Soft Play Center In The UK Is Now Allowing Dogs
After months of lockdown restrictions, things are finally beginning to open back up again. At Pipsqueaks Play Cafe in Wigan, there is even more good news: Dogs will be allowed to inside as well! The staff at the center’s cafe have built an entirely dog-friendly space where dogs can play. However, the dogs won’t be allowed to mix within the kids’ play area. The idea for this separate doggie play area first came up last year, and they shared a photo of the dog enjoying it on Facebook. Photo: Facebook/Pipsqueaks Play Cafe As...
How Drones Scare Wildlife Away And Damage Critical Habitats
You’ve seen these breathtaking images before; following herds of migrating ungulates as they cross the Midwestern pains, sneaking up on bear families as they hunt for food and raise their young, or headlong into a massive murmuration of birds flying south for the winter. In some cases, drone photography has brought us closer to wildlife than many could ever imagine. The reality is, many of these animals don’t share the same experience, and could be running for their lives. Not all animals are comfortable around drones. As...
Stray Cat Makes Daily Visits To A Strangers House By Learning The Door Code
Ask anyone who has a cat in their life and they will let you know that they can do some amazing things. Perhaps you have seen it for yourself, but it’s unlikely you have seen anything quite like this. The video is from South Korea and it shows a stray cat going into a person’s home by entering the door code and unlocking it. According to the homeowner, the cat does it every day and sometimes, up to 20 times a day! Photo: YouTube/BS TV동물농장x애니멀봐 Photo: YouTube/SBS...
Dog To Be Honored At Funeral After Protecting Penguins For 10 Years
We are all aware that dogs can do some amazing things. Some dogs, however, are very specific in the things that they do. That is the case with the Maremma sheepdogs that live on an Australian island and protect penguins. One of the dogs that was constantly on patrol on Middle Island was Eudy. ABC reports that Eudy was on duty on that island off the coast of Victoria for 10 years before passing away from bone cancer in her front legs. Photo: Twitter/Middle Island Penguin Project The Middle Island Penguin Project shared the news of her passing...
Don’t miss these sessions at the Best Friends National Conference this month!
Conference season is in full swing, and we’re excited for the Best Friends National Conference coming up later this month on June 23 and 24. With nearly 100 sessions on topics ranging from expert fundraising to coalition-building to innovation and technology, this year’s conference has something for everyone. Maddie’s Fund® is a proud sponsor of the event, including the sessions listed below. Mark your calendars as you won’t want to miss them! (View the schedule page to see full session descriptions.) Bobby Mann:...
Shelter Pets Get A Second Chance After Boarding Flights To Freedom
Every year, thousands of perfectly adoptable shelter pets die in Louisiana, where chronically overcrowded, underfunded shelters are often forced to resort to euthanasia. This tragic dilemma puts heartworm-positive dogs at particularly high risk, especially in shelters without the resources to treat this deadly (but curable) disease. Heartworm-positive shelter dogs like Sammy face a slim chance of survival in Louisiana. Photo: LaFourche Parish Animal Shelter This tragic fate awaited Sammy, a Louisiana dog surrendered to the shelter when his...
The BOGO Brothers
This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Submit your own rescue story here. Your story just might be the next to be featured on our blog! When we were first married, my husband and I adopted a cat… then a cat was forced on us, and then we adopted a dog. We loved and cared for them all until, one by one, they crossed the rainbow bridge. Our first cat was the last one to cross at 21-years-old. After that, we decided we just couldn’t handle the heartache that went with losing them, so we told our kids, “We...
Cobby, Oldest Male Chimpanzee In US, Dies At Age 63
San Francisco Zoo & Gardens announced that Cobby, the oldest male chimpanzee in any accredited North American zoo, passed away on Saturday. He was 63 years old. “Our hearts are broken with this devastating loss,” Tanya M. Peterson, CEO and Executive Director of San Francisco Zoological Society, said in a statement. “Cobby was both a charismatic and compassionate leader of our chimpanzee troop. For so many years, he was a protective companion, demonstrating patience and resiliency. He also was a favorite of visitors and...
Stabbed Puppy Adopted By Man Who Saved Her Life
Smoke, a pit bull puppy from Portsmouth, Virginia, isn’t even a year old. But the dog’s tender age didn’t stop her former owner from stabbing her 7 times in a fit of rage. Fortunately, Smoke escaped her attacker by crawling under a nearby landscaping truck, where she was discovered by the vehicle’s driver, Brad Chambers. Photo: Facebook/Brad Chambers “When I looked under the car, it looked like a sweet puppy,” Chambers told WTKR. But when Chambers picked up the puppy, he was shocked to find she was...
Nail Tech Who Gave Her Dog Fake Nails Faces Animal Abuse Allegations
A woman is facing animal abuse allegations after she went viral for giving her small dog fake nails. 25-year-old Maritza Rubalcava is the founder of Bellamour Beauty, and she creates custom press-on nails. However, she doesn’t just create them for people, she creates them for dogs too! In videos shared on her TikTok, Rubalcava can be seen fitting for little chihuahua, Coco, and creating custom nails for her. She then proceeds to apply the nails to the small dog, and that’s where things got controversial. Photo:...
