he and his men would surrender en masse if the U.S. Army promised to get the beasts out of harm’s way. A cavalry unit in Patton’s Third Army leapt at the chance to save the legendary Lipizzaners. The mission, which was dubbed Operation Cowboy, would see U.S. troops, along with a motley collection of liberated Allied POWs, a bona fide Cossack aristocrat and a platoon of turn-coat German soldiers race the clock to drive a herd of priceless horses to safety, all the while fighting off attacks by a legion of crack troops from the Waffen-SS bent on their destruction. This unbelievable true-story was the inspiration for Ghost Riders, a new non-fiction book by author and historian Mark Felton. Here, Felton himself takes us through the story.


By Mark Felton

When the shooting died away the snowy field was littered with dead and dying Waffen-SS soldiers. American GIs quickly reloaded their weapons.

Huddled inside their positions with them was a strange group of comrades. German Wehrmacht soldiers cradled Mauser rifles, while fur-hatted Russian Cossacks grinned fiercely through their beards as British and Polish ex-POWs stared grimly ahead. Leading this curious coalition that found itself in action near the Czechoslovakian town of Hostau was a tall, strikingly handsome U.S. Army captain by the name of Thomas M. Stewart.

Gripping his Thompson sub-machine gun, Stewart, already a grizzled veteran at the age of 29, scanned the field warily. The first SS attack had been beaten back, but the enemy would return. He glanced at his men. All had done well. ‘Stewart’s Foreign Legion,’ as they jokingly were calling themselves, had fought its first battle and won. Surrounded deep inside hostile territory, the small force was tasked with baby-sitting the world’s most precious horses. It was the toughest assignment Stewart had faced since landing in Normandy the previous year, but his most important. What was at stake was nothing less the survival than a living European treasure.

The white Lipizzaner horses of the famed Spanish Riding School in Vienna are world-renowned. Among the purest bred and finest trained show horses in existence, they boast an unbroken lineage that stretches back more than 400 years through the Hapsburg Dynasty. But all this was threatened with destruction in 1945, and the efforts to rescue the Lipizzaners would end with battle-weary American GIs standing shoulder-to-shoulder with German troops to fight a common enemy – the Waffen-SS. The action at Hostau stands as one of only two documented occasions when U.S. and German forces fought together against a common enemy during the Second World War. The other would take place days later at Austria’s Schloss Itter castle. (Check out MHN’s coverage of that incident HERE.)

After the German annexation of Austria in 1938, the Spanish Riding School’s breeding mares were taken by the Nazis to a special stud farm at Hostau in Czechoslovakia. The performing stallions stayed in Vienna. The mares became the focal point of a bizarre Third Reich breeding programme to try and create an ‘Aryan horse,’ along with Arabians and thoroughbred racing horses. Fast-forward to April 1945. The mares were still at Hostau and the war was drawing to its bloody close.

Twenty miles west of the city was General George Patton’s U.S. Third Army, drawn up along the Czech-German border. Having fought ferociously across Western Europe, the Third as was waiting for orders to liberate Prague. Forty miles east of Hostau sat the Red Army, poised to draw the whole of Czechoslovakia into Moscow’s political orbit as stipulated by the recent Yalta Conference.

Inevitably, the Germans in Hostau would have to surrender the Americans or the Soviets; everyone knew which option was the preferred one.

Meanwhile, the Wehrmacht veterinary officers charged with caring for the horses were growing ever more frantic. They feared that if the Red Army arrived first, the precious animals would be lost. The Soviets had already destroyed the Royal Hungarian Lipizzaner collection. Having shot many of the stunning horses rather than take care of them, the rest were forced into harnesses like common drays.

The ranking German at the farm was a Luftwaffe intelligence officer named Colonel Holters. His unit had become stranded in the area after running out of fuel. The waylaid oberst befriended the commander of the farm, a colonel named Rudofsky. The two men shared a passion for horses and Holters soon convinced Rudofsky to surrender his collection of prized steeds along with his men to the Americans before it was too late. Rudofsky vacillated, mindful of his oath to the Fatherland to resist. But Holters had no such compunctions and secretly set out to negotiate the surrender of the horses to the Americans on his own.

