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Brazilian veterinarian gives parrot a second chance at life with a prosthetic beak

The parrot could not survive in the wild without its beak, which is used to build nests, fend off predators and eat.

Brazilian veterinarian gives parrot a second chance at life.

A parrot in Brazil got a lucky break when it was rescued after someone found it with a severely damaged beak. In fact, most of its little beak was completely gone. Birds use their hard beaks to eat, fend off other animals and build nests, and their mouths are essentially their hands while their feet are busy walking, scratching or holding twigs.

Plus, I don't know if you've paid much close attention to birds, but they don't seem to have a lot of dexterity with their tiny little bird legs. They sort of walk around like peg-legged pirates even though I'm pretty sure birds have knees. (I'm not a bird scientist or a zoologist if that wasn't clear.)

Luckily for this parrot, Renascer ACN, an animal rescue and rehabilitation facility in Planura, Brazil, had a doctor on staff who not only knows if birds have knees but also knew how to make a prosthetic beak.

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Roman Duncan and his mom, with Maggie the foster pup.

Puppies are cute, rambunctious and have a way of worming themselves into your heart, and that’s exactly what happened to Roman Duncan when his family fostered a sweet pit bull mix named Maggie. Roman’s mom stepped up to foster Maggie and get her accustomed to what family life would be like. Being a puppy is hard—it requires learning all the rules that you’re not familiar with and a patient human to teach them to you.

The Duncan family helped Maggie learn the ropes of puppy life to prepare her for her new post-rescue family. The Duncans live in Louisiana and the rescue shelter, North Shore Animal League America, is in Port Washington, New York, which meant Roman’s new cuddle buddy would have to be transported a long way. Six-year-old Roman wanted to do what he could to make sure his best friend was adopted, so he devised a plan. He decided to write letters to Maggie’s potential adopters to let them know that she’s the goodest of girls.

Maggie sleeping.Photo Credit: North Shore Animal League America


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Images used from Tahoe PAWS & TLC 4 Furry Friends' Facebook, with permission

Pitbull found four months after being given up for lost.

For nonprofit animal rescue organization Tahoe PAWS and TLC 4 Furry Friends, reuniting lost pets with their owners is all in a day’s work. However, one recent rescue has gone viral, after the team successfully found a pitbull who had been missing for nearly four months.

Poor little Russ, a 3-year-old pitbull pup, had gotten spooked one night during a camping trip with his owner, Ricardo Rodriguez, in late August.

Rodriguez had done his best to find Russ: getting the help of friends, calling local shelters, posting fliers. To no avail.

And then, the Caldor Fire hit. As it destroyed several homes and businesses along a stretch of 200,000 acres, the flames forced an emergency evacuation for Rodriguez. From there, things began to turn bleak.

"After months of not hearing back from anyone, I assumed he was in good hands with a different owner," Rodriguez told CNN.

Luckily, Rodriguez and Russ’ story was far from over.

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Best Friends
True

Peach was just a kitten when Chris Henderson fell head over heels for her. He had recently moved from Scotland to Houston, and the whole city was under quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic. Chris was waiting for his fiancé Emma's visa to come through so she could join him, and he was feeling a bit lonely. He thought perhaps a pet might help with that. When he found Peach on Best Friends Animal Society's website, he was struck by her.

"There was just something unusual about her coat, and she looked pretty adorable," Chris said.

Best Friends

A few days later, he met Peach at her foster home and the rest, as they say, is history. After he adopted her, he was grateful to have learned about the kitten's habits from her foster mom.

"Peach uses her voice a lot when she wants something," Chris said. "It would have worried me, as it was different to the cats I had growing up. But knowing that was just her nature really put my mind at ease."

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