Events over the past two years have left many of us — especially first responders, teachers and healthcare workers — dragging heavy burdens through our days.
But neither the tempestuous weather whorls on our planet’s surface nor a biblical-sized pandemic appears to have suppressed the indomitable, giving spirit of people and their animal companions.
Last week, devastating tornadoes ripped a swath of destruction through six U.S. states. Winds of up to 190 mph leveled a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, and ravaged an Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville, Illinois. To date, hundreds of people and their animal companions have been killed and scores more left homeless. Gales had barely settled when a second wave of tornadoes tore through the region.
Search and rescue dogs and their human crews continue to scour littered landscapes for signs of life. Overwhelmed by the scope of this disaster, local search crews gratefully accepted the help of human volunteers and their canine sleuths.
“They’re amped up, they know what we’re doing. They’re reading us,” first responders and volunteers told CBS News about both trained and untrained dogs.
Neighbors and strangers joined first responders in risking their own lives sifting through rubble to pull out survivors of all species. Among those in the human lifeline formed at the collapsed candle factory, Nate and Gary plumbed the twisted depths to reach Kyanna Parsons-Perez.
“Both of them held my hand and talked me through it. They pulled and pushed me up,” Parsons-Perez told NBC News. Other volunteers fished residents from the remnants of a Monette, Arkansas nursing home or rushed to aid distressed horses or roof-marooned dogs in Missouri.
Relief efforts are ongoing and the need is unrelenting. Local and national charities are hard at work. Shelters are seeking the public’s help for injured or displaced pets. Drop off a box of non-perishables for people and/or pets at any fire station. The team will ensure delivery to one of the many communities in need.
Hunkered down in the thick of COVID, Sandi Martin and her husband took refuge in the warm company of their newly adopted cat, Lilly. Soon after Lilly joined the family, she detected a gas leak that saved her whole family.
Lilly’s story was just one of many submitted to PetCo during their annual Love Stories campaign.
“Whether [it’s] the best or worst of times, the love of pets can change everything,” said PetCo Love President, Susanne Kogut. “Reading these touching tales strengthens our resolve to create a world where every shelter pet finds a family and no pet is unnecessarily euthanized.”
Since the campaign began in 2013, adopters have shared 20,000 stories affirming the human/animal bond with PetCo. This year, PetCo is surprising animal welfare organizations nationwide with a total of $1 million in grant awards.
Last Thursday, PetCo Love celebrated Portland’s Cat Adoption Team and local adopters with a $26,000 grant. PetCo has awarded a total of nearly $7 million in grants to animal welfare organizations facilitating pet adoptions. You can follow these surprise grants @PetCoLove.
This holiday season, there appears to be no shortage of generosity and courage — at home or in the trenches.