You can't judge a book by its cover
I’ve never thought of our animals as particularly close. Perhaps because they arrived at different times and are what I consider somewhat “species-challenged” (we have two unrelated female huskies and one cat), they have always kept a respectful distance from one another. You can imagine my surprise, then, when I recently witnessed two incredible events that proved our merry band really do care about each other.

The first event took place in the kitchen, the center of the world for our animals. Every evening, from the time I contemplate starting to cook until the last dish is washed and dried after dinner, the animals wait for food scraps on the kitchen mat. They seemingly pay no attention to each other during this daily ritual. But now I know better. Last week, our 141/2-year-old husky, Sabrina, and Katy, our two-year-old calico cat, actually came nose-to-nose for several seconds. Then Sabrina, the queen of the house, the most notorious cat chaser on the planet, gave Katy a big lick on the top of the head. Katy took this incredible show of affection in stride but I was dumbfounded.

The second event was even more telling. Our second husky, Shayla, has been experiencing neurological problems over the last year, most likely associated with age (she was seven or so when we rescued her five years ago) and genetics. She isn’t “the sharpest knife in the drawer” any more and some days are worse than others. Her siblings seem to sense this and give her extra space. The other night, however, they showed their true colors.

Around 1:00 a.m. we were woken by Sabrina whining. My husband and I got up and found our furry husky crying at the front closet. Katy the cat was there too, pawing at the door. At that instant, we also heard a noise inside the closet. Slowly and nervously, my husband opened the sliding door and there stood Shayla, tenuously balancing on several pairs of shoes. She had somehow wandered into the closet, closed the door on herself and then couldn’t get out. Katy was trying to open the door for her while Sabrina decided to put out an SOS to draw our attention to the situation. We helped Shayla back to her bed, all the time thinking that those animals from The Incredible Journey had nothing on our rag tag crew.

I know some of you have experienced this type of incredible behavior with your own animals. In fact, many of you submitted wonderful stories of love and commitment to our “Amazing Animals Story Contest”. We read them all with great pleasure and many a teary eye. Your stories are a great tribute to your special friends and we want to thank you for sharing them with us. Though we have only a few prizes to award, these animals are all special in our books. And, obviously, in yours!

Wishing you peace and joy in 2005,

Dana