The unit that Holters approached was the 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, part of the 2nd Cavalry Group, the eyes and ears of Patton’s XII Corps on the border. A good proportion of the 2nd Cav’s officers were themselves horsemen, including the unit’s resourceful commander, Colonel Charles M. Reed, a polo-playing Virginian gentleman old enough to have served in the horsed cavalry before the rise of mechanized warfare.

Holters laid the groundwork for the surrender. A veterinarian from the stud farm was persuaded to cross the lines under a flag of truce to work out the complicated and risky logistics of moving several hundred priceless horses safely through the middle of a shooting war. Word of the plan was sent back to the German commandant who reluctantly agreed to the move. Reed was delighted and contacted Patton, who gave the go-ahead to snatch the horses.

But the problems were acute. Though the Germans agreed that the stud at Hostau was to be turned over to the Americans, the frontier defences were not a part of the scheme and would resist any incursion by U.S. forces into Czechoslovakia. Then there were the men of the 42nd Cavalry: all were worn out after nine months of bloody slaughter from Normandy, the Ardennes and through Germany, and none wanted to be the last GI killed in Europe. To top things off, many of the horses were pregnant, while others had only just given birth.

Mindful that the Red Army was only days, perhaps hours, away, Patton ordered his men to carry out the mission and ‘make it quick.’ He couldn’t spare enough men and resources to ensure that the operation was a success – it would have to be performed on a military shoestring. The CO of the 42nd was ordered to provide two small cavalry reconnaissance troops and some armour for a 20-mile push into German-occupied territory. The task force commander, Major Andrews, was given just 325 men to enter an area defended by tens of thousands of German troops, including two understrength yet still potent Panzer divisions. Apart from the two troops’ machine-gun-armed jeeps and M8 armoured cars, the only other support Reed could count on would come from five small M-24 Chaffee light tanks, far outclassed by the German Panthers known to be operating in the area, along with a pair of Howitzer Motor Carriages, artillery guns mounted on light tank chassis. It wasn’t much of an army, but it would have to do.

On April 28, Task Force Andrews, as it was codenamed, set off amid an artillery barrage that blasted a hole in the forward German defences. The advance was contested at virtually every village, but by a miracle the column reached the stud farm. Now came the difficult part – holding on to the prize.

While Colonel Reed sought out vehicles to move the pregnant mares and new-born foals out of Hostau to Bavaria, Andrews turned over the task force to his deputy, Captain Thomas M. Stewart. The force was reduced to one cavalry troop, two tanks and two howitzer motor carriages, a total of only 180 men. Stewart now faced the greatest challenge of his military career. Without enough men to secure the stud farm, the town of Hostau and the road back to U.S. lines, he’d need to recruit some extra manpower fast. He turned to a small group of Allied POWs who had been liberated alongside the horses. The Germans had been using the prisoners, a mixed bag of British, New Zealanders, French, Poles and Serbs, as labourers. All eagerly volunteered to help out and were immediately handed captured German weapons. But it still wasn’t enough. Next, Stewart turned to some anti-communist Russian Cossacks in the area. Commanded by a haughty former prince, the Cossacks joined the Axis after the Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R. four years earlier. Eager to slip away from the encroaching Red Army, Prince Amassow and his excellent horsemen volunteered and were re-armed. Still coming up short, Stewart asked the German colonel Rudofsky for some of his own men to join in the defence. Stewart agreed to re-arm them if they pledged to serve under U.S. authority. Many were happy to do so; they had no love for the Nazis and all feared the arrival of the Soviets.

Using their own surrendered weapons and coal-scuttle helmets, the Wehrmacht volunteers fell in with their new allies. Stewart knew that he had had to act quickly in forming this unlikely ‘foreign legion’ for word arrived that SS troops were converging on Hostau determined to kill or capture the Americans and the horses.

In two battles, ‘Stewart’s Foreign Legion,’ with the assistance from the light armour, managed to hold off an assault by crack troops from SS-Regiment Deutschland. Several Americans were killed or injured in the firefight; more than 100 enemy soldiers perished, with an equal number of wounded. Fortunately for Stewart and his men, the Nazis lacked tanks, otherwise it would have been game over for the entire expedition.

During a break in the action, Colonel Reed began to organize transport to get the horses out of Hostau to U.S. lines. Many of the stallions were ridden out by American, German and Cossack officers, while some of the mares were driven on the hoof like some Wild West-style roundup. The others with their foals were loaded onto hastily converted German and American trucks and sent west.

