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Think about it: Dogs can be the perfect friend. They love unconditionally and don’t judge. Your dog will never say you need to shave or lay off the, ahem, cat-eye eye makeup. And though you may never actually know exactly where you stand with your cat, they curry favor with Patch readers, too.
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Do you need more panda? You’ve come to the right place. How about a waddle of penguins, apes that “talk” and a sea lion in distress that got a little help from human friends?
Here’s a collection of 10 stories published by Patch in February about pets and animals that we think you’ll love.
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Photo courtesy of John Muellner
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Poor Sting, a greyhound dog that lives near Saint Paul, Minnesota, and spends his days making sick kids and others feel better. But no one wanted to read to him during a local library’s Paws to Read literacy program, where kids practice reading aloud to a completely nonjudgmental audience. So Sting splayed his long legs on a quilt and looked more lonely and forlorn than any dog has ever looked. John Muellner, the friendly dog’s owner snapped some photos and popped them up on Facebook. “Unfortunately,” he wrote, “nobody signed up to read to Sting at the White Bear Lake library tonight.” The post did the trick. Read what happened.
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Photo by Nicholas Rizzi/Patch
Dog Gets Something Great After Something Awful
Mean people suck. They really do. What happened to a dog found along a highway in Brooklyn, New York, dog proves that. He was stuffed in a garbage bag with his mouth taped shut. But the goodness of people prevailed and the dog, named Saint Vincent by the good people who rescued him, will now be “smothered with unconditional love and companionship for the rest of hi years,” the rescue group, New York Bully Crew, says. “He strengthens the soul. He personifies the will to live and succeed. May his future shine so bright that it blinds the ones that tried to darken his path.” Read the rest of this heartwarming tale.
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Photo courtesy of Tredyffrin Township Police
Curiosity Almost Killed This Cat
If it’s true cats have nine lives, this feline in Wayne, Pennsylvania, surely used up. Somehow, the cat got its head caught in the garbage disposal. Tredyffrin Township police had a heck of a time rescuing the poor kitty. Read how they did it.
Dog Rescue Lands Good Samaritan In Awful Predicament
A Good Samaritan in Kinnelon, New Jersey, saw another walker’s dog flailing in the icy waters of Fayson Lake. The 59-year-old man sprang into action and attempted a dramatic rescue of the dog, which had dashed away from its owner in pursuit of more interesting wildlife. He made it about 30 feet when he, too, fell in the cold water. Read what happened next.
Wandering Dog Takes Ride On One-Eyed Pony
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A trespassing corgi has cast some doubt on the notion that a dog is man’s best friend. In this case, the dog seems to prefer the company of a one-eyed pony named Cricket that lives in rural Halfway, Missouri, located about 30 miles north of Springfield. Cricket’s owner, Callie Schenker, got a surprise when she pulled into her driveway on a recent evening. Her neighbor’s corgi was sitting on Cricket’s back and the pony trotted away. Read the story to watch the video.
Maybe it’s because they’re so rare that we love pandas so much. There aren’t many of them left, in either the cool, wet bamboo forests of the remote, mountainous regions of central China or in zoos. So it’s pretty big news that Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, a pair of giant pandas at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., have been showing signs that they’re about to become amorous. Read more about the possible baby-making.
Photo courtesy of the National Zoo
Little Red Pandas Are Cuteness Overload
The big pandas aren’t the only dose of adorable at the National Zoo. Nutmeg and her son, Jackie, two new red pandas — they’re not bears, though — are making a big impression at the National Zoo, where they have lots of room to climb, explore and just being cute. “Sometimes Nutmeg and Jackie will go their separate ways, but more often than not Nutmeg is leading the way,” says animal keeper Mariel Lally. Sometimes, Jackie is so interested in an object in the yard that he will not notice mom is many paces ahead. Once he does, though, he will run after her and give her a nice big hug.” Read more about them.
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Photo courtesy of the Maryland Zoo
Swimming In — And With — The Penguins
If you want to see penguins, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is one place to see a lot of them. The zoo, home to the largest colony of African penguins in North America, recently reached a milestone with the hatching of its 1,000th bird of that species. Before visitors can see the new chick, whose gender won’t be known for several weeks, it has to pass swimming lessons. What? Read the full story for more about that.
Photo by Beth Dalbey, used with permission from the former Great Ape Trust
Bonobos are often called the “make-love-not-war” or “hippie” apes. Some others call this rare species “the forgotten ape” — but if you ever met Kanzi or his half-sister Panbanisha, two bonobos involved in a long-running cognitive study now based in Des Moines, Iowa, you wouldn’t forget them. Both developed a keen understanding of spoken English and the ability to engage in meaningful two-way conversations with human. So, how would a bonobo ask for a caramel macchiato coffee drink? Read more to find out how to have a conversation with a bonobo.
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Photo courtesy Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office
Sea Lion Gets By With A Little Help From A Friend
Watching the antics of sea lions is a great way to while away some time, but visitors at Bonny Doon Beach in Santa Cruz County, California, saw a distressing sight — a beached sea lion with pneumonia. She has a name, “Sam Five,” the radio signal of Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Stefan Smith, one of the people who helped move her off the beach. Read what happened to her.
Bonus Stories
With 1,122 hyperlocal sites across the country, Patch is a great resource to help bring your lost pet home or for shelters and rescue groups to feature pets that need homes. We’d love it if you’d post directly on Patch. Here’s how to get started. If you’d like to become a regular contributor, email [email protected] for more information.
See Also: 10 Patch Stories That Will Inspire, Make You Smile
Lead photo of Mei Xiang courtesy of the National Zoo
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