Island Animal

10/17/2026

Closing today at 3.00
see you Tuesday at 10.00

10/17/2026

09/29/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EnTc3LKgP/

09/11/2026

Firefighters lined the sidewalk and raised their hands in salute as Bretagne, a 16-year-old Golden Retriever, made her final walk into the veterinary hospital.

It was a hero’s farewell for a dog who had spent much of her life serving others and who was the oldest surviving 9/11 Ground Zero search dog.

Bretagne and her handler, Denise Corliss, were newly graduated from disaster training when they were deployed to New York following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. Bretagne was just 2 years old.

For two weeks, the pair worked about 12 hours a day searching the rubble for survivors. They never found any, but Bretagne ended up serving in another way that neither she nor Corliss had anticipated.

Rescue workers would approach Bretagne, pet her and sometimes share their personal stories with her. In the middle of unimaginable grief, the gentle Golden Retriever offered them a moment of comfort.

“Dogs can be so comforting, so it makes sense to me now,” Corliss later said. “I just didn’t anticipate that, then.”

Bretagne and Corliss went on to respond to other disasters across the country, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. When Bretagne retired from search-and-rescue work at age 9, her service continued in a different form.

She began visiting classrooms once a week, where children could practice their reading skills by reading aloud to her.

Then, on June 6, 2016, it was time for Bretagne’s final journey. Firefighters and rescue workers gathered outside the Fairfield Animal Hospital in Houston to honor her as she entered with Corliss in her final hour.

When she emerged, her casket was draped in an American flag before she was taken to her final resting place. A bronze statue was erected in her honor in her local neighborhood, in remembrance of her special role in history. 🇺🇸🐾

-----
*Every like, comment, and share reminds us that dogs and the humans who care for them matter. If you’d like to help us continue researching and posting these stories, please follow us.

07/28/2026

This cow in Poland wasn't about to go quietly. As she was being loaded onto a truck bound for the slaughterhouse, the determined escapee suddenly made a break for it.

She smashed through a metal fence, broke the arm of a man trying to stop her, then raced to nearby Lake Nysa and swam to an island in the middle of the water.

And that's where her incredible escape story really began.

For days, her owner tried to bring her home, but every attempt failed. The clever cow even dove underwater when people got too close, making it nearly impossible to catch her.

After a week of unsuccessful rescue attempts, her owner gave up trying to retrieve her. Instead, he made sure she had food so she could survive on the island.

Even firefighters were called in to help. They used a boat to reach the island, but the resourceful cow simply swam away to another one.

With no easy solution left, her owner even considered euthanizing her.

But by then, news of the runaway cow had spread across Poland, and thousands of people were cheering for her to be spared.

Among them was politician and former singer Paweł Kukiz, who offered to buy the cow and cover the cost of safely tranquilizing and transporting her—on one condition: that she be allowed to live out the rest of her life in peace.

"I'm not a vegetarian, but the fortitude and the will of this cow's fight for life is not to be ignored," Kukiz wrote.

At last, the cow had earned her freedom.

What began as one animal's desperate escape had become a story that inspired an entire country to root for her second chance. 🐄❤️

-----
*Every like, comment, and share reminds us that dogs and the humans who care for them matter. If you’d like to help us continue researching and posting these stories, please follow us.

07/03/2026

Island Animal is closing at
3.00 today
sorry for any inconvenience.
See you Tuesday, happy 4th of July

06/10/2026

THE WHITE RICE ON MY FUR WAS NOT RICE.
IT WAS TIME RUNNING OUT.

You saw me beside the shed.

A groundhog.

Still alive.
Still breathing.
But too quiet for an animal that knows how to vanish underground.

Maybe you thought I was resting.

Maybe you thought I was old.
Maybe you thought the little white specks near my ear were seeds, dust, or dried grass.

But they were not seeds.

They were eggs.

Flies had found me.

I am a groundhog.

I was made for tunnels.

For digging.
For running low through grass.
For disappearing under porches, stones, and earth before danger gets close.

But something had already made me weak.

Heat.
A wound.
A car.
A dog.
A sickness you could not see from the window.

And when a wild body becomes too tired to groom, too tired to move away, too tired to defend the soft places, flies do not wait.

They come to the eyes.

The ears.

The mouth.

The damp fur.

The hidden wounds.

They lay what looks like tiny white grains.

And every hour matters.

Because those little white grains are not harmless.

They are the beginning of something that can turn a living body into suffering very fast.

Please do not ignore them.

Do not spray me.
Do not bathe me.
Do not pick at me for photos.
Do not let dogs or children near me.
Do not assume I only need shade.

If I am weak, still, covered in flies, or you see white or yellow eggs on my fur, I need help immediately.

Keep pets and people away.

Take a photo from a safe distance if you can.
Note the exact location.

Call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, animal control, local wildlife rescue, or your state wildlife agency right away.

If trained help tells you to contain me, use thick gloves or a towel, place me in a ventilated box, and keep me warm, dark, dry, and quiet.

Do not give food or water unless a rehabilitator tells you to.

Because the white rice on my fur was not rice.

It was the clock starting
on a body that was still alive
and still hoping someone would notice.

04/11/2026

After watching the successful Artemis landing, we had to share again our favorite picture of our favorite astronaut, Leland D Melvin, who insisted that his official NASA portrait be taken with his two rescue dogs Jake and Scout.