The group made good its escape without a moment to spare; Soviet T-34 tanks arrived on the eastern edge of Hostau just as the Lipizzaners and Stewart’s Foreign Legion rolled out of town. A tense stand-off followed, but the Red Army decided not to risk a clash with Reed’s forces and Operation Cowboy was successfully completed with not a moment to lose.

The Lipizzaners were eventually returned to the Spanish Riding School, where their descendants perform to this day. Colonel Reed would later sum up the entire operation: “We just wanted to do something beautiful.” And what could be more beautiful in the midst of the cruellest of wars than rescuing innocent white Lipizzaner horses for the betterment of European culture? But it wouldn’t have been successful without Captain Stewart’s foreign legion, who set aside national enmities for a higher reason and succeeded.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 11:30am
Disney made a movie about that rescue.  Saw it years ago.  Think it was called something about the white stallions. I remember one scene where they have the horses streaming across a paddock with troops in jeeps around them.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Dizzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 11:47am
Miracle of The White Stallions, made in 1963.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 2:32pm
Thanks Dizzy Thumbs Up Showing my age now , but can still remember seeing it Big smile Of course watched it endless times being a horse mad kid.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dizzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 4:24pm
I have watched it a few times myself AA.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Second Chance Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 4:31pm
You're giving away your age ladies.  ShockedWink  Big smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 6:10pm
Dizzy has a long way to go to catch me LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sister Dot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 3:27pm
😁 A bit of cowhocked but otherwise a good type!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 10:25pm

Homeless man's dogs wait by door as he's admitted to hospital

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 11:25pm
Geez I hope someone took care of them for him ?    See that lady in Sydney who found the homeless man,s lost dog, and so developed a friend ship with him, and got him in a home near her, and had his dog chipped with her contact.   Nice story and good outcome for all of them.
Hope it was a god outcome for those lovely dogs . 
As my bottom line says.  Give me animals before people any time.  They are so faithful and devoted and they dont lie and cheat .   Best mates you can have.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 11:28pm
Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

<h1 ="_9qusv45V" style="-sizing: border-; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 36px; line-height: 1.111; font-family: "Proxima Nova", system-ui, -apple-system, MacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue"; vertical-align: line; color: rgb51, 51, 51;">Homeless man's dogs wait by door as he's admitted to hospital</h1><div ="_1kgvpqkO _3HRXQwrp zs590tCe" style="-sizing: border-; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; font-family: "Proxima Nova", system-ui, -apple-system, MacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue"; vertical-align: line; display: flex; align-items: center; color: rgb107, 107, 107;"><span ="textColumn" style="-sizing: border-; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: line;"><time ="_1BUdXr5x ahG_R9XZ P1Gnhf9x" datetime="2018-12-14T04:28:00.000Z" title="2018-12-14 04:28" style="-sizing: border-; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: line; display: inline-block;">3 weeks ago</time></span><figure ="_2PgA-5d8" style="-sizing: border-; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: medium; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Proxima Nova", system-ui, -apple-system, MacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue"; vertical-align: line; color: rgb51, 51, 51;"></figure>


Sad when you think about it.     They would be so dependent on him.

        Our sick world.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 12:38am
A nurse from Brazil has shared the heart-warming story of a homeless patient whose dogs waited outside the hospital for him to be treated.

Cris Mamprim's December 9 post on her Facebook page about the encounter went viral.

"At the hospital in which I work, at 3 am, while [their] owner – a street dweller – was being answered, his companions waited at the door," the Facebook-translated post, written originally in Portugese, read.

Mamprim described the man as "a simple person, without luxury, who depends on help to overcome the hunger, the cold, the pain." And yet, she wrote, "has by his side the best companions".

In a photo accompanying the post, four dogs are seen patiently waiting for the man. They look healthy and concerned for their carer.

She continued to say that the man confessed to foregoing food so his dogs could be fed.

"Seeing them like this, waiting on the door, just shows how much they are well care and loved," Mamprim wrote.

