Natalie has seen her share of strays over the years, and she knows an abused dog when she sees one. And this one was definitely traumatized. An organization called the Redland Rock Pit Abandoned Dog Project visits the area every day to feed the strays. But there are more homeless dogs there than any one organization can help. Furever Bully Love Rescue teamed up with Redland Rock Pit earlier in the year to raise some money for the cause and to help rescue dogs in the area. It was an experience Natalie would never forget. It was the day she would meet a one-year-old hound mix named Harper. Volunteers put out food, and that’s when Harper appeared with four or five other dogs. She fell to the ground in fear. The dog was covered in scars and terrified of humans. There was no way they were going to leave her. But the dog wouldn’t move… They were even able to slip a leash around her neck, but she refused to get up. So they picked her up and went with a blanket on the floor of the vehicle instead of a crate. When the volunteers arrived back in Orlando, Harper was treated for anemia, worms, and a tooth infection. But healing her soul would take a lot longer. Harper didn’t stand up for three days. And anytime someone picked her up, she’d cling to them and not let go. Harper’s past obviously took a huge toll on the poor dog. Harper went straight to foster care with a woman named Cheryl Kessler. After just a few weeks, she’d already seen a huge change in the dog. She’s been getting better every day and really coming out of her shell. Harper’s acting much like a normal dog running around and doing donuts in the backyard. 🙂 

Harper should be going up for adoption anytime now, and you can contact Furever Bully Love Rescue here. This sweet pup sure has come a long way.🙂
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According to a Facebook post from the Missouri Department of Conservation, a crew consisting of Missouri Stream Teams, Beyond Housing and citizens from a Tiered Community were scouting locations for a clean-up on March 19, when they came across something unexpected in the trash. 

A tiny puppy had been abandoned in the trash pile, tied up in a black plastic garbage bag. It was heartbreaking that anyone would leave a dog for dead like this, but a miracle he was discovered in time.

  One member of the crew was particularly struck by the abandoned pup: Stream Team Coordinator Brian Waldrop. “I was just down on my knees, picked it up, and fell instantly in love,” Brian recalled to FOX 2 St. Louis. It was the first time he had come across a dog in a trash pile. 

While their meeting was unexpected and unusual, Brian knew it was meant to be and agreed to take the puppy home himself for good! He says he gave the dog a wash when they got home: the dog’s initial yellow coloring faded away to reveal a beautiful white coat. “He is just… what a great personality, and he is so soft,” Brian said. 

Brian told FOX 2 that he hadn’t settled on a name for the dog. While some have suggested garbage-themed names like “Hefty,” he has been calling him “Dude.”

  It’s heartbreaking that anyone would abandon a puppy like this, but we’re so glad everything worked out and he has a great, loving new home! Thank you to Brian for taking this pup in!
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The little pup appeared desperate and scared. He jumped up and down on the man’s car door repeatedly, like he was trying to reach the door handle. The man finally got out and looked around for the dog’s owner. But he was all alone. The guy saw an employee from one of the stores in the shopping center and asked her if she knew who the dog belonged to. She told the gentleman that she had seen the dog before. He had been seen running around the parking lot, on and off for about six months. 

Oddly, he chooses white cars and tries to get inside them by jumping on the doors. The man didn’t understand, and the woman could tell he was perplexed. She further explained that the rumor was that his previous owner had driven a white car and left him in the parking lot. The dog, now a stray, found shelter nearby and would come back to the parking lot to find his owner whenever he could. The man’s heart broke! He had to take this poor dog home and give him a proper life. It was obvious he was unwanted and was dumped in the cruelest fashion. It was time to show him kindness and love. He put the dog in his car and drove home. 

Once inside, he gave the pup a warm bath, blow-dried him, and gave him a hearty meal. The pup was elated! The dog, who had seen the worst in humanity, was about to see the best! His new dad vowed to never let him go a single day without feeling loved. 

To see the dog’s full rescue, ‘play’ the video below.

