Heartwarming News Stories

Subject: Heartwarming News Stories Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:05 pm

I know I find all the weird stuff,but what about a place for all the news that makes you feel all mushy inside?
I know Helen has a thread for wonderful people in the news,but this one can be for any sort of news story that gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.
I'll start it off.With an animal story of course.

Meet Jasmine, the rescue dog who has become a surrogate mother for the 50th time

When Jasmine the abandoned greyhound arrived at a wildlife sanctuary shivering and desperate for food, she needed all the love in the world to nurse her back to full health.

Now it appears the kindness and patience shown to her has rubbed off - for the rescue dog has become a surrogate mother for the 50th time.

Seven-year-old Jasmine is currently caring for tiny Bramble, an 11-week-old roe deer fawn found semi-conscious in a nearby field.

She cuddles up to her to keep her warm, showers her with affection and makes sure nothing is matted in her fur. In short, the perfect foster mum.

But then again, she has had plenty of practice, having cared for five fox cubs, four badger cubs, 15 chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and even 15 rabbits.

Jasmine was brought to the Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary by the police in 2003, having been found dumped in a garden shed.

She was cold, filthy and malnourished. It took a few weeks for her to fully trust staff at the centre but with tender loving care she was nursed back to full fitness.

Five years on, Jasmine is now the one looking after stray waifs.

Geoff Grewcock, who runs the sanctuary, said: 'She simply dotes on the animals as if they were her on, it's incredible to see.

'She takes all the stress out of them and it helps them to not only feel close to her but
to settle into their new surroundings.

'As soon as an animal is brought in, she walks over takes a sniff or two and then licks and cuddles them.

'It is quite amazing, particularly as she is a greyhound breed and they are usually quite aggressive, That is why they are used for racing.

'Jasmine was abused when she was younger, the police brought her to us after discovering her whimpering in a garden shed.
'She was very nervous around us, she was caked in mud and dust and very thin. It took a while but gradually she got used to us and has been at the centre ever since.

'Having been neglected herself, it's a real surprise to she her show so much warmth and affection to other creatures.
'It's not just animals, she is great which children too, she is such a gentle, big-hearted dog.'

Bramble the fawn arrived at the centre two months ago after a dog walker came across her in a field dazed and confused.

Until she is old enough to be released back into the wild, she will continue to be cared for by Jasmine.

Geoff added: 'They are inseparable at the moment, Bramble walks between her legs and they keep kissing each other.

They walk together round the sanctuary. It's absolutely marvellous. It's a real treat to see them.
'But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits which greyhounds usually chase down the track.

'I remember we had two puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby railway line, one was a Lakeland Terrier cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross.

'They were tiny when they arrived at the centre and Jasmine approached them and grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the settee.

'Then he fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them.

'She has done the same with the fox and badger cubs, she licks the rabbits and guinea pigs and even lets the birds perch on the bridge of her nose.

'It's very touching. Her maternal instincts take over all the time.'

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:40 am

For Jasmine.

The post I made yesterday was just too much on the sad side and I don't want to bring this post down. Just Gods Bless her.... heart

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:50 pm

Cat and mouse become pals

A Chinese family borrowed a pet cat from their neighbour to catch a mouse which had invaded their home - only for them to become best friends.

Mr Li, of Changchun in north east China, was annoyed by the mouse which had sneaked into his house through a broken window.

"It was very foxy. I tried many ways to catch it, but it always escaped and then gained revenge on me by gnawing at the family utilities," he told Huashang Daily.

Li came up with the idea of borrowing his neighbour's cat, Da Huang, after paying them a visit.

To make the cat more enthusiastic for the task, Li asked his neighbour to starve the cat overnight before he borrowed it.

The next morning, Da Huang caught the rodent but let it go after smelling it - and to Li's surprise the mouse then started attacking the cat.

"Da Huang neglected his duty. He just pats the mouse off and after a while they just started playing together. Now they are friends and the cat even cuddles up with the mouse to sleep," he said.
He believes the cat's normal diet of chicken liver has left it too spoiled to eat mice.

Aww,I think Da Huang just likes the little guy.
great

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:00 pm

Aww the kitty is so cuuuuuuuuuuuuute!!!!

What a sweetheart Jasmine is.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:04 pm

I'd be tempted to keep the mouse if the cat had formed a pair bond with it.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:56 pm

How a Rottweiler became surrogate father to an abandoned wolf cub

He is a fully grown Rottweiler. She is a tiny wolf pup.

