Table of contents for July/Aug 2021 in All Creatures

I’M POSTING THIS FOR A FRIEND, the message read. Her uncle passed away and left his 14-year-old dog, Ricky, behind. Can anyone take her in? I looked at the photo of an older Lab mix with soft eyes, my heart sinking. Did she understand what had happened? Was she scared? The post was hard to ignore, even more so because it popped up in my neighborhood Facebook group. Ricky was close by and needed help. “Look at this dog,” I said to my husband, explaining the situation. I zoomed in on Ricky’s picture and looked at Dave. He knew what I was thinking. “That’s awful,” he said. “I wonder why the family can’t take her in.” I hadn’t thought of that. I read further and learned that Ricky couldn’t be…

ON EASTER SUNDAY 2004, I spotted an unfamiliar dog in our yard. The older chocolate Lab, named Bosco, belonged to neighbors who’d just moved into the farmhouse down the road. I told them Bosco was welcome to visit me whenever he wished. For the next three years, Bosco came over nearly every day. He would sit on my porch, bark just once, then patiently wait for me to let him inside. He was gentle and well-mannered, and I grew to love him. One day, I came across an ad for a music box—a green pickup truck with a chocolate Lab riding in the back. It played the song “Stand by Me.” I knew immediately that I needed to get it. I ordered it and planned to give it to Bosco’s…

I collapsed on my bed. It was 10 P.M. Grigoris, my date, would be here any minute to pick me up for an evening out in Athens’s hot Psiri district. I yawned, forcing my eyes to stay open. I’d been living in Greece for three months, and I was exhausted. I had moved to Athens from Boston purely on a whim after college graduation. I’d gone through a bad breakup and needed a change of scenery. I’d always been fascinated by Greece, so I jumped at the chance to be an au pair for a well-off Greek family. I packed my bags and headed for the Mediterranean. It wasn’t easy adjusting to a different culture, learning a new language and a new alphabet—while also chasing after three kids. But I…

A SKINNY TABBY appeared in London’s St. Augustine’s church in 1936. Father Henry Ross, the rector, couldn’t bear to turn her out onto the street. He named his new furry parishioner Faith. Faith attended the church’s services, sitting in the first pew or curling up at Father Henry’s feet as he preached. Four years after arriving, she gave birth to a black-and-white kitten named Panda. Then Faith started acting strange. She began scratching at the door to the church’s basement—a place she’d never shown any interest in before—carrying Panda by the scruff of his neck. When Father Henry opened the door, Faith darted down the stairs, placing Panda on the cold floor. Worried, Father Henry brought the kitten back upstairs, only to have Faith take him right back down to…

Whoever said cats hate water has never met Rigby, a Burmese who loves her life on the high seas aboard her family’s sailboat. Take one look at her popular Instagram account (@ miss_ rigby_boatkitty) and you’ll be captivated by photos of her green-gold eyes glistening in the sun, fearless dinghy leaps and playful perch atop her dad’s shoulder as they meander a deserted beach. Rigby’s crew is captain Shane La Peyre and his wife and first mate, Maryvonne. The Aussie pair had a golden retriever, an architecture business and a serious boating addiction. When their dog passed away, they decided to trade their home on land for one on the water. Eleven years later, they’ve sailed into a perfect balance of working on other people’s yachts and exploring the beautiful…

IF YOU’RE DRIVING down Winchester Road in St. Matthews, Kentucky, you’ll see an unusual sign: “Caution: Squirrel crossing.” Pamela Jo Craig, concerned citizen and self-proclaimed squirrel lover, enjoys watching the bushy-tailed rodents scamper through her front yard. Pamela has always adored these small creatures—she even had a squirrel figurine attached to her wedding bouquet. But she was worried about the cars speeding by. One day, after witnessing yet another near-miss, Pamela knew she had to do something to help her little friends. She just wanted people to slow down a bit, maybe make them laugh. What she didn’t expect was the reaction from her neighbors. “I put the signs up,” she says, “but someone else drew a crosswalk with chalk in front of my house. Then, the next morning, it…

Meaningful Moves A honeybee performs the “waggle dance” for other bees inside the hive, giving off the scent of the particular flower patch where nectar can be found. We Just Click Clans of sperm whales recognize each other by their unique click patterns known as codas. Even if they live thousands of miles apart, they “speak” the same dialect. Express Yourself Chimpanzees use 66 gestures, such as waving, tapping and arm raising. Their “smile” that reveals all of their teeth is actually a fear grin when they’re afraid or unsure. Colorful Conversations A male veiled chameleon changes color when he’s willing to fight. The male with the brighter-colored head tends to win. Did You Feel That? Elephants send stress signals through rumbles—frequencies believed to be sensed through receptors in their…