Giant Dog Refuses To Move After Being Cornered By Two Adorable Kittens
Bigger doesn’t always mean braver, and one gentle giant proved just that. In a video shared by Rumble Viral, a large dog can be seen cornered on the top of a couch in a garage. The large dog refuses to move from his spot and is nearly frozen in fear – over two tiny kittens! Photo: YouTube/Rumble Viral Standing on a cat tower are two adorable little kittens, an orange tabby and a calico. The little kittens seem to know they’re the boss, even at their tiny sizes, and they keep their eyes glued on the dog. Photo: YouTube/Rumble...
Man Saves A Dog Struggling To Swim In The Middle Of An Icy River
A man named Austin Russell was taking a walk along the river when he spotted a dog in need of some help. The animal was struggling to swim through the icy, swift current and Russell knew he needed to intervene in order to save the dog. He posted a video of the incident on TikTok, and it quickly went viral for his heroic and quick action. In the video, you can see the dog in the middle of a large, swift river and the temperature is zero degrees! The dog is noticeable struggling to swim and Russell makes the decision to help. Photo:...
Dog Waits At The Gate After His Family Kicked Him Out Days Earlier
A sweet dog named Leo waited outside the gate of his family’s home for days, hoping to be let back inside. But, that day would never come. Love Furry Friends rescue responded to a call about a dog who’d been kicked out of a home for not being aggressive enough. The dog’s owner wanted a guard dog who’d bark a lot and alert the house to potential intruders. Their first dog, Leo, wasn’t much of a guard dog. He didn’t bark and was kind to everyone. While many people would love those traits in a dog, Leo’s...
Dog Comforts Rescued Great Dane With Separation Anxiety
A kind dog was caught on film comforting their foster brother, a Great Dane who suffers from severe separation anxiety. Yeti, formerly known as Tofu, was taken in by the Northwest Florida Great Dane Rescue back in February 2020. According to a post shared by the rescue, 3-year-old Yeti was found to be nearly fully blind and suffered from hearing impairments. In addition to his physical challenges, Yeti also had “major separation anxiety issues.” Photo: Facebook/Northwest Florida Great Dane Rescue It wasn’t long before Yeti...
Dog That Was Buried Alive Gets Adopted By One Of His Rescuers
A border collie named Jake was found deliberately buried under a pile of rocks, but he’s now living his best life with one of his rescuers. Back in November 2020, people out for a walk in the Scottish Highlands heard Jake’s cries coming from a large pile of rocks. They immediately started digging and throwing rocks aside and discovered the terrible truth – a dog was trapped under the rocks, barely clinging to life. The walkers quickly called the Scottish SPCA and Yvonne Sloss and Mark Greener responded to their call. Photo:...
Maddie’s Weekly Roundup: An important candid conversation, financial aid for pet amputees and more!
Happy Monday! Below is a brief round-up of resources added over the past week. Invite a friend to the International Calls and win a $50 gift card!We would love for you to invite a friend, colleague, rescue partner, veterinarian or social worker to the collobrative and inspiring calls. Do you know someone who might benefit from the calls? Invite them! When we put our heads together, great things happen. Register Now Best Friends and the International Municipal Lawyers Association partnered...
My Little Man, Pepsi
This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Submit your own rescue story here. Your story just might be the next to be featured on our blog! I lost my dog Justice. Came home to an empty house. I had to get another dog. So I went to the shelter not far from where I worked. I walked in, and this little dog started barking and barking. I said to him, “Let me see what else is here.” I walked down but didn’t see anything, so I went back to this little dog. He seemed friendly enough. I went to the counter with the...
Austin, We Need You
Jun 04, 2021 If you’ve lived in Austin for more than a year, you might be wondering how we are doing over here at the Town Lake Animal Center with all this rain. Historically, our little 70 year old facility floods when we get these crazy Texas torrential downpours. This happens because the land around our buildings is higher than the kennel buildings that have sunk just a little every decade into the ground. Over the past decade of our inhabiting this facility, we have flooded many times in both minor and major ways. We have worked...
Lost Pennsylvania Cat Mistaken For Bobcat, Prompting School Closure
It’s one thing after another for students at West Scranton High School in Pennsylvania, who finally got back to school after months of remote learning, only to find classes canceled again following reports of a bobcat roaming the halls. According to WNEP-TV, classes were canceled after what appeared to be a wild cat was captured on school survellience cameras. Photo: Twitter/Stacy Lange Bobcats are common in Pennsylvania, although these animals are usually more active at night. But after a year like 2020, school officials weren’t...
The Cat Who Came to Dinner
This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Submit your own rescue story here. Your story just might be the next to be featured on our blog! My wife and I had cats before we were married and we found good homes for them before we moved into our pet-resistant first apartment in Vancouver’s West End. A couple of years later, we moved to a rented house far from the city centre. We had often discussed whether or not to get a cat, but we traveled a lot and thought that might be unfair to a cat. One spring morning, we were...
