As animals are close to many of our hearts, they’re often synonymous with celebrations of love in February. From pet-themed Valentine’s celebrations to animal Valentine’s Day cards, they’re everywhere! Luckily for us, this adoration is a two-way street as often our pets are equally devoted to us.
With National Love Your Pet Day headed our way on February 20th, animal lovers around the nation will unite to celebrate the beautiful bonds we treasure with our companions.
We’ve compiled some of our favourite animal love stories from around the globe. Each of these showcase pets or animals who’ve shown their love or proved loyalty in the most amazing ways. You won’t want to miss these heartwarming animal stories, so keep scrolling to find out more!
Bobbie ‘The Wonder Dog’
Deservedly nicknamed ‘The Wonder Dog’, Bobbie travelled 2500 miles to reunite with his owners! The legendary Scottish Collie breed dog was born way back in 1921, but despite being alive long ago, his memory lives on today and his story is well-known around the world.
Bobbie got separated from his caregivers and went missing in Wolcott, Indiana, after being attacked by three other dogs. The family were on holiday visiting relatives at the time and journeyed back home in despair, fearing they would never see Bobbie again.
In February 1924, over 6 months after Bobbie went missing, he turned up at the doorstep of his owners in Oregon. Just a casual 2500 miles from where he went missing! He was described as scrawny, malnourished and with worn-down paws, but his loyalty was stronger than ever.
Finally making it back to his overjoyed family, they nursed him back to health. The story made headlines all over the USA, with Bobbie even receiving an honorary feature in that year’s Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not’ book.
A Wallaby Never Forgets
When Mirabook’s mother was hit by a car in Australia, the baby wallaby sadly became an orphan. Thankfully Rita, who had worked in wallaby rehabilitation for over 6 years, took on the orphan who was only 5 months old at the time.
Rita became Mirabook’s primary caregiver, raising her alongside a family of foster wallaby siblings until she became old enough to go back into the wild on her own.
After release, Mirabook quickly proved her love, loyalty, and thanks by voluntarily choosing to return regularly to Rita’s home for visits and cuddles. At one point Mirabook disappeared for a few weeks, but it was only while she was having a baby wallaby of her own!
Not long after, Mirabook visited Rita with her newborn baby son, who the family have since nicknamed ‘Rookie’, to rhyme with his mother’s name.
A Penguin’s Love Is For Life
Dindim is a fiercely loyal penguin who travels 5,000 miles annually to visit his human rescuer. The penguin, specifically a South American Magellanic, is loyal to Mr Joao Pereira de Souza who rescued him several years ago.
Mr De Souza rescued Dindim when he was found starved, alone and partly paralysed. With love and care, De Souza managed to raise Dindim back to health, to a point where he was able to be released back into the wild. After this, Mr De Souza feared he would never see the penguin again.
Research into animal psychology has shown that penguins generally mate for life, choosing one primary companion – in this case, Dindim chose Mr De Souza. To everyone’s surprise, Dindim returned the next summer, and he continues to return to visit his rescuer each June.
This species of penguin would normally breed on the Patagonia coast of Chile and Argentina, between 3000-5000 miles away from Joao's home, but Dindim voluntarily visits and stays until February.
As quoted in dailymail.co.uk, Mr De Souza said: “I love the penguin like it's my own child and I believe the penguin loves me”. What an amazing story of loyalty and companionship!
Lulu Saves The Day
After suffering a heart attack at home, Jo Ann Altsman’s situation could have become very grave if it wasn’t for her devoted companion pig Lulu being by her side.
Like many of the dedicated assistance animals that work in therapy and support roles, pigs are incredibly smart and perceptive. When Jo Ann went into cardiac arrest, Lulu immediately knew something wasn’t right and tried to help her up.
After helping Jo Ann back on her feet wasn’t proving to be successful, Lulu ran out to the road and oinked frantically until a driver stopped to see what was wrong. Lulu then took the man to where Jo Ann was, after which an ambulance was called.
As stated on One Green Planet, doctors who helped Jo Ann afterwards said if she had been left for another 15 minutes, she probably wouldn’t be alive today. Jo Ann rewarded Lulu with a doughnut and lots of cuddles for her courage.
You Can Help Build The Human-Animal Bond
If these stories of human and animal relationships have you fascinated, you could position your career around helping people build these incredibly strong and important bonds.
There are many instances where humans rely on the support of animals to get through their day-to-day. You could help people get the animal assistance they need by training dogs to help people with sight or hearing difficulties, physical disabilities, and those prone to seizures, to lead independent lives.
Alternatively, you could get qualified to work in Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI), a type of therapy that involves animals as a form of treatment. The goal of AAI is to improve a patient’s social, emotional, or cognitive functioning.
There are also an abundance of online courses we offer that dive deep into exploring why animals think and behave in the amazing ways they do.
Show Your Appreciation For Animals
In any case, Valentine’s Day and Love Your Pet Day are excuses to shower our furry friends with love and affection, but you could use this year as an excuse to fall in love with an animal career and help others in the process!
Find out more by clicking the link below to view our extensive range of animal behaviour courses. Also, if you adore animals, you can keep track of all upcoming animal awareness days and events with our FREE calendar! Download it here.