The post has since gained over 77,000 shares and 128,000 likes.

https://pickle.nine.com.au/2018/12/14/15/23/homeless-man-dogs-hospital#_=_

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote furious Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 9:17am
I've got the Miracle of the White Stallions.  Bought it in Vienna on a visit to the show and practice of the stallions.  Read the book when I was a teenager and the first place I visited overseas was Vienna to see these magnificent horses.  There was one I called spot.  Spot had a problem (this was a morning practic section open to the public) and his rider would go round and round trying to get him to settle down when he reach a section of the ring.  Each time Spot stopped and pranced and carried on.  It was refreshing to see that even these horses can misbehave but the patience of the rider was superb.

Our following overseas trip saw us see the stud and there was a 38 year old stallion who I swear looked at 12 if a day. He was in such good nick.

I remember watching the miracles of the white stallions on Disneyland as a teenager also.  And they also did one on the Vienna Boys Choir which was a hoot.  Beautiful singing as well.  I've got a tape of that but not a video.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote furious Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 9:19am
They didn't show it in the film but when they first went to Wells with the stallions the stalls where made of green wood.  Which some of the stallions chomped on overnight and then escaped and went visiting there mates.  The said mates where not always happy to be woken so some friends became not so overnight and they had to change the line up for the musical ride!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jan 2019 at 11:39am

Shire stallion who saved mare’s life named animal hero of the year


 
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A Shire stallion who saved a mare’s life after she became stuck in a six-hour ordeal has been named animal hero of the year.

Beau was given the title at the national Animal Hero Awards 2018, which took place on Thursday evening (6 September) in London.

Beau came to the aid of Shire mare Beatrice who had become cast in a stable and owners Donald MacIntyre and Jane Lipington were unable to pull her to her feet.

Donald found Beatrice stuck on the stable floor at 8.30am on 19 January at their farm in Bath and immediately called the vet.

Jane told H&H: “Beau and Beatrice had been on the yard together and had access to stables overnight. When Donald found Beatrice on the floor she had obviously been down a while – we could see she wasn’t in a good spot.

“We tried everything and used machinery to try and pull her across the stable but we couldn’t get her up, she gave up more and more. The vet said we could put her out of her misery or give her a few more hours with painkillers and steroids and leave it up to Beatrice.”

Beatrice’s temperature dropped and her heartbeat increased as the owners spent four hours trying to get the mare to her feet while Beau, who was in the next stable, had been “quietly watching” the situation.

“We went to let Beau out for some haylage and instead of going to eat which would be his normal reaction, he marched straight over to Beatrice, put his head over the partition between them and started nibbling her neck and ears,” said Jane.

“As we were watching he then got hold of her headcollar and lifted her head. We began to realise something a bit special was happening. He kept nipping her mane and got hold of her neck and pulled her whole front end off the floor. Everyone got in and pushed and pulled and got her up.

“The vet couldn’t believe it – she really didn’t think Beatrice was going to survive, everything was closing down. We couldn’t have got her out alive without Beau. For whatever reason Beau just knew she had to get off the floor.”

A month after the incident Jane and Donald discovered Beatrice was in foal and welcomed a healthy colt, Angus on 30 March.

“We knew nothing about the awards – they rang up and we were told he had been nominated and the panel had chosen him as the animal hero of the year.  Unfortunately we couldn’t take him – he would have loved all the attention.”

Jane and Donald attended the awards ceremony, which was hosted by Amanda Holden.

“It was just an amazing night about compassion to animals,” said Jane “People need to realise how intelligent these animals are – they just speak a different language and we need to learn their language. They have emotions, they feel compassion and all these things that we feel.”