But that hasn't stopped 18-month-old,150lb dog Ulrok and and eight-week-old cub Beldaran becoming best of friends

They sleep together, frolic in the sun and even howl at the moon in unison - and their unlikely union brings a smile to the face of everyone who sees them.

Beldaran, who weighs just five pounds, was adopted by the Rottweiler when she was just four days old at the Kisma Preserve in Mt Desert, Maine, USA, after she was rejected by her parents.
Since then the unlikely pair have been inseparable in everything they do.
Both are rescue animals and spend all of their time together at the reserve where they are cared for at the centre's sanctuary. The organisation takes in creatures of all breeds and all sizes.
Preserve director Heather Grierson, 49, said: 'It's a true love story that has touched the hearts of everyone who visits the preserve.

'You just can't be in a bad mood when these two are around. It's impossible to look at them and not feel good.'
Beldaran is lovingly described as a 'little accident' by the 12 staff at the sanctuary - who didn't know she was due and believed her rescued parents Gandalf, one, and Kahlani, two, were too young to have babies.

Both parents were handed in to the sanctuary when they were young.

It is thought they had been snatched from the wild for the purpose of breeding them with dogs to make hybrids - a fad in America.

'It causes many problems,' said Heather.

'It's purely for fashion and people don't realise the difficulties of caring for these wild breeds.

'Then they either dump them or hand them over to us.

'It was a massive shock when Kahlani gave birth,' she added.

'We didn't even know Gandalf had it in him and suddenly we had a little wolf pup on our hands.'
Sadly, because of her young age, Kahlani's maternal instincts failed to kick in and she ignored the new arrival.
Heather said: 'We started to get really worried because Gandalf didn't have a clue what to do and we were really concerned he might hurt Beldaran.'
In an effort to get the pup some maternal care, Heather and her team placed Beldaran with another canine at the centre - Yorkshire Terrier Mia - who had just finished raising her own litter and was still lactating.
But the Yorkie wasn't interested either and made every effort to avoid the pup that was being pushed on her. 'That's when Ulrok stepped up,' said Heather.
'Ever since Beldaran's arrival he had been trying to get involved in everything. He would clean her and when she was making her puppy whimpering he would bound over to investigate.
'He had such a massive interest in her that we decided he would be the best option and we could bottle feed the wolf. It worked out brilliantly.'
Now Ulrok - a rescue dog whose previous owners imported him from Europe and gave him up when they couldn't cope - and his new love eat, drink, play and sleep together.

The duo have also become a huge attraction at the reserve.

Once Beldaran is full size and can fend for herself, Heather plans to gradually introduce her to a group of adult wolves at the park to make sure she stays all wolf and is not alienated from her own species.
'At this stage it has all been about giving her a paternal figure and Ulrok accepted the role gladly.

'At 18 months he is still a puppy in his head and he also needed a companion to play with.

'It was a perfect match. Dogs and wolves are very similar biologically and they both need strong social ties when they develop.
'We'll eventually move Beldaran in with the other wolves in phases but I'm sure her bond with Ulrok will always be there. After all this time together they will never forget each other.'

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:16 am

This is, very sweet & heartwarming. I just kind of feel really bad for Ulrok. He bonded with her. I don't think it's paternal feelings he has for her with him being still a puppy. He found a friend.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:11 am

Sophie the spaniel befriends baby owl Bramble - by licking her clean every day

A baby owl is kept looking spruce thanks to her friend Sophie the spaniel, who licks her clean every day.
The pair have become inseparable since Bramble, the baby eagle owl, was taken in at a bird of prey centre.
Sophie, three, used her maternal nature to give Bramble a quick clean as a chick. Now the bird flies into the main house for a spruce-up every day and sits while Sophie licks her feathers and beak.
Conservationist Sharon Bindon, 43, who runs the bird of prey centre in Liskeard, Cornwall said: 'We have many birds of prey and Sophie has been brought up alongside all of them but they normally stay outside the house.
'But baby owls are born without feathers, so we had to keep Bramble indoors at first. On the first day of having her they were on the settee together and Sophie put her motherly instinct to work and began to clean her.

'From that day on Bramble has had the cleanest beak in the country.'
Ms Bindon added: 'Ever since Sophie first cleaned her, Bramble had flapped around to be let out of her cage each day so she can be washed again.
'Bramble has now stared to fly around and we've put her in the aviary but she swoops back all the time for a clean. It's a friendship that will last forever.'

