I find this so true. If you love animals, there is nothing that can bring calm and comfort like an animal giving you unconditional love and affection. My cats have always known when I am sad, and come and cuddle with me on the rare occasion that I cry. I seldom break down in front of people, but I have in front of my animals because they don’t judge or do anything except offer pure love.
I have seen and also read about the positive effects of having animals visit homes for the elderly, prisons, and hospitals. Projects I have followed with interest are ones where prison inmates trained service dogs and rehabilitated rescued dogs. The benefits were felt by the inmates, the guards and the dogs. Read more here.
In Sweden there is an organisation, VOOV, that helps abused women who have pets they do not want to leave behind. Some shelters allow women to have their animals with them. In other cases the animals are placed in foster care while the women get back on their feet. This means that women who previously would have stayed in an abusive relationship because they did not want to leave their pets with their abuser, are now able to accept help that was previously not an option for them.
In my own time volunteering with animals I have seen people who cannot connect with human beings, connect beautifully with animals. There are people who don’t like animals of course, but I think most people find a connection to animals.
Hug your animal today!
That last picture is really me. I suffer from anxiety and I often feel frustrated and my cat takes away that ball of worry from me. Last night, I spent 2 hours crocheting a basket for my cat (Minou is her name!) and she spent the rest of the evening kneading it. I felt as warm and fuzzy by this as she felt in her brand new basket!
Great piece of writing. We don’t deserve animals.
We certainly don’t.