 
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  The crow will come and visit all of them, including the dog and the cats, but it’s for the little boy Otto whom Russell reserves the vast majority of his love, and their friendship is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Russell is no caged corvid. He disappears from the family’s property in Denmark often. 

However, whether it’s pecking at the door, flying through the window onto the couch, or waiting for Otto on top of the house when he gets home from Kindergarten, the bird is never far away. 

Rescued as a juvenile, Otto’s mom and dad were not able to find anyone in the area to rehabilitate him, and while nursing him back to health, and then on to the days of his fledging, the crow grew to trust the family. He’s been with the family awhile now, and has been part of welcoming the couple’s second child, Hedwig, into the world, though too often he tries to steal the baby’s pacifier. CHECK OUT this unmissable story below…

 
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“Love is king during penguin nesting time,” read the onscreen text for a video posted to the zoo’s TikTok, as the aquatic love birds scanned through a pile of colorful pebbles, searching for the perfect gift to present their partner. How romantic. Out in the wild, this adorable courtship ritual is pretty standard, at least for Gentoo penguins. Male gentoos find a polished stone or pebble to offer their potential mates—Mother Nature’s engagement ring, if you will. And just like many males of the human species, male penguins work very, very hard to find that perfect stone. 

After all, these are not only tokens of affection, but the literal building blocks of their nests, since they can withstand the wet, cold climate and protect their soon-to-be families. Luckily for the penguins at the Detroit Zoo, they had plenty of beautiful options, aka “lucky charms” to choose from. And the zoo explained in the clip, each stone was “lovingly painted with non-toxic paint” by their Tots and Teens program. 

Folks who watched the sweet pebble procuring were instantly enamored. “Oh to be a little penguin picking out a pretty rock for my love,” one viewer wrote. 

“Imagine painting a rock and then finding out a penguin uses it as an engagement rock,” wrote another. Naturally, many were reminded of the 1995 cartoon “The Pebble and the Penguin,” starring Martin Short, Jim Belushi and Tim Curry. 

 Watch below, and marvel at these little creatures whose love language is obviously gift-giving.

@detroitzoo 🌈 Oh, what luck! 🌈 The penguins were gifted some "lucky charms" to give to their mates during nesting season! 🐧 #detroitzoo #detroit #zoo #penguins #matingseason #luckycharms #paintedpebbles #pretty #cute #michigan ♬ original sound - DetroitZoo

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According to The Dodo, Rachel, a photographer was walking along the shore in Waxham, a village in the United Kingdom when she heard a cry for help. Rachel followed the sound of the cries and discovered a young seal pup in distress​. Not only was the seal was wedged between several rocks that made up a seawall, but it was buried in the sand. Only its head and a flipper poked through. Even though she was unsure that the pup could be rescued, Rachel contacted Friends of Horsey Seals (FoHS). A team of rescuers from FoHS arrived at the scene and began to quickly, but carefully dig the little guy out from the sand. “[Our team members] were able to dig the pup out and eventually lift him to freedom,” a FoHS spokesperson told The Dodo. Before the tide reached the seawall the seal was freed. While the young seal, which is no longer dependent on its mother, was dirty, he didn’t appear injured and was allowed to return to the wild. 

What incredible timing! We don’t even want to imagine what could have happened to this poor pup if Rachel hadn’t spotted him in time.
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  Staff named the pigeon Flamingo, and said he was in bad shape, showing signs of long-term malnutrition. They suspect someone had purchased him from a poultry market and dyed him pink to use him at a gender reveal party, a wedding, or some sort of event for human entertainment. 

“PSA: Please never release domestic birds to the wild. Not for weddings, funerals, celebrations, art projects, anything. (We’d hope that “don’t dye them” goes without saying, but…) They will starve or be preyed on. If you see an all-white pigeon in the wild, or any tame bird standing around looking lost, it needs your help. 

Please catch the bird and bring it to a pigeon rescue or animal sanctuary near you,” Wild Bird Fund wrote on Facebook. Since Flamingo is a domestic bird, he be unable to find food in the wild, fly well or escape predators, so being on the streets would be a death sentence for him. 