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:16 pm

Swatara Township restaurant owner feeds the unemployed

The United States welcomed John Pham in 1979 when he was a child and had moved from Vietnam to make a new life. Now Pham, owner of Ninh Kieu restaurant in Swatara Township, wants to return the favor.
"This country has been good to me," said Pham, 40. "Now the economy here is bad. Unemployment is up. I want to give something back to my country and community." That something is a bowl of Vietnamese soup, offered for one penny to those who have lost their job in the current economy. The beef noodle, shrimp or chicken pho (Vietnamese name for soup) is served to the unemployed all day Wednesday and from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday.

Pham said he doesn't require proof of a lost job because, "I trust people."

Pham, who became an American citizen in 1985, knows what it means to be down on luck. After moving to the United States from Vietnam, he spent two years learning English. He eventually headed to Virginia Technical Institute, where he became an electrical engineer.

This self-made man worked as a general contractor, doing everything from carpentry to drywall installation to plumbing. Later he opened a nail salon and then a Vietnamese restaurant. Along the way, he faithfully sent money to his parents in Vietnam, rejoicing when they came to the United States in 1997.

"When I moved to Harrisburg, I saw that the restaurant here was closed," he said. "So I rented it and opened my restaurant."

Ninh Kieu, which seats 65, serves Vietnamese cuisine, including soups and noodle and rice dishes.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:40 am

My bf showed me this story today.
Best Friends.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:31 pm

MoonRaven wrote:: My bf showed me this story today.
Best Friends.

Aww,it's so sweet.
Animals can overcome all kinds of obsticles even interspecies ones.
Why can't we ?

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:11 pm

Go Mum!!!!! Quite honestly I would have taken on a pack of them if they threatened the little Angels of Damnation Wink

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090618/twl-mum-scraps-with-cougar-to-save-daugh-3fd0ae9.html

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Sun Jun 21, 2009 8:33 pm

Tess teaches troubled kids to love again

A year after she was rescued from the pound, four-year-old border collie-cross Tess is helping troubled children get their own second chance.

Tess is the newest member of staff at Child, Youth and Family's care and protection residence in Lower Hutt. She was adopted six months ago from the SPCA as part of CYF's pet-therapy programme.

The residence provides 24-hour care for up to 10 children who need protection for their own safety or the safety of others.

Thought to be the first such live-in pet in New Zealand, Tess has the job of helping the children to learn to love again or, for some, for the first time.

Tess was adopted after the success of animal visits to the residence, which have been a regular feature for the past two years and help the residents to build empathy and nurturing skills.

Staff member Esther said the residents had taken a shine to Tess since she arrived, feeding her, walking her and playing with her every day. "She fitted in straight away."

Tess had definitely brought about a change in some of the children, she said. "They're really caring [with her]."

One 13-year-old girl, who is due to leave the residence this week, said she would be sorry to leave Tess behind. "I want to take her home with me."

She said she loved animals and wanted to become a vet. "I've had that dream since I was three."

The other children liked the residence's new addition, too, she said.

"One of the boys here, he's autistic and he loves her. Whenever he sees her he's always really happy."

The feeling was mutual, Esther said. "When kids hurt themselves, she just does this magic little thing by going by them to make sure they're all right."

Tess also misses the children while they are at school, waiting excitedly by the door when she hears them coming back home

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Tue Jun 23, 2009 5:39 pm

Bereaved swans inseparable after their blind date

TWO lonely swans who had both lost their mates have found love again.
The pair have settled down to a new life together at a small holding at West Anstey, thanks to the match-making efforts of Diana Lewis from the North Devon Animal Ambulance (NDAA).
Usually, swans mate for life so it was hit-or-miss whether or not the two would take to each other.
But, after a cautious introduction, nature took its course and the new couple are now inseparable.
Their happy ending came about through coincidence.
A couple near South Molton rang to say their cob was so distraught at the death of his mate, they were going to return him to a swan sanctuary upcountry and asked Diana for a swan carrier.
By coincidence, the NDAA had also learned that a couple from West Anstey were looking for a mate for a lonely female swan on their smallholding.
Diana played cupid and brought them both together for a first date to see if each could find love again.
She said: "It was quite a magical thing to watch. They were very wary at first and circled around for some time, getting slowly closer and closer.
"In the end they came out onto the bank and sat down together. It was really very sweet and very rewarding because both of them deserved a new and happy future together."
Liz Sharpe and her husband John run the smallholding in West Anstey where the birds have settled; it has two lakes for wildfowl.
Liz said they were getting on very well and had become inseparable.
She added: "If he had arrived earlier we would have possibly had some cygnets but it was just a little bit late in the season. We are optimistic we might get some cygnets next year."

