Brothers Kenny, Kenneth, and Kevin Dancy, along with friend Andrew Daniels, were going about rather distinguishable business in helping a local woman who happened to be moving house, when they came across a scene that would have shocked any adult.

  They discovered an abandoned dog tied to the back of a house with bungee cords. Emaciated and shivering from exposure, the poor pup was in a seriously bad way. 

 The boys knew they had to act fast. They wrapped the dog in a winter coat to keep her warm, before freeing her from her bonds and taking her home with them so they could give her food and water. 

They named her Sparkle. As fate would have it, they encountered members of the Detroit Pit Crew Dog Rescue while walking Sparkle out in the neighborhood. 

 They told the dog’s story to the men, who believed that Sparkle was also suffering from mange. The organization took her in for veterinary care, taking time to post heartfelt thanks in a Facebook video that labelled the boys “heroes”. 

  “You could tell they really love this dog,” Theresa Sumpter, the organization’s founder, told WDIV. “They were protective of the dog and wanted to make sure the dog was going to a good place.”

After Sparkle was tested at the shelter, it became apparent that she didn’t have the mange. This mean she could be fast-tracked to adoption. 

Pet Tales Rescue, a sister organization, oversaw the process, placing Sparkles with a foster mom who would give her all the love she needed. 

 Meanwhile, the four young boys, who received widespread praise for their compassion, also went on to rescue two more dogs in the same neighborhood. 

Again via Detroit Pit Crew Dog Rescue, they were able to take the dogs from the streets to the vet for treatment.

  I couldn’t be prouder of these young boys. What shining examples they are for us all.
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However, they are very vulnerable when they are sleeping. Maybe that is the reason why they like to find a place, or person, that they trust to sleep on. 

 These insects are finding it harder and harder to survive as their habitats are destroyed by pesticides and deforestation. Along with moths and other flying insects, fireflies are also being driven toward extinction by ever-increasing light pollution that so often accompanies urban growth. 

 With more than 2,000 species of fireflies around the world, researchers began their study where the data was most prevalent. 

The European glowworm and another species from Malaysia have both been extensively studied and documented, 

The Guardian reports, and declines in their populations may correlate with a likewise disappearance of North American fireflies. “If people want fireflies around in the future we need to look at this seriously,” said Tufts University biology professor Sara Lewis. 

“Fireflies are incredibly attractive insects, perhaps the most beloved of all insects, because they are so conspicuous, so magical. “They spark wonder in people. When you are in your back yard or park you notice them and are amazed. They are one of the few things that universally give people a feeling of falling in love in nature.” 

 Lewis is leading a team of biologists working with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to survey firefly species of North America in hopes of learning more about the issues currently threatening their survival. Among those are the dwindling Bethany Beach firefly, which primarily make sits home along the Atlantic coast of Delaware. 

  “Unfortunately people also like to live on the coast and there’s been tremendous residential development there,” she said. A group of scientists that looked at 150 separate studies concluded that growing sources of light pollution are driving fireflies and other insects away, too. 

  “We strongly believe artificial light at night – in combination with habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species, and climate change – is driving insect declines,” the scientists wrote. 

“We posit here that artificial light at night is another important – but often overlooked – bringer of the insect apocalypse.” “Artificial light at night is human-caused lighting – ranging from streetlights to gas flares from oil extraction,” said Brett Seymoure, a behavioral ecologist at Washington University in St Louis. 

“It can affect insects in pretty much every imaginable part of their lives.” 

 According to inhabitat, light from city streets and major metropolitan areas can be brighter than a full moon in some areas. “Artificial lights can interfere with firefly courtship,” the green design and lifestyle site reports. 

“Male fireflies flash particular bioluminescent patterns to attract females, who must flash responses in return. Unfortunately, artificial lights can mimic and thus confuse the signals. Or, worse yet, light pollution can be too bright for the fireflies to emit and properly recognize their ritual signals for mating to be initiated or completed.” 

 In contrast to habitat destruction and pesticide use, light pollution is relatively easy to neutralize. Just turn the lights off.

 
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But if people can be buried at a pet cemetery, than why can’t pets be buried at a human cemetery? It’s a question that one state is answering with a new law. 

New York is changing up the rules when it comes to pets and where they’re allowed to be buried. They passed a law that allows people to be buried alongside their pets if they so choose, in a human cemetery.

And the law isn’t just limited to dogs and cats. It allows for a range of different animals to be buried with their owners. It’s a decision that many pet owners are applauding, as their fur babies are part of their family. There are some exemptions to the law, of course. 

Religious cemeteries don’t have to comply with this new law, and individual cemeteries can still choose to refuse to bury any pets if they so please. 

 A pet cemetery in Westchester County stated that, every year, at least five people choose to be buried with their pets in their cemetary, rather than being apart from them in a human cemetery. It’s a way for them to stay close to their loved ones even after they’re gone. 

New York is finally allowing pet owners to rest in peace next to the living creatures who provided so much comfort, companionship, and happiness during their time on earth. After all, it doesn’t quite make sense that humans could be buried in pet cemeteries, but not vice versa. 

Sometimes family is who we choose, not who we’re blood-related to — and that applies to our pets too. Pets are family. Why make such a distinct separation between what constitutes as family? With New York leading the way, hopefully other states will fall in line and create similar laws. 

For some people who wish to be buried with their pets, they have to resort to somehow sneaking them into the cemetery. This can be dangerous for the friends or family members who are asked to do this after the pet owner has passed away. 

But now, in New York at least, there doesn’t have to be any slinking around in a cemetery, performing secret burials for loved ones. You and your pet can be together forever, if you want to! Again, each cemetery must agree to let you be buried with your pet — it’s their right to opt out. 

However, for people whose pets are family, it’s certainly a step forward. New laws seem to crop up all the time, and they can be confusing — but this is one law that many of us understand the importance of.