Staff has tried several different methods to remove the dye, which they believe is hair dye, but have unfortunately been unsuccessful. They are hoping those feathers will eventually molt. The dye has a very strong odor, so staff is concerned for his respiratory health, since birds are highly sensitive to certain fumes. Flamingo is weak and struggling to keep food down, but they have him on heat, oxygen and subcutaneous fluids. They also have him on medication to counteract the effects of the toxin on his digestive system. 

Although he is weak, staff refuses to give up on him and will continue to do everything they can to nurse him back to help. 

 To stay updated on Flamingo’s progress, click here to visit Wild Bird Fund’s Facebook page.

 
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  So they adopted a kitten who needed a home and named her Bloom. Manuel had no idea what they were up to. “My grandfather did not know anything about this,” Maria told The Dodo. 

“When he saw her enter my house for the first time, his eyes lit up with emotion. He has always been a great lover of animals.” All agreed it was a match made in heaven. The two of them spend all day playing, and they even take their daily naps together. “My grandfather is 100 years old, and the kitten has given him another 100 years of life,” said Maria. “He is always attentive to Bloom. They spend all day playing, and even take naps together.” At the ripe old age of 100, Manuel has found his soulmate in Bloom. Maria says it’s been a such a beautiful gift to see her grandfather so happy with his new friend and that from the moment they first saw each other they’ve had a special connection. The pair are now inseparable and the union has brought a lot of joy into the family. But as it turns out, this lovely friendship brought joy to the masses after Maria posted a video of them online and it went viral!

@mariasuarxz 100 años VS 4 mesesitos 🥰// ig: @mariasuarxz #greenscreenvideo #parati #foryou #fypシ #hazmeviral ♬ original sound - 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧👱🏻‍♀️ - Charentengker

"It has been incredible, all the love and affection that the video has received," she said. "I did not expect it to go so far." 

Maria has tried telling her grandfather that he and Bloom are now internet famous, but he didn't give it a second thought. Why should he? Manuel and kitten Bloom have more important things to do!
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  Facing a race against the clock, a ship called Moskva – the world’s toughest icebreaker at the time – was called in to help the mammals by breaking through the thick ice. 

But when the 13,000-tonne vessel reached the whales, they were too frightened by the roar of its engine and deafening propellors to follow it to their freedom. The ship’s crew members were at a loss for what to do, until someone made a wild suggestion... to play classical music. 

Beautiful music soon echoed from the Moskva’s top deck from a loud speaker, and sure enough, the whales began to follow. Writing about the incredible feat at the time, The New York Times shared some of the details published by Russian newspaper Izvestia. 

“This operation was truly experimental,” the Times wrote. “At last someone recalled that dolphins react acutely to music. And so music began to pour off the top deck. Popular, martial, classical.” 

The broadsheet continued: “The classical proved most to the taste of the belugas. The herd began to slowly follow the ship.” In the end, it was estimated that around 2,000 whales managed to escape an untimely death.

The rescue mission later became known as ‘Operation Beluga’, and cost the Soviet government about $80,000 (£58,302). Beluga whales routinely hunt and hide beneath thick ice, but they must surface every twenty minutes or so to inhale air. 

A wonderful marriage of music and nature. We wonder what they were played – ‘Deeply wailing’, perhaps?
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  Nigerian companies are now using plastic bottles to build homes that can withstand powerful earthquakes and even bullets. The technology is called the "bottle trick." The first house to be built using recycled plastic bottles was in the village of Yelwa. 

The house has turned into a tourist attraction with even government officials and traditional leaders paying a visit to see the marvel. The eco-friendly home was built with nothing but plastic bottles, sand and mud, reported Power of Positivity.

A new house of plastic bottles filled with sand in the Sahrawi refugee camps in southwestern Algeria.#westernsahara pic.twitter.com/uTZJXqpwmO

— Tateh lehbib (@Sandships) April 19, 2018

The bottles are filled with sand and the bottom of the bottle is kept facing outside, giving a unique look to the wall. They are used as "bricks" and laid on top of each other and held together by mud. While houses in most places around the world are traditionally built in a square shape, it's common for homes in Nigeria to be built in a circular fashion. 