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Mon Aug 03, 2009 6:43 pm

Clyde, the blind collie, and his partner Bonnie, who he uses as a guide dog, have found their happy ending in the form of a new home in the country.

The pair were taken in by an experienced dog owner, who lives in a local rural location.

They were initially found a month ago abandoned on a street and brought to Meadow Green Dog Rescue centre in Loddon, Norfolk by a member of the public.

Cherie Cootes, 40 who works at the rescue centre said: "When she's about you wouldn't notice he is blind, but when she's not about he refuses to move."

More than 500 people responded to an appeal for them to be rehomed together, looking to adopt the dogs.

But five-year-old Clyde, who is thought to have lost his sight to a degenerative disease, and his two-year-old companion Bonnie needed a very specific home to accommodate the pair.

Miss Cootes said: “there's absolutely no option of homing them separately – they have to go as a pair.”

She described them as "typical high-spirited collies,” also saying: "Clyde's going to have to have a more rural type of home purely because of traffic.”

Now that the dogs are safe in their new country the Cootes family has turned their full attention back to the 45 abandoned dogs they now look after.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:09 pm

Desperate dog tries to save drowning owner

I put this here because it was really sweet what the dog did.
But it wasn't a happy ending.

Tried to swim her out of Lake Ontario
August 27, 2009
John Burman
OAKVILLE – Halton police say a loyal Golden Retriever’s valiant effort to save his master after she slipped into Lake Ontario was in vain.

Police said the woman had been walking her dog along the shoreline but had slipped on the rocks and fell into the water.

Two canoeists came upon the dog in the lake near the foot of Birch Lane at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday struggling to hold onto a 66-year-old woman’s clothing and drag her to shore. Birch Lane is just east of Appleby College, south of Lakeshore Road West.

The Halton police marine unit and uniform patrol officers pulled the woman from the water. She was rushed to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Halton police are not releasing the woman’s name. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Her dog was uninjured and was taken into the care of the Humane Society until it could be turned over to the victim’s family.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:06 am

It would be pretty bad if the dog just walked off when it's owner slips into water.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:35 pm

Cat Found Frozen Thaws, Survives

(WBZ) In the midst of the weekend's prolonged winter storm, Norfolk Animal Control Officer Hilary Cohen was driving through the snow, responding to a call about a cat.

It didn't look promising.

Cohen tells CBS Station WBZ Boston that the small gray and white cat appeared dead. She was stiff, showing no signs of life. "I kept her in the blanket and put her on my lap in the cruiser and headed to the hospital. Once in the car, I turned the heaters on and saw a whisker twitch. That was the real only sign of reflex I saw from her."

Cohen took the frozen feline to Acorn Animal Hospital, where veterinarians were ready to apply heat therapy and administer IV fluids, among other things. Cohen says the staff there "worked miracles on this little cat."

Days later, the cat is showing strong signs of recovery. The feline is walking, eating and drinking, which is why Cohen is trying to find the cat's owners. "She is very affectionate so (it) was definitely someone's pet and not a feral cat."

Animal control tells WBZ's Peg Rusoni that the cat's owners recognized the now-thawed cat as their own and will soon be reunited with their furry friend.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:40 pm

Little bursts of happy news like that make this whole sodding bad World seem a lot better

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:20 pm

Paws for thought: Pet dog fitted with £10,000 bionic leg

A beloved pet bulldog has been fitted with a £10,000 bionic leg, which will help advance prosthetic techniques used to help bombing victims.

Coal, an eight-and-a-half year old hound had his left paw amputated because of cancer last year. He faced being put down because his other legs would be too weak to carry him.

But his determined owner Reg Walker, shelled out thousands of pounds to fit him with a sophisticated bionic leg, which was designed to be compatible with Coal's own tissue.

The titanium alloy used mimics animal hide, allowing the skin and the bone from above to seal the metal implant below without it being rejected by the body.
It is only the second time such an operation had been performed on an animal, using a technique performed on a survivor of the London 7/7 bombings.

Vet Noel Fitzpatrick told the Enfield Independent: 'This is unique in that its the world's only implant into which skin and bone grow. It is the holy grail of research.

