Some Good Uplifting News For A Change ~ More Heartwarming Animal Stories

I might be dreaming here, and I might even be a little bit naive, but with all the craziness going on in today's world, it sure is nice to read some heartwarming, uplifting stories in the news. Even though the media would have us believe sometimes that the entire world is horrible and going... someplace terrible in a hand basket... I really was glad to find a couple of NICE news articles recently. And being as naive as I am, I think I'm going to share what I found for anyone else like me who also needs to take a little break and read some good news for a change.

I'm a big softie when it comes to animals, big or small, wild or domestic. Just put me near an animal and I can just about feel my heart melt into a puddle. So of course, this recent headline from August 2nd, 2012, caught my eye.

Baby Deer Rescued From A 20 Foot Manhole By New York Police

I think I just heard a collective "awwww....." That was my first response, too!

Police in Long Island, New York recently spent four hours rescuing this adorable little fawn after he (or she) had fallen into a 20 foot manhole. Some landscapers who were working nearby heard the little deer softly making noises and called police to let them know the little fella had fallen in and couldn't get out.

Emergency officers from nearby Suffolk County responded, and found the little guy. He (or she) was making little crying noises, but otherwise seemed unhurt. The four officers who responded tried to figure out the best way to get the little fawn out of the manhole and soon came up with a plan they thought would work.

One of the officers was chosen to wear a breathing mask and a harness and was lowered into the manhole with the little fawn. Once he got there, he put a harness on the baby deer, and officers proceeded to lift him out of the manhole to safety.

After taking a couple of pictures of the officers with the baby deer, he was released into the wild again.

I could just picture four big, burly policemen working so diligently to safely get this little guy out of trouble. It's just one of those stories that warms your heart and makes you feel good! The deer was described as a cute, speckled little creature, much like the deer pictured here.

After all the bad stories we hear every day, where police officers are called to respond to terrible tragedies and violent happenings, it was so nice to read a sweet, heartwarming story like this one. Kudos to those officers. Not everyone would have been that patient and caring with a wild little animal. I bet being part of an animal rescue warmed their hearts, too.

Kids And Police Officers Visit Windy's Pig Ranch And Rescue In Las Vegas

When we first moved to Las Vegas, I was looking for a possible opportunity to volunteer at an animal shelter. I may still do that, but haven't done it yet. The local shelter I found is a "no kill" shelter here in Vegas Called "Heaven Can Wait Animal Society" or HCWS. I signed up to be on their mailing list, and received a story recently about a group of local kids here in Las Vegas. It seems that local metro police officers have teamed up with kids. By working together, they are doing good for the community. They do fun and helpful activities like helping out at animal shelters.

There are other organizations like this one all across the country known as PAL. An acronym for Police Athletic League, this organization teams law enforcement officers up with local kids who can use a good influence in their lives. They participate in athletic competitions and work together on educational and community projects. It was this organization along with with these kids who recently visited a pig ranch here near Las Vegas known as Windy's Pig Ranch And Rescue.

This group of twelve kids, along with police officers who act as educators, mentors and positive role models for them went to the pig ranch to help out for a day. They also spent the day learning about the pigs that have found their way there and are now up for adoption. The kids got to see regular and pot bellied pigs, cats, rabbits, chickens, a desert tortoise, dogs and a goat that is receiving special care until a forever home can be found for him.

The people at the Heaven Can Wait Animal Society have been working with PAL (the Police Athletic League) and with kids involved with PAL. They have been helping these kids to learn about taking care of animals and things like the importance of spaying and neutering animals to prevent animal over population that can lead to homelessness for the animals.

All the kids enjoyed the time they spent at the ranch and the owner of the ranch, Janice Ridondo, seemed to enjoy the opportunity to educate the kids. She told them about the animals that live on the ranch, and about how each animal arrived there and is being housed there until "forever" homes can be found for them. She told an especially touching story about the first pig to arrive there, a little potbellied piglet that she named "Peppermint Patty." When she (the piglet) first got there, she was pretty sick and was on the verge of dying. But with some tender loving care, she was revived and has grown up to be ... well, a big pig (pun intended).