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VSP. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jan 2019 at 2:49pm
That's a lovely story Gay.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan 2019 at 9:20am
Published on Jan 18, 2019 Stories of people and animals bringing comfort to one another are a dime a dozen on the internet. But every once in a while, an interspecies communion rises above the din. Ron Krajewski and his horse, Metro Meteor, are one such pair. The short documentary "My Paintbrush Bites," premiering today on The Atlantic, tells their remarkable story—one of a reclusive failed artist who finds redemption in the most unlikely of places. When Krajewski rescued Metro, the thoroughbred was on the brink of death. He had once been a successful racehorse, with eight winning races at the prestigious Belmont Park and $300,000 in prize money to his name. But severe injuries forced Metro’s stable to retire him. Krajewski, looking for an affordable horse for his wife to ride, bought Metro in the nick of time; had he not done so, the horse would surely have been sent to the slaughterhouse. Shortly after they rescued him, though, the Krajewskis would discover just how severe Metro’s health problems were. Just one trail ride rendered him unable to walk. The vet gave him a year to live. And to make matters worse, the horse had an attitude; he would often bite or kick those who attempted to touch him. “Everybody had said that Metro’s not going to amount to anything,” Krajewski says in the film. “Well, we found a skill for him, and he’s pretty good at it.” Krajewski had always dreamed of being an artist, but his abstract paintings never sold. When he noticed Metro had an interesting tic—he would often bob his head up and down and side to side—Krajewski had what he terms a “crazy” idea. He taught Metro to hold a paintbrush. Using horse treats as a reward, he then taught the horse to touch his nose to the canvas. “He went to town and just started painting,” says Krajewski.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Feb 2019 at 11:11am

170 Foxes Are Rescued From Fur Farm and Given New Home at a Buddhist Monastery

Dozens of foxes have been saved from a Chinese fur farm and been given a new home at a Buddhist monastery.

Animal activist Karen Gifford has spent the last few weeks documenting the rescue initiative in a series of Facebook videos that were shared with her by a woman named BoHe.

BoHe is one of the volunteers who helped to rescue the 174 white foxes that had been bred and raised at a nearby fur farm. She operates a local dog sanctuary that is home to over 2,400 canines, many of which were reportedly rescued from the dog meat trade.

Due to a lack of income, the fur farm had been preparing to close their doors and dispose of their remaining foxes – but upon hearing that the animals were in need of a new home, the residents of the Buddhist Jilin Nursing Garden in Mudanjiang, China said that they were happy to welcome the critters onto their property.

RELATEDSimon Cowell Donates Over $32,000 to Close Down South Korean Dog Meat Farm

In the first of Gifford’s Facebook posts, the foxes can be seen arriving in cages by the truckload. One day later, Gifford posted an update in which the foxes can been seen enjoying their first steps outside of their cages and onto the sanctuary grounds.

Now, Gifford is rallying for donations to help buy food for the foxes. The critters will reportedly be staying at the monastery until volunteers are able to construct a permanent shelter.

“Thank you to all the wonderful supporters! I’m sure your hearts swell seeing these videos and the Buddhist monk standing among the foxes free in the garden,” writes Gifford. “The weather is freezing at Bohe’s base … so please, anything is appreciated.”

Photos & videos in the link.

https://goodnewsnetwork.org/170-foxes-rescued-from-fur-farm-and-given-new-home-at-monastery/?fbclid=IwAR2w1zONVTFc1afn40Bgag4q9h2cA9nzWlLNeutSkFSJQ5I7Ngl7bQvUEwo#.XFSVxoKy4B4.facebook

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Feb 2019 at 2:16pm
They are so pretty.  Look more like dogs than what we know as a fox. 
animals before people.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 8:48am

Fred the emu adopts farming family and helps out with the mustering



Most people have a friendly magpie, or maybe a kookaburra that frequently arrives on the verandah for bacon scraps. Not the McArthurs.

A fortnight ago, an emu followed them home as they were mustering cattle on horseback at their central Queensland property.

"Everyone was a bit cautious of him at first, he's a rather large bird, we felt a little anxious about it," Rob McArthur said.

"He parked himself at the milker yards, Ainsley walked over, opened the gate and let him in, and in he came."

But despite the unusual start to life with the McArthurs, the emu, dubbed 'Fred' by the McArthur kids, seemed quite content with the new arrangement.

"He'll walk around [the house yard], pick a few mulberries off the mulberry tree. We've still got some fairy lights up, he's quite fascinated with them, he's so tall he can reach up, picks at the lights hanging down from the verandah," Mr McArthur said.

Fred's antics have been to the amusement of the McArthur clan, particularly when he chased some calves Mr McArthur was mustering out of the paddock.

"He turned and he looked and then he did a pirouette and then he took off … did a couple of goose steps, or emu steps," Mr McArthur said.

But Mr McArthur said it is still a mystery as to why he is so at home in their yard.

"But I have no idea why he's so friendly or quiet."

Emusing behaviour

Professor of ecology at Griffith University, Darryl Jones, was stumped by Fred's social behaviour.