The homes using the "bottle trick" method are also built circularly, keeping them in style with the other homes in the region. While the homes are beautifully designed, the idea is to preserve the environment by repurposing plastic. The homes being built usually come with a bedroom, living room, bathroom, toilet, and kitchen. 

Each structure is believed to require at least 7,800 plastic bottles. Companies have already built 25 structures using plastic bottles and they're expected to become very popular among the environmentally conscious. The companies said they first lay a concrete foundation, before building walls using plastic bottles and sand.

  The innovative method has attracted interest abroad, with a Greek businessman and environmentalist donating a large sum of money for the project. While the “bottle brick” technology might have caught on in Nigeria, it was initially tried in India, South America, and Central America close to a decade ago. It is a cost-effective and eco-friendly option compared with traditional brick homes, which makes it accessible to many. 

According to Yahaya Ahmed of Nigeria’s Development Association for Renewable Energies, plastic bottle houses cost 67% less than a home built from concrete and brick. He also added that with sand compactly packed in plastic bottles, the homes have 20 times the strength of bricks. Ahmed says the company has already made plans to build a three-story home using plastic bottles and mud.

  The homes are well suited to the hot Nigerian climate. The sand helps block the heat and keeps the homes cool. Plastic pollution in developing countries like Nigeria is a major issue, due to the lack of recycling centers and waste management. Plastic is dumped and this creates environmental issues. 

Companies are hoping the "brick technology" homes can help channel more of the plastic into such avenues and thus avoid plastic waste. Bottled water accounts for 20-25% of all water sales, which totals roughly 500 million liters of water per year, according to market research company Zenith International. 

These bottles are usually discarded creating a huge problem for the environment. Now, with such projects coming about, used bottles are in demand, ensuring less disposal of plastic in public spaces and bodies of water.

  While many have praised the technology and its way of repurposing plastic, some argue that it could create an even bigger issue in the long term. Because sand forms a huge part of the building, the increased demand could lead to increased digging, creating scarcity and in turn leading to increased demand for sand. 

This could cause the prices of such homes to increase drastically and negate the cost-effective aspect of it. Many still have hope that the technology could create affordable structures, aiding progress. 

The Development Association for Renewable Energies is now planning on building a school to help educate people in the region and create more job opportunities.
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This past January and February, scientists Dr. Javier Sellanes and Dr. Erin Easton led a team of international researchers, organized through the Schmidt Ocean Institute, to a remote region of the southeast Pacific. There they began to uncover strange new worlds thought to be unlike anywhere else. With the crucial help of an underwater robot, over a hundred new species have potentially been discovered. The remotely operated vehicle ROV SuBastian, a robot that can dive to previously inaccessible depths of 14,000 feet, facilitated the crew of the Falkor (too) finding many diverse species in underwater mountain ranges, better known as ridges, off the coast of Chile. The Salas y Gómez, Nazca, and Juan Fernandez ridges are home to over 200 seamounts, or individual mountains, created by volcanic activity. Each seamount provides shelter to an underwater community that seems otherworldly, with long-living, slow-growing, and slow to reproduce species found nowhere else. These species are especially vulnerable to damage from human and oceanic forces. 

Among specimens collected during the expedition, the team believes they have discovered new species of squat lobsters, which have arms longer than their bodies, and cactus-like sea urchins. They have also found vertebrates such as the Chaunacops fish, known as coffinfish. The coffinfish survives very deep underwater only by remaining motionless on the seafloor for the majority of its life. While the images of brilliantly colored and alien-like sea life are mesmerizing in themselves, the data collected by the expedition will serve a critical purpose in conservation efforts. 

In 2016, Chile banned bottom trawling on seamounts in its jurisdiction, but most of the ocean is outside of any one nation's borders. Therefore international efforts are needed to protect these magical oceanic mountain ranges. The hope is this expedition will help create a Marine Protected Area under the UN's 2023 High Seas Treaty. This will further restrict bottom trawling, a fishing method which rips up coral reefs and indiscriminately catches species from the seafloor in its net. 

