Incredible pets deserve incredible food.
2024 was a year filled with heartwarming stories that reminded us of the incredible bond between humans and their furry companions. From acts of bravery to heartwarming gestures, these pets made a huge impact on the lives of their owners… and the lives of many, many more.
It’s stories like these that continue to inspire leading pet nutrition brand Nulo, which is committed to helping pets live their best lives with functional, delicious and nutritious food. Through their innovative and intentional formulas, Nulo fuels incredible cats and dogs just like the ones below each and every day.
Enjoy some stories below of 2024’s goodest boys and girls — courageous dogs, trauma-informed kitties and much, much more —that really show the unwavering love and loyalty animals bring into our lives. Their inspiring actions fuel incredible.
When a 71-year-old man went unconscious and collapsed during a steep hike, his golden retriever and a black labrador instinctively broke up into a rescue team — the smart and resourceful labrador going off to look for help, and the loyal goldie staying by its owner's side. Sometimes it’s smart to have two of “man’s best friends.”
Marley, a seven-year-old, black and white feline known for his "incredible gift of empathy” won Cat Protection's National Cat of the Year 2024 for the way he comforts women who have been enslaved, exploited and trafficked and staying at the Caritas Bakhita Safe House in London. He’s known to often leave a reassuring paw on guests’ legs to “let them know they’re not alone,” a gesture often called “the first kindness they’ve experienced in years.”
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In early 2024, Kobe, a four-year-old husky with an extraordinary sense of smell, began digging obsessively in the yard. At first the pooch’s owner, Chanell Bell, thought this was just typical behavior, but soon discovered that Kobe had indeed detected a dangerously large cloud of natural gas that would have not only been seriously life-threatening to her, but the entire neighborhood. It’s like they say, “the nose knows.”
Eight-year-old golden retriever Roger, may have failed his drug-sniffing training in Taiwan, but it turns out he has a knack for rescue operations during natural disasters. After a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck, Roger dug through the rubble of a collapsed building to locate the body of one of the 13 people killed in the quake, offering closure to a grieving family. This earned him the nickname of “the pride of Taiwan” on social media.
Dogs don’t only save humans — sometimes they rescue other animals as well.
When folks scrolling through the X account called “Animals Dying” saw a video of a creature swimming through murky water with a deer fawn in its jaws, they probably assumed it was an alligator enjoying its latest meal. But to everyone’s surprise and delight, it was actually a Labrador Retriever making sure the sweet little fawn didn’t drown.
Once a stray, 12-year-old Cilla found her home at Outwoods Primary School in Warwickshire, England, where she calms anxious students, inspires a community of cat lovers on X, and has even used her social media celebrity to help raise £5,000 to restock the school library — a place she loves to lounge in.
In July, Bloodhound puppy and K-9 unit member Remi used his powerful nose to help an autistic and non-verbal boy who had gotten lost find his way back home. Deputy B. Belk, Remi’s partner, used a piece of sterile gauze to collect the scent from the boy’s forearms and the back of his neck and had Remi “reverse” track backwards for about half a mile to locate the child’s home in a nearby neighborhood.
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When a beautiful pooch named Gita saw her 84-year-old owner fall and hurt his leg, she ran down to the main road, and refused to move until someone stopped to help. Eventually she was seen by a man named Deputy Wright, who tried to get Gita into his patrol car, but the dog wouldn’t budge. When Gita did finally bolt off, Wright followed her down to where the man had been stranded, and was able to help him. Without her protection, who knows if the man would have been found in time? “The loyalty and heroism of our furry friends never cease to amaze us,” Wright would end up writing on Facebook.
If there’s an incredible furry friend in your own life, nothing says “thank you” quite like a nourishing meal. Check out Nulo for a variety of recipes sure to be loved by your beloved pet.
People who grew up as nudists have surprisingly normal childhood
Nudity is something that people are often taught to hide in American culture. There are specific places and time where it's acceptable for people to expose their nude bodies like in the shower, doctor's office or gym locker room. There generally aren't many exceptions made unless you're under the age of two and recently learned how to remove unwanted clothing.
But even toddlers are quickly chased down and redressed while they wriggle about trying to escape again. Toddlers aren't the only ones that have a desire to be free from restrictive clothing, some adults prefer to be naked as much as possible. They not only desire to be as naked as a mole rat, they want to live a lifestyle where being nude is the norm.
People that commit to being nudists also get married, raise children and have a network of friends who are also nude. The nudist lifestyle has always been a point of curiosity for many people though most wouldn't dare to ask about it. But curiosity won when someone decided to ask what it was like to grow up as a nudist.
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One of the best ways to learn about another culture or lifestyle is to be curious enough to ask questions to the members from that particular group. It can open up an informative dialogue making things feel a lot less strange and scary, which is exactly what happened when someone dared to ask what it was like growing up nudist. Several people who did grow up in a nudist family share their experiences while others who came into nudism later in life give their take.
"I grew up with nudist parents. They weren't very into the lifestyle but we did go to nude beaches a few times and were generally naked inside the home. I found it comfortable, clothes are a bit of a pain," someone writes in part before continuing. "It definitely desexualized nakedness and helped me appreciate that humans come in all shapes and sizes. When people find out, they often act very shocked but I had a positive experience. Even being a teenage girl in those spaces felt frankly much safer than regular beaches."
