Most Heart-Warming Pet Stories of This Decade

Did you know that there are lots and lots of stories out there about pets that could warm the heart of even the most stone-hearted person?

Well, here are some of my favorites.

Golden Retriever “Retrieves” Baby Goose

This TikTok video has gone viral as soon as it hit the world. It’s about a golden retriever – an animal that’s naturally very kind and sweet – that saves the life of a baby goose. The video starts by showing the dog swimming and saving the drowning baby goose with his mouth. She then paddles her way back to the pond and drops the very confused baby goose on the ground. After giving the baby a nose boop on the head twice and assuming that the parent goose might be near, the dog makes its way back in the pond and swims away.

The video ends here, but that’s the dawn of her fame. It’s not really surprising that this video has been viewed more than 5 million times and has earned over 650,000 likes and around 4,000 comments.

Since then, people have been quite obsessed with golden retrievers.

A Rat Awarded for His Heroic Act

When we talk about pets and companions, we tend to think of dogs and cats mostly. And, honestly, I doubt any of you would want a rat as a pet. Today, I know some people fancy rats because they are very intelligent creatures. However, I’d like to take myself as an example and share with you how I grew up, being taught that rats are not friendly creatures or animals that can be lovely pets. But, this story changed the way I used to think about rats.

Everything started in Africa. Magawa was not just an African giant pouch rat, but one that was professionally trained to sniff out and detect unexploded landmines. His size made it possible for him to be able to safely step over these explosives without setting them off. For those who’d like to know, Magawa is around 27.5 inches long and weighs in at 2.7 lbs.

This is a statement released by the PDSA:

“During his 5-year-old rat’s career, Magawa has uncovered a total of ″39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordnance to date and he has helped clear over 141,000 square metres of land (the equivalent of twenty football pitches), making it safe for local residents. And, because of his great humanitarian service, he will be awarded.”

Indeed, Magawa is known as the first rat to ever win the U.K. charity’s honor reserved for heroic animals.

Senior German Shepherd in His New Home

Sienna is a dog different from many others. She’s been through a lot but she was never discouraged. She grew up in an animal shelter in Los Angeles. Initially, she believed that she would meet an owner who would gladly adopt her and take her home. But, she ended spending most of her life in that shelter. Sienna was not an aggressive dog; in fact, anyone could feel safe with her. Even the caregivers of the center knew how loyal, compassionate and trustworthy Sienna was. However, even then, no one was ready to adopt Sienna.

The moment she lost all hope of having a family and a home to call her own, someone came and held her paw.

Let’s take a look at the owner’s statement:

“Sienna became my loyal friend. Some people called her my girlfriend and I can see why. We were attached like Velcro. That was a start, but Sienna still needed to feel more comfortable around new people. “It was important to make sure her fears didn’t define her. I wanted people to see Sienna for who she really is — a very sweet and loyal dog.”