Over the next several years, scientists will work to confirm that the specimens collected by the ROV SuBastian are indeed previously unknown species. Another expedition of the seamounts is already in progress, keeping the Falkor (too) crew busy. In the meantime, we can all appreciate how much beauty there is yet to be discovered under the sea. The crew of the Falkor (too) spent just over a month off the coast of Chile and discovered hundreds of undersea animals. Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) SuBastain is deployed from Research Vessel Falkor (too) at the beginning of a scientific dive. (Photo: Alex Ingle / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA) 

This expedition resulted in images of rarely seen sea creatures, such as the whiplash squid, as well as animals thought to be previously unknown. A spiraling coral documented at 1419 meters deep on Seamount JF1, within the bounds of the Mar de Juan Fernández Multiple Uses Marine Protected Area off the coast of central Chile. (Photo: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA) A rarely-seen whiplash squid (Mastigopsis hjorti) documented at 1105 meters depth after inking at Seamount 17 (Ikhtiandr) in the Nazca Ridge. (Photo: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA) Oblong Dermechinus urchins documented at a depth of 516 meters on Seamount JF2. An international group of scientists aboard a recent Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition believe they have discovered more than 100 new species living on seamounts off the coast of Chile, including deep-sea corals, glass sponges, sea urchins, amphipods, and squat lobsters. (Photo: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA) A squat lobster documented in coral at a depth of 669 meters on Seamount JF2. An international group of scientists aboard a recent Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition believe they have discovered more than 100 new species living on seamounts off the coast of Chile, including deep-sea corals, glass sponges, sea urchins, amphipods, and squat lobsters. (Photo: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA) 

Confirming that the species are new will take several years. Erin Easton (Chief Scientist, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) and Elyssia Gonzalez (Student, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) work together in the Research Vessel Falkor (too)'s Main Lab. (Photo: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA 

 The expedition explored seamounts that had never been studied prior.

 
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Harrison's history with blood donation started when he had surgery at 14 and one of his lungs was removed. He was able to live through that surgery in part because of the massive quantities of blood he received from donors. The legal age to donate blood at the time was 18, so he vowed he would also donate blood once he could. As soon as he turned 18, Harrison started donating blood regularly to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.

A man in Australia with a rare antibody in his blood has made his final blood donation after saving 2.4 million babies' lives.

81-year-old James Harrison started donating blood almost every week with the Australian Red Cross since 1951 after his own life was saved in a maj… pic.twitter.com/YjrJZACt8v

— GoodNewsAsia (@GoodNewsAsia) December 13, 2020

Even though Harrison was quite scared of needles, as per the Washington Post, he would donate blood with an orange stress ball in his hand and eyes shut tightly as the needle was inserted into his arm. Little did he know that he would continue to do that for the next sixty years before the doctors stopped him at 81, the maximum age to donate blood. 

A decade after Harrison started donating blood, doctors found that his blood had a rare antibody that could be used to create a vaccine that would save the lives of millions of babies. The injection was called Anti-D and was created to protect children from Rhesus disease. If a mother develops this disease during pregnancy, it attacks her baby's red blood cells. 

"Anti-D immunoglobulin neutralizes any RhD-positive antigens that may have entered the mother's blood during pregnancy," as per the NHS website.

 

James Harrison is the best advertisement for donating blood the Australian Red Cross will ever have https://t.co/6ZeRD3hxwK

— Bert (@MulberryBrett) June 12, 2015

The disease was becoming a leading cause of stillbirths and miscarriages around that time until doctors found that Harrison's blood had the life-saving antibodies necessary to neutralize the blood cells. Harrison was one of the founding donors of the Anti-D program, according to the outlet. 

“They asked me to be a guinea pig, and I’ve been donating ever since,” the man told the Sydney Morning Herald. He began donating his plasma for the vaccine. Now, plasma could be donated more often than blood, so Harrison started donating more often. Scientists developed a vaccine called Anti-D from Harrison's blood in 1967. 

