September/October 2019

All Creatures

The Animals Who Share Our Lives

All Creatures2 min read
Editor’s Note
HAVE YOU HEARD OF MAX II, the mayor of Idyllwild, California? No? I’ll give you a hint. He’s also a full-blooded golden retriever. Have you seen the heart-tugging video of a young girl with epilepsy receiving her first therapy dog? Try not crying. Or
All Creatures2 min read
Fall for These Books
When Rescue the black Lab finds out he would make a better service dog than Seeing Eye dog, he’s worried about what his job will involve. Then he meets Jessica, whose life has also taken an unexpected turn. Rescue realizes he can help her every day,
All Creatures1 min read
I’ll Never Forget You
MY WIFE AND I started what might be called a golden retriever retirement home. We didn’t plan to. But years back when I saw a scrawny 11-year-old golden at our local rescue, I knew he needed us. He was the best boy; since then, we’ve adopted senior d
All Creatures2 min read
Going Beyond
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM may say that any cat in a tree can climb down on its own, but that’s a misconception, says Shaun Sears of Canopy Cat Rescue. There’s a real problem with cats stranded in treetops. Sears and his brother-in-law, Tom Otto, profession
All Creatures1 min read
Why We Love… Tire Pet Beds
FUELED BY his twin passions—the environment and animals—Brazilian artist Amarildo Silva creates cozy, colorful animal beds from discarded tires. His business, Cãominhas Pets, is located in the city of Campina Grande, in northeastern Brazil, where Sil
All Creatures2 min readPsychology
Should I Be Worried?
paw prints Q Our pet is nearing the end of her life. How can I prepare my son for her passing in an honest, helpful way? —Pat C., Greenwich, Connecticut A Death is a topic that we are reluctant to talk about with our children. Often the loss of
All Creatures4 min read
As Good as It Gets
It’s hard not to despair over climate change. A recent United Nations report revealed that human-fueled global warming is destroying habitats and species at an alarming rate, but many of us wonder how we can help beyond using the recycling bin. In 20
All Creatures1 min read
“Go On”
A RUSTLE IN THE BRUSH. I jumped. My heart raced. I was taking a chance, running in the hills near our house where, more than one person had warned me, mountain lions prowl in the early morning. I was here, hoping the beauty might calm my anxieties ab
All Creatures3 min read
A Pigeon Named Homer
I sped down the last mile of Kentucky dirt road leading to my client’s driveway. Late again. Lord, her husband’s going to bite my head off. I was working as a home health aide and had been assigned a new client, Dorothy, just a few weeks earlier. She
All Creatures1 min read
Creature Comforts
OFFICIALLY RETIRED FROM FARMING, Dad still spent hours taming the wild roses and overgrown blackberry brambles behind his house. My sisters and I all lived on plots of his 48 acres, and we’d find him just sitting on his tractor sometimes, parked in a
All Creatures6 min read
Cat Power
It was the ski trip that did it. I had taken my 11-year-old daughter, Bayleigh, to a Special Olympics Winter Games event at a ski resort here in New Hampshire. Bayleigh has cerebral palsy and had been skiing with an adaptive ski program since she was
All Creatures2 min read
Their Mysterious Ways
I headed out for my daily walk one August morning, but the back road behind my house was muddy. Too muddy for me. At 66, I couldn’t risk slipping. I’ll take the main road today, I thought. That should be safer. The walk from my house to my neighborho
All Creatures5 min read
Tippy the War Dog
Everyone who lived through World War II has a story to tell. My story is about my family’s farm dog Tippy. Maybe you’re wondering what a farm dog has to do with a world at war. All I can say is that Tippy was no ordinary dog. I grew up on a 113-acre
All Creatures3 min read
JAMES E. TREVER Prairie Dog Pals, New Mexico
Walk into James E. Trever’s home and you’re likely to hear the Harp of Hope: Animal Therapy Edition album playing. Harp music helps relax him and the four prairie dogs he permanently fosters. A retired Navy computer systems analyst, Jim devotes his t
All Creatures2 min read
Is This for Real?
Move over Piglet, Wilbur and Babe. There’s another pig that has the world going hog wild. She’s more sophisticated than sloppy, lives in a sanctuary instead of a sty, and rather than food scraps stuck on her snout, you’re far more likely to find…pain
All Creatures4 min read
The Animal Ambulance
On a Monday afternoon in early May, a red retrofitted ambulance pulls up to Bill Barnack’s house in Bradenton, Florida. Cheryl Brady, the founder of Vet Care Express Animal Ambulance, walks to the front door with her attendant, Benja min Reach. They’
All Creatures3 min read
Home Alone
Many cats and dogs are able to relax and even sleep when left home alone. But other pets have an extreme response: They become distressed at the mere sight of you picking up your keys or putting on your coat. While you’re away, they pant, pace, frant

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