'If you have an accident and your bone sticks out through your shin, skin will try to grow round it. People have been trying for this for years and years -because with this we get an umbrella of skin attached to the metal.'
Mr Walker, who is a music industry security guard was thrilled with the results.
He said: 'When I found out about Coal I was gutted. He goes everywhere with me - he goes on tour, he's the only dog to have allowed into Live 8 and the only dog that has ever been backstage at the Royal Albert Hall.

'Now he has an absolutely normal quality of life, which he wouldn't have had before.'

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:17 pm

Couple finally reunited for Christmas dinner

A husband and wife who last saw each other on December 19 when she “popped out” to buy a turkey for their Christmas dinner, were reunited yesterday after the ice and snow keeping them apart finally melted.

John and Kay Ure's home in a former lighthouse keeper's cottage at Cape Wrath on the most north-westerly tip of the UK mainland sits on the edge of 900ft-high cliffs and has been cut off by the winter weather for almost a month.
Mrs Ure left before the “big freeze” to buy a turkey and the trimmings in Inverness and until yesterday had been forced to live with friends in the village of Durness, 11 miles away.

Mr Ure spent Christmas and New Year on his own and celebrated his 58th birthday last Sunday with a tin of baked beans.
Yesterday, for the first time since mid-December, he managed to drive 11 miles to a small jetty and cross the Kyle of Durness by boat to collect his wife and the turkey.
The couple run the country's “most isolated tearoom” at the end of an ungritted army road and were forced to spend their first festive season apart in 35 years.
Mr Ure tried on several occasions to drive his flatbed lorry down from the highest vertical cliffs in mainland Britain, but got only half mile before the vehicle started slipping on ice.
During their separation he ran out of coal, his generator blew and he was reduced to a diet of beans and pasta. His six springer spaniels were his only company and he had to feed them on emergency army rations.
The couple, who plan to tell their story to a woman's magazine, were not available for comment yesterday, but Mr Ure revealed at the weekend that he hoped to be eating Christmas dinner last night.
He said that meeting up again would be “like a second honeymoon” and added that he was looking forward to collecting a bottle of whisky sent by a sympathetic distiller.
Kevin Crowe, of the Loch Croispol Bookshop in Durness said: “We saw them in a 4 x 4 together, we're glad their enjoying their Christmas dinner at last. It must be one of the longest waits for Christmas dinner on record.”
The couple moved from Glasgow to Durness several years ago before opening the lighthouse café last summer.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Fri Apr 30, 2010 6:40 pm

Domestic Tabby In SC Adopts Abandoned Bobcats

In just a few months, three baby bobcats found in South Carolina could be a danger to a gray tabby named Zoe. But these days, the fuzzy felines are just members of the family for the nursing mother. The bobcats, orphaned after the abandoned house they were living under in Newberry County was demolished, are being nursed by Zoe at Carolina Wildlife Care near the Saluda River a few miles northwest of downtown Columbia.

The nursing is expected to last about four weeks and is intended to give the bobcats a feline on which to imprint, said Joanna Weitzel, executive director of the wildlife rescue group. "It's important they get that nurturing and care from a species similar to their own."

After five weeks, though, their razor-sharp teeth and claws could hurt Zoe and Zoe's kittens — an orange tabby and a calico that now dwarf the three bobcats in their kennel. The bobcats are expected to grow over the coming months to the size of large dogs — about 22 inches tall and up to 70 pounds — while their adoptive siblings will likely max out around 10 pounds.

Once the bobcats are weaned, they will be put in a specially built habitat. The goal is to minimize their contact with humans.

"If they lose their natural fear of humans, it's almost like a death sentence," Weitzel said.

The habitat alone will cost about $2,000, not including the year's supply of live rodents the three will need to learn how to hunt and kill. Carolina Wildlife is hoping to raise enough money to provide the care the bobcats will need for up to 18 months when they should be ready to return to the wild.

The animals are being checked out by a veterinarian at nearby Riverbanks Zoo.

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:46 pm

Bats form long-term friendships

It's worth clicking on the link for the photo alone. Smile

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:59 pm

^^ Awwwww those bats look so happy Smile

Like they've just hanging out all day, eating fruit flies & squeaking at each other news - Heartwarming News Stories 553645

Subject: Re: Heartwarming News Stories Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:54 am

Blind Great Dane and her guide dog need a new home
Sad that they need to move, but proof of the caring bond animals forge. Humans could learn a thing or two...

» More Misogyny in the News
» Stupid People In The News
» Bizarre News