The first dose of the vaccine was given to a woman at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 1967, according to Robyn Barlow, the Rh program coordinator who recruited its first donor, Mr. Harrison.

Our Central Coast cover star is James Harrison, whose blood donations to @RedCrossAU have saved two million babies! pic.twitter.com/MhMod7W6FD

— White Pages (@Whitepages_au) June 1, 2013

Since then, Harrison has saved the lives of 2.4 million babies through his plasma, as per the Red Cross. About 17 percent of mothers in Australia need the vaccine and Harrison's plasma is behind all of them. He has helped many mothers have healthy babies through the plasma from his blood, including his daughter who needed the vaccine during both of her pregnancies. 

His contribution has earned him a Guinness World Record. Even after this remarkable feat, the man is quite humble and doesn't feel that his donations are different than anybody else. He also shared that he would keep donating if he could. 

However, doctors still don't know the reason why Harrison has the antibody in his blood and believe that it could be because of the blood transfusions he received. Harrison has donated blood a record 1,173 times and hopes that someone will one day surpass his record.

Every fortnight for sixty years, James Harrison has been making the trek to the Red Cross to donate blood. #9News | https://t.co/ZiY2jT1X46 pic.twitter.com/sivoQoKz5a

— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) May 11, 2018

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  “The tip of the tornado came down and picked up the bassinet with my baby, Lord, in it,” Sydney Moore, the boy's mother, told local news station WSMV. “He was the first thing to go up.” While Lord's father lunged to protect the baby in the bassinet, he ended up getting picked up by the tornado as well. “He was just holding onto the bassinet the whole time, and they went into circles, he said, and then they got thrown.” 

As it all unfolded, the mom of two was holding onto her 1-year-old, Princeton. “Something in me just told me to run and jump on top of my son,” Moore explained. “Literally the moment I jumped on him, the walls collapsed.” 

Once the tornado passed, they were able to escape the rubble, and immediately started looking for Lord, worried about what might have happened to him. Searching through the wreckage, they feared the worst. But then, they spotted a familiar sight—the bassinet, in what Moore described “like a little tree cradle.” Inside was baby Lord, with only minor cuts and bruises. “We are told that he looked like he was placed on the tree gently. Like an angel guided him safely to that spot,” wrote Moore's sister Caitlyn. 

Once the family was reunited, it came time to make sense of their surroundings. Their home and car were completely destroyed. While the mom and her children only had minor injuries, the father had a broken arm and shoulder. While their renters have put them up in a hotel for a month, the family has lost everything. To get them on their feet again, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched by Moore's sister. 

“Sydney and her family would like to purchase a home, as you can imagine this has been extremely traumatizing for everyone involved so they do not feel comfortable living in a trailer again,” she explains, adding that the family will need furnishings, vehicle insurance, and baby supplies. The fundraiser has happily met its goal, but you can still make a donation via GoFundMe. Although the baby only had minor injuries, the family lost everything. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help them get back on their feet.
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In March 2022, a dog named Neo ended up in a North Little Rock shelter on an animal cruelty case, according to a Facebook group post. He was considered evidence in the case and not allowed to leave the shelter. After surviving severe abuse, the poor dog ended up staying in the shelter for well over a year. After 450 days, a shelter employee contacted Ali Paepke, program manager at the nearby Best Friends Pet Resource Center. Ali was initially unsure if her rescue could do anything to help Neo. “When dogs have been locked up for that long they can have issues,” she told KENS 5. “And it can be really hard to rehabilitate them, especially if they’re in there because of abuse.” 

However, Ali was “blown away” after meeting Neo. “To meet a dog who had been through all of that who just immediately trusted you and immediately wanted attention from you was just mind-blowing,” Ali said. The rescue provided Neo with a temporary foster home. Ali said that Neo’s story was a reminder of the difference they were making in animals’ lives. 

