If you’re like us, you could easily spend your entire day watching adorable videos about animals who’ve received much-deserved second chances at life. Here are five inspirational and recent animal rescue stories that are sure to warm your heart and brighten your day!
Music student and piano instructor Sarper Duman has rescued 19 cats and has no plans to stop. He plays the piano for his feline family, who relax (and, sometimes, fall asleep) to the music. The bonds that Duman shares with his many cat companions are proof of the healing powers of love, animals, and music.
This raccoon’s rough beginnings involved being born blind, falling out of a tree, and suffering from seizures. He was named Clark Kent by his rescuer’s mother because, as she put it, “if he survives, he’s Superman!” To everyone’s surprise, CK not only survived, but has thrived, and although his blindness prevents him from being released back into the wild, he lives life to the fullest!
When couple Mike Wilson and Megan Hanneman met 33-pound Bronson, they instantly fell in love with his sweet demeanor. Instead of shying away from the responsibilities of caring for an overweight cat, they decided to adopt him and help him lose weight. Bronson has made considerable progress in his weight-loss journey and is living proof of why often-overlooked shelter animals are equally deserving of a second chance at life.
Meet Jack and Diane, an inseparable donkey-and-emu pair who faced an uncertain future when they were rescued from an abandoned South Carolina farm in 2018. They were adopted together by The Walking Dead actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his wife, Hilarie Burton, and now spend their days on the couple’s farm in the New York Hudson Valley without a care in the world.
Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team is a non-profit organization dedicated to transporting rescue animals in especially dire circumstances, including those who have been displaced by natural disasters or are in imminent danger of being euthanized. In January, two of PAART’s volunteer pilots flew a Havanese dog from Pittsburgh to his forever home in South Carolina, where they picked up 11 dogs, including a mom and her nine pups, who had recently been rescued from the home of a hoarder.
Although these stories depict a variety of circumstances and animals, they have one major feature in common: happy endings.