"It is normal and sensible for most wild animals to be fearful of humans," he said.

"There are plenty of good reasons why an emu should be apprehensive about hanging out with people, but that doesn't seem to be the case here."

The peculiarity of the situation is not lost on Mr Jones, who said it is downright bizarre.


"Why isn't it scared of people? Has it had some sort of interaction before which was positive, where people fed it or looked after it or something? That's something we'll probably never know."

Emus are social animals and often live in family groups, however older males do tend to live alone.

Unusually for the animal kingdom, it is the fathers that incubate and then raise their chicks.

As to whether Fred may have lost his family group and was lonely, Mr Jones said this is the most plausible suggestion.

Mr Jones also speculated that Fred's level of intelligence might explain his behaviour.

"There are two theories, [either] it's a very smart bird, that figured out this is a great way to make a living — 'I could just hang out with the people and they'll protect me' — or the opposite, it's not a very smart bird in any way at all, it might be mentally deficient in a serious way, and so it's just there because it's not very smart," he said.

"But I'd be inclined to think it's the other direction, that it's seen an opportunity here and said 'I can probably benefit from this if I hang around with these people'."

Photos in the link Big smile

https://abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-02-07/emu-adopts-farming-family-joins-in-mustering/10786236?fbclid=IwAR3WYmC2_6XQqrMeRUoHg1HnhhxVmPAUbYzYnLYA5DRbnukYeQ41_l1uD0U
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sister Dot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 9:50am
You know, after all the sad stories of horses after racing, u see something as beautiful as this and it gives u hope for the future and faith in human beings. I wouldn’t mind one of his paintings 😍
    
    
      
 




Edited by Gay3 - 08 Feb 2019 at 11:23am
“Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, friendship without envy, or beauty without vanity? Here where grace is laced with muscle and strength by gentleness confined”
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 11:27am
animals before people.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 11:46am
 Fluffy was found frozen solid in a snow bank in Kalispell, Montana, on Jan. 31, 2019. The cat has made an amazing, full recovery.        Fluffy was found frozen solid in a snow bank in Kalispell, Montana, on Jan. 31, 2019. The cat has made an amazing, full recovery.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Feb 2019 at 11:40am
From acacia alba Smile (google the title then find a link you can copy/paste Wink)

The orphan foal that launched an iconic photo as he slept in the company of a giant stuffed teddy bear is all grown up and much bigger than his old friend.

A orphaned Dartmoor Hill Pony called Breeze snuggles up with a teddy bear at the Mare and Foal Sanctuary in Newton Abbot, Devon. Breeze sleeps with the teddy every night to keep him comforted.  29/05/2013

Photo Credit: SWNS

breeze-and-button-for-website

 

Lbreeze-10-days-oldittle Breeze who was sadly rejected by his mother came in to The Mare and Foal Sanctuary at only a few hours old in 2013 and needed round the clock care. To keep him company, he was given teddy bear called Buttons, who was welcomed by the foal and became a constant companion.

Fast forward to today and Breeze, now 3 years old, is a handsome and grown-up looking pony. He’s starring in our new 2017 calendar, but don’t be fooled by his sweet little face – like any youngster he’s been known to be cheeky and a little bit naughty.

Buttons the Bear is still at the Sanctuary and has been helping other orphaned foals since Breeze by providing comfort and companionship. The two were recently reunited and Breeze had a fantastic time carrying the bear around his stable, and then settled down for a snooze with his old friend snuggled up by his side.

Tracey Dixon, Yard Manager at Upcott Park explains, “Consistent handling and regular training has helped to control Breeze, but our staff still have to keep an eye on him. He’s really thriving in the open spaces of North Devon, he’s also settled into a large herd and spends hours playing with the other youngsters. Eventually, when he’s ready, we’ll look for a new home for him. We couldn’t be prouder of how far he’s come.”

breeze-nikki

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acacia alba Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Feb 2019 at 12:23pm
Thanks for that Gay.  Never occurred to me to try that approach.  DerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrEmbarrassed
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Feb 2019 at 7:55pm

In an Australian first, the ACT may legally recognise animals' feelings

By Bronwyn Orr

Posted


Have you ever wondered what's going through your dog's mind when you say the word "walk"?