Despite everything he had been through, it was evident that Neo was ready to be put up for adoption, and Best Friends Pet Resource Center began looking for a forever home for the sweet dog. When Linda Songbird heard Neo’s story, she knew she could be the one to finally give Neo the home he deserves, calling it “love at first sight.” Linda adopted Neo on August 6, and it’s been a happy ending for both of them ever since. 

“It makes your life worthwhile. And he’s wonderful,” Linda told KENS 5. “He’s there as soon as you come in. He’s right at the door. Happy to see you!” We’re so glad Neo finally has a home! Thank you to this rescue for taking him in and getting him adopted!
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  A group of cows in St. Louis, Missouri had been prepped to meet their final destination at the slaughterhouse when Chico, the apparent ringleader had bigger dreams than being a cheeseburger. The determined cow busted through three fences to leave the slaughterhouse, freeing five other cows. 

Once the cows were outside of the fenced in area, they decided to play a game of "try to catch the cows" with the humans. The small group of cows ran through traffic, determined not to get caught while simultaneously catching the attention of the community. Imagine commuting to work and being stopped by runaway cows. Chico and his buddies even made it to the evening news with their unbelievably daring adventure. 

Unfortunately, the group eventually were rounded up and taken back to whence they came to be slaughtered and processed. But the community was having none of it. They fell in love with those thousand pound mooing puppies and decided to save them from becoming food. A group of people started a GoFundMe to raise money for Chico and his band of merry mooers to be spared from. slaughter. 

After raising the money and convincing the owner to not kill the cows, it became a race against time to find them a cow sanctuary. Sadly, none came forward and they were all about to get back in line with the others when The Gentle Barn decided to step in. The owners of The Gentle Barn live in California but were determined to save the cows, so they opened a Gentle Barn cow sanctuary in Missouri. 

After a brief stay at a foster home while they got things worked out, Chico and friends went to their forever home. Ellie Laks, The Gentle Barn Founder explained to Almost 30 Podcast that she knew they needed to open the Missouri location after meeting Chico for the first time. 

"I went to St. Louis. Went to the foster home, got out of the car, walked over to the pasture fence and about 150 feet away the cows were in a line looking at me. The leader, Chico, he crossed the 150 feet until he was standing in front of me and I dropped to my knees and I started weeping," Laks says.

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Gentle Barn (@thegentlebarn)

That was the moment she knew that The Gentle Barn would be expanding, "they’ve come with a message that we have to share with the world and we have to help them." Chico and his pals are now living their best lives playing at their sanctuary and giving "cow hug therapy." That's right, members of the public can take a ride to St. Louis to snuggle with the cows, which sounds a lot more uncomfortable than it is. 

These gentle giant cows knew they had another purpose. When people come to see them, they come and lay their heads in the laps of humans and snuggle up like they're going to start purring. So a cow loving person can come get all of the cow hugs and kisses they'd like.
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Now, nearly four years after the rock star passed away, his son is picking up where he left off. In partnership with MHOF, Wolfgang Van Halen has launched what’s being called the Adopt a School campaign. 

This allows donors to support musical education by sponsoring qualifying schools across the country. This, in turn, gives them access to much-needed resources, including instruments. “Our mission is to make sure there is an instrument in the hands of every student who needs and wants one,” Tricia Williams, CEO of MHOF, says. “By increasing schools’ inventories of quality, playable instruments, music teachers will have the tools they need to deliver a quality music education to students who want to learn.” 

As it stands, far too many schools don’t have the budget to support musical education. This need is highlighted in a national survey by Guitar World. It found that 68% of educators have turned away a student because of a lack in music-related resources. Eddie Van Halen’s Son, Wolfgang, Carries on Legacy in Partnership With Mr. Holland’s Opus. 

Foundation That’s why Van Halen is so passionate about continuing the work his father started. One way he’s doing this is by donating $100,000 to kickstart the funds needed to make this campaign a success. “Music has been a huge part of my life, and it is our family’s great pleasure to help support music education programs and bring the gift of music to students across the country,” Van Halen says. 

“Music education has proven to be a huge contributor toward a student’s success in school, and in life.” There’s no doubt that his father would be oh-so proud of his life-changing contributions!
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