Who she is Growing up, Tracy Barnhart often visited Gettysburg Game Park, a wild animal attraction in Fairfield, Pennsylvania, near her family’s home. She loved seeing the llamas, ostriches, zebras, tigers and other creatures but had little understanding back then about how they’d come into captivity. Today, Tracy, a veterinary nurse at an animal hospital, volunteers for East Coast Exotic Animal Rescue (ECEAR), which now occupies that same site. In fact, founder Suzanne Murray used to work at the game park. When the park owner retired and planned on dispersing all the animals to other locations, Suzanne bought the site and turned it into a rescue. What she does Tracy is an animal caretaker at the nonprofit sanctuary, which is home to misused, abused or otherwise cast-out animals, displaced due…

The loss of his beloved cat five years ago left Kaleel Sakakeeny reeling. “When Kyro passed away, my world fell apart,” he says. He stumbled through each day, enveloped in grief. Kaleel sought professional help, but most psychologists, he discovered, don’t specialize in dealing with grief related to losing an animal companion. His search led him to the animal chaplain training program—launched by Rev. Dr. Sandra Passmore Byland in 2003—at Emerson Theological Institute, headquartered in Oakhurst, California. “I realized that my broken heart was not a mental health issue, but a spiritual one,” says Kaleel, who wanted to not only heal from his own loss but also help others do the same. He is now an ordained and certified animal chaplain and pet bereavement counselor. What do pet chaplains do?…

Marlena, Cat Foster Rescuing and fostering cats is part of who I am. It gives me the ability to create positive change in my Atlanta community and offer these cats all they deserve. I’ve been fostering since 2010 and have rescued more than 300 cats and kittens, including paraplegics, pregnant females and babies that need bottle feeding. I also cofounded the nonprofit Be Their Voice with a friend to raise more funds. We want to educate others about rescue and plan on opening a shelter one day! @fostercatsfordays Melissa, Groomer I started grooming on a whim 13 years ago. I worked office jobs here in California but had the urge to learn a trade. I began grooming by assisting other stylists and realized that the rewards…

IN JULY 2019, Penny Layne fostered two female dogs and their 17 puppies for Pet Search Rescue in Washington, Pennsylvania. One litter needed to be bottle-fed every two hours, around the clock. She recruited 54 volunteers to help. One of them, Hanna Harshell, made fleece blankets for each mom and puppy to take to their adoptive homes. What’s even more special about the blankets is that Hanna prayed as she made them, asking God to watch over the animals. She even prayed for another volunteer’s dog who was having a leg amputated. “It was such a special idea,” says Penny, who lives in the Pittsburgh area. “The volunteers suggested we make blankets for all injured, ill and recuperating animals. Hanna taught me how to make them, and we both taught…

As a set designer for Saturday Night Live, New Jersey-based Ken MacLeod was all too familiar with working under pressure. So, when pandemic puppy mania turned Ken’s dog training side gig into a demanding business, he was ready. Did you have pets growing up? My family had cats. It wasn’t until I met my fiancée, Kim, 14 years ago that I completely fell in love with dogs. She had a Parson Russell Terrier named Mac. When did you become interested in set designing? In college, I originally set out to be a business major. I soon realized that I was unable to express my creativity in the accounting world and needed to make a change. I had always been captivated by film sets and the process behind designing them, so…

I’m assigning Pippy to you,” Mr. Shippy, one of the guards, said. Oh no, I thought. Pippy hadn’t been here long, but she already had a reputation. I’d heard her snarls and barks echoing through the halls of the dog dorms of Indiana’s Madison Correctional Facility. I’d seen her from a distance, a hound mix with a droopy expression and a quick temper. She’d instigated every dog fight that had broken out since she’d arrived six months earlier. Several other trainers in the dorm—my fellow inmates—had attempted to work with her. They hadn’t made any progress. Pippy was the worst dog in the prison’s program. “Keelie, I’ve seen what you’ve done with your past dogs,” said Mr. Shippy. “You’ve got this.” I wasn’t so sure. Some of Pippy’s trainers hadn’t…