Ask anyone who has ever owned a pet of any stripe and they will tell you that they’re furry/scaly/rodent-y companions play a far bigger role than simply that of an amusing companion.
Whether it’s us projecting or not, or anthropomorphising our animal-loving hearts, or the animals are really relating to us in some way – my brain says the former, but my heart very much the latter: my old cat Fred was basically people y’all – the fact remains that pets make a profound difference to our lives.
Just how profound you ask? (Let’s just pretend you did OK?)
In the case of returned US army veteran, Josh Marino, who had returned to home, and specifically to Fort Riley, Kansas, following a traumatic brain injury, the difference was immense.
Battling anxiety and depression triggered by post-traumatic stress disorder, Marino has decided to end his life one night when a kitten who came to be known as Scout made an appearance, altering Marino’s for the better, pretty much from the word go as he tells it:
“He just walked up and started rubbing up against my leg, letting me pet him. I broke down crying, burst into tears. Maybe he knew that there was something I couldn’t quite handle. I stopped thinking about all my problems and I started to think about all his problems what I could do to help him …Even before he was my cat, before he even knew me that well, Scout saved my life. He put me on a different path. He gave me the confidence to try to come back from all the adversity that I was feeling.”
Marino’s story is told in a beautiful mix of animation and live footage, reminding us once again just how important animals are in our life.
So important in fact that they may just play a pivotal role in saving it.
You can watch more inspirational stories like this one at Mutual Rescue, “a national initiative created by Humane Society Silicon Valley to change the conversation around animal welfare.”
(source: Laughing Squid)