Janice went on to educate the kids about breeders who act recklessly and try to breed so called "micro-mini" pigs and "teacup" pigs (piglets), and she explained that there really is no such thing. She went on to patiently tell the kids stories about all the animals that live on the ranch, and in this way, the kids got a feeling for each animals' plight and their special stories.

This helps city kids when they are able to visit a real working ranch and learn about animals and the care they need. They also learned that it's not wise to take in a farm animal and attempt to raise it in a city setting. These animals start out tiny and cute, but usually grow VERY big. Sometimes the animals end up in this plight because of thoughtless owners that did not realize how BIG the animals were going to get and how fast they would get there!

And in the "awww, that is so CUTE" department, there is a pig that lives at Windy's Pig Ranch And Rescue named Beyonce. Yep, she is named after the SINGER Beyonce, because she SINGS! She was dropped off at the ranch with her four little piglets, all of whom were able to find good homes.

The program these kids are in, known as PAL, is available all across the country. In fact, the original chapter of PAL (Police Athletic League) was started in New York in 1910 by a police officer named Captain John Sweeney. He originally began the program as a way to introduce kids to police officers and leave the kids with positive experiences that would help to foster a lifetime respect for police officers, and the hope was that the kids would grow up to be productive, law-abiding citizens. And the program does help to do just that.

Here in Southern Nevada, the PAL program began in 1996. It is a combined effort of the Metro Las Vegas Police Department and many outstanding volunteers, business people and citizens interested in helping the youth of Southern Nevada.

This outstanding organization not only helps by creating athletic opportunities and supervised play opportunities for kids, they also bring educational opportunities to them. Along with those programs are others that kids are able to become involved with in their communities. They are also given opportunities to do helpful community service projects.This helps to build kids' self esteem and teaches them how great it feels to help others.

The Pal organization also offers homework assistance to kids. They even offer tutoring opportunities, working in conjunction with local University students, to kids that need a bit of extra help with challenging coursework.

It is fantastic, caring groups like these that are helping in communities all across the country to bring us good news like the story I found here in Las Vegas. In fact, in the United States, there are more than 300 chapters of PAL and they are found in over 700 cities nationwide.

Now if we could just hear some more of the positive news stories going on in cities all across the country, it might, just might, help to balance out all of those terrible stories we are hearing today almost on a daily basis. At least, that is my hope.

Another story to melt your heart, and if it doesn't, you might want to check for frostbite... Soldiers from the New York National Guard who were stationed in Afghanistan recently became friends with a mixed breed dog that they had affectionately named Sheba. Sometimes Sheba would chase other dogs away when she felt that one of the guys might be in trouble.

Soon, it became time for the soldiers to show their protectiveness of Sheba when they found out she was expecting puppies. She was thin and in order to give her some extra nourishment while she was pregnant with the puppies, the soldiers would give her some of their beef jerky they were saving for snacks and they would share their ready to eat meals with her. Later, friends, family and other people from home began to send dog food over once they found out about Sheba.

When the men were scheduled to return to the New York area due to a draw down in the force, they were sad that they had to leave Sheba behind in Afghanistan. Member's of one of Long Island's pet rescue organizations had a program they called "Paws of War - No Buddy Left Behind." They found out about Sheba and began to make plans for her to be reunited with her soldier buddies.

This Long Island group, called the Guardians Of Rescue, arranged for Sheba... and her SEVEN two month old puppies - to be transported to New York to be reunited with their buddies, the soldiers. The estimates are that it costs about $4,000 for each dog to be rescued out of a war zone. Funds were raised online to help bring these dogs back to the soldiers they have been reunited with.

The money goes for expenses like shots, quarantine for 30 days, logistics and for their transportation. All this work was worthwhile once the puppies, Sheba and the New York National Guard members had an emotional, exciting reunion recently. The puppies were named Rocky, Jack, Cadence, Sarah, Breezy, Buckeye and Harris. Two of the soldiers plan to each adopt two dogs, while three other soldiers will go home with one dog each. While most of the dogs will stay in New York, two of them will head to Cincinnati.

They are not sure of Sheba's future yet. There are hopes to train her as a service dog who will be assigned to work with soldiers suffering from the effects of Post Traumatic Stress syndrome.

It seems the bond the soldiers built with these dogs will continue long into the future as they head for a bright new future in loving homes, here in the United States.