Pets

Best Of Patch 2019: Pet And Animal Stories From Across America

Some of Patch editors favorite stories of 2019 involve animals — cats and dogs, but also those that are more ferocious than friendly.

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George Caldwell, owner of Llamas of Circle Home in Sonora, brought the soft, sweet creatures to spend the day visiting students and staff at a California school.
George Caldwell, owner of Llamas of Circle Home in Sonora, brought the soft, sweet creatures to spend the day visiting students and staff at a California school. (Photo by Autumn Johnson/Patch)

At Patch, we’re like everyone else in terms of how much we love our pets. We fret when they’re lost. We rescue them when they’re abandoned or hurt. Sometimes, they teach us. And occasionally, we’re lucky enough to get video of our pets doing things that perfectly encapsulate why they occupy such a special place in our families.

It’s not just companion animals that bring bring comfort and joy to our lives. Patch readers appreciate all kinds of animals.

Here is a sampling of the volume of pet and animal stories you’ll find on Patch’s more than 1,200 hyperlocal community news sites across America:

Find out what's happening in Across Americafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Therapy Llamas' Delight Pleasanton High School Students: These easy-to-love creatures helped some students unleash their “llama energy” while celebrating “Love Week” at a California school, via Pleasanton Patch.

What Kids Learn From A Blind And Deaf Dog Named Piglet: Piglet, a pastel pink puppy that can't see or hear, is opening eyes and ears around the world with messages of kindness, inclusion and acceptance, via Westport Patch.

Find out what's happening in Across Americafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The blind and deaf pink puppy Piglet weighed about the same as four sticks of butter when veterinarian Dr. Melissa Shapiro agreed to foster him. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Melissa Shapiro)

Video: 2 Tough Old Birds Snare Mountain Lion In Potty: Kathy and Edward Sudduth, 87 and 84, didn’t flinch when they got a quizzical “who me?” look from a mountain lion they found curled up in their bathroom, via Sacramento Patch.

Maggie Sent Home After Burglary Adventure: No one really knows why a loveable bulldog named Maggie went along on burglaries across the country — and was a central figure in a Florida burglary spree — but she’s back home in California, via Sarasota Patch.

Maggie was reunited with her California owner this week following a four-year cross-country adventure that included a burglary spree in Florida. (Photo courtesy of Sarasota Police Department)

Dog Finds Philly Forever Home After Miraculous Series Of Events: A string of random events led a Philadelphia couple to take in a malnourished dog recently, in what could only be described as a miracle, via Philadelphia Patch.

Below are more local Patch stories we think you’ll enjoy.

Must-See Animal Videos

Puppy Dog Tales

Beans, a deaf Whippet and one-time International Surf Dog Championship winner, has retired. (Photo courtesy of City of Monrovia)

Interspecies Friendships

Lived To Bark, Meow, Bleat, Quack Again

Mechanic Thomas Sheene cradles a kitten that became trapped in an SUV engine compartment after she was thrown from a moving vehicle. (Photo courtesy of Tire Kingdom)

Beautiful, Wild And Unpredictable

An alligator Derrick Snelson caught was 14 feet long, likely a Georgia state record. (Photo courtesy of Derrick Snelson)

Old MacDonald’s Farm

Miniature horse Saphira was set for slaughter before being rescued. She helped to save a little boy's birthday with a surprise visit. (Photo courtesy of Rachel Miner Dyer)

Animal Kingdom’s Magnificent Minds

An orangutan named Sandra at the center of a landmark ruling in Argentina that said she is a “non-human person” entitled to the same rights as humans moved permanently to a sanctuary in Florida where great apes have freedom of choice. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Across The Rainbow Bridge

The sourpuss Grumpy Cat, a mixed breed feline with a perpetual frown that shot to social media fame, has died at age 7. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

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