And does your pup seem to show guilt when you ask them sternly "what have you done?" Their tail might drop between their legs, their ears droop down, and their eyes turn away.

We often attribute human emotions to animals, in a practice called anthropomorphism.

It's frowned upon in scientific circles, because it can lead us to incorrectly assume what animals are expressing.

In the example of your naughty pet, you'd be right to think your dog displays some change in emotional state when you scold them.

However, the emotion isn't guilt: they're expressing confusion and occasionally anxiety.

The ACT is currently considering legislation that would enshrine animal "sentience" in the law, which means for the first time an Australian jurisdiction will consider animals' feelings as well as their physical wellbeing in animal protection laws.

The emotional lives of animals

Modern science has clearly demonstrated that animals experience feelings, sensations and emotional states (or as scientists like to call them, "affective states").

What owners and livestock attendants have known or suspected for a long time, we can now definitively prove.

Unfortunately, the idea that animals can experience emotions has only re-emerged fairly recently.

We can blame thinkers during the Renaissance for the spread of the idea that animals weren't capable of experiencing emotions or feelings.

They maintained that animals were like machines, unable to feel or perceive.

Any animal that cried out when injured or beaten was thought to be showing an automatic response, similar to a reflex, rather than a conscious response.

It wasn't until the 18th century that philosophers and scientists began recognising that animals were not only conscious, but they were actually sentient and capable of suffering.

What is sentience?

Sentience can be defined simply as the ability to feel or perceive. Humans are obviously sentient, but many other animal species are also considered sentient.

These are animals that respond to a sensory input such as heat, interpret that sensation as an emotion or feeling such as discomfort, then consider an appropriate response to that feeling.

This goes beyond a simple reflex, as sentient animals may choose different responses based on their environment or internal state.

For example, a sheep experiencing uncomfortable heat might not move and seek shade if a predator is nearby.

Most animals are sentient

All animals with spines, which includes all mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish, as well as some animals without spines such as octopus, squid, crabs and lobsters, are generally considered sentient.

This means that essentially all the animals we use for food, entertainment, work and companionship have feelings, emotions and the ability to suffer.

Other animals like insects and some lower crustaceans haven't demonstrated sentience.

However, as knowledge increases, and experimental methods improve, it is possible that in the future we may reclassify these animals as sentient too.

With the knowledge that almost all animals are able to experience both positive and negative emotions such as fear, happiness, anxiety and excitement, how we deal with this information is underpinned by our morals and ethics.

Some people consider the moral responsibility of knowing our actions may cause pain and suffering towards animals too great and follow a type of virtue ethics called "animals rights".

People who believe in animals rights think that no amount of harm towards animals for human gain is worth the suffering it causes, and hence they seek to do no harm by not eating animals or using them for entertainment.

A more dominant ethical position is that of utilitarianism, a type of consequentialist ethical theory often associated with the saying "the end justifies the means". Utilitarians try to minimise the amount of harm done to the largest number of moral subjects.

As animals can suffer, they are considered moral subjects alongside humans. Therefore, it would be wrong to cause animals to suffer for no reason.

However, if only a small number of animals suffered in order to feed or bring joy to a large number of people, that might be morally acceptable.

There are many other types of ethical theories which consider the idea of animal sentience, and in reality, most people are a mixture of a few different moral positions (it is really hard being a strict utilitarian: see The Trolley Dilemma).

What the ACT is proposing

The ACT is proposing to become the first Australian state or territory to formally recognise the sentience of animals in animal welfare legislation.

With public consultation closed, the ACT Government will now consider public feedback on their proposed changes.

This feedback will inform the final piece of legislation, to be debated by the Legislative Assembly later in the year.

If sentience is included in the amended law, the ACT won't be the first jurisdiction to have done so. New Zealand, Europe and Canada have already included it in their animal welfare laws.

However, it is significant for Australia, as it commits the Government to consider how the feelings of animals may impact on their welfare.

Far from giving animals rights, it acknowledges that an animal can be physically healthy but mentally suffering, and this mental suffering can lead to poor welfare.

With animal welfare an issue of growing importance to many Australians, recognising the inner lives of animals is an important step forward.

Bronwyn Orr is a veterinarian and PhD candidate at the University of Sydney. This article originally appeared in The Conversation.


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