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Another person shares about their childhood experience, saying in part, "I'm from the Netherlands. I grew up with 'naturist' parents in the seventies/eighties. There was a slight difference between nudists and naturists, but I can't remember what it was. We weren't naked all the time, but it was fine if you were. We went swimming naked every Sunday afternoon in the city public pool. I remember it felt totally normal for me to be naked in public, and seeing all these different body shapes and quirks.
I think more people are being shy about their naked body than when I was a kid. I'm still comfortable being naked around other naked (or even clothed) strangers, even though my body changed over the years (on the heavy side), and it allows me to not worry about the way I look. I reckon it's quite a task to keep up with what people think you should look like. I feel being nudist/naturist is good for being kind to yourself and the way you look."
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Nudism and its affects are not yet thoroughly studied but in a small study done in the UK they showed that people who spent time naked with others felt more body positivity at the end of the experiment. So one could stand to reason that children exposed to all different body types from a young age would also grow to have a high level of body positivity.
But what about when those children are teenagers? Are they still naked around adults who are also unclothed? One person who's father was a nudist has an answer to those questions and it may be surprising to hear for some people, sharing, "Even the kids were naked. While a 3 year old isn't something surprising, a 10 or 15 year old sure as sh*t was. Made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but that was 100% on me. They were all just running around having fun and nobody cared."
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The experiences shared by adults who were children of nudists all seem pretty mundane. There's no comments sharing anything outside of a normal childhood with the exception of everyone being naked. Clothing was always an option for guests and even children of nudist who wanted to wear them. One person shares that her only source of shame came from people outside of the community.
"My parents weren’t into it in a big way, by any stretch. But we went to nude beaches as a family when we were younger maybe a handful of times? I think mainly in France and perhaps once in Spain. It’s certainly normalized it to me to the extent I think it’s a fine thing to do. I remember telling other people casually though and them being quite shocked. Some even thinking it was ‘abusive’ of my parents to have done that," the commenter reveals in part.
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Naturism may not be for everyone but it doesn't have to be a taboo subject whispered in hushed tones. From the sounds of it nothing nefarious or inappropriate is happening at these locations, just mundane daily living activities. Swimming, cookouts, watching TV and hanging out with friends. If everyone was clothed no one would think twice, so maybe knowing what actually happens at nudist resorts will help people release the stigma.
Ask the people of Boston what issues impact them the most, and you’ll likely hear something about the cost of food. In 2023, Boston saw the second-highest grocery inflation in the country, and prices of basic household necessities have only increased since then. Between rising grocery costs, limited transportation, and tight holiday budgets, more and more people in the Boston area (and throughout the country) are struggling to put food on the table.
But for more than a decade, About Fresh, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to fresh foods in underserved communities, has been working on being part of the solution, from partnering with other food equity organizations like All In Food, PBC, to delivering fresh food right to the neighborhoods that need them.
In 2013, About Fresh founded Fresh Truck, an innovative, mobile market that supplies fresh produce to neighborhoods in need. Supplying more than 40 different types of fresh produce—from ripe avocados to plump oranges to leafy greens—Fresh Truck provides the convenience and nutrition to local communities that they wouldn’t otherwise have. And because Fresh Truck accepts SNAP, HIP and other nutrition assistance programs, this enables everyone in each community to buy fresh food regardless of their income.
Maria, a regular shopper at the Fresh Truck location in her neighborhood, shared that this service has helped her carry on family food traditions as daycare costs tighten her monthly budget. Over Thanksgiving, Maria used Fresh Truck to buy the ingredients for her mother’s sweet potato pie recipe. Without this option, “I would have used canned or left some things out this year,” she shared.
As the economy shifts, the need for organizations like About Fresh increase. In 2023, Fresh Truck completed 66,000 transactions and brought in over $2.7 million in produce sales from all over Boston—a shocking increase from 2022, which saw only 51,000 transactions and just $1.7 million in sales. In 2025 and beyond, About Fresh wants to meet the rising demand—and they’re branching out beyond the truck to make it happen.
As part of their mission to increase food access, About Fresh launched Fresh Connect in 2018, a food prescription program that enables healthcare companies to cover the cost of healthy foods by providing prepaid debit cards. The cards refill on a monthly basis, and shoppers can use the card across a network of 12,000 grocery stores, farmer’s markets, and other retailers to access fresh foods wherever they choose to shop.
But going further, About Fresh has made a way for people to support its mission of nutritious food access even if they happen to live outside of Boston. In a new partnership with All In (formerly This Saves Lives), shoppers can purchase organic, gluten-free, soy-free, whole-grain and palm-oil free snacks—and for every sale, All In donates a portion of those sales to About Fresh. (Shoppers can also try these craveable snacks for $0.99, for a limited time, to celebrate their About Fresh partnership. All In will donate $5 to About Fresh through the holiday season.)
Convenience usually means processed, packaged, or canned foods with sub-par nutrition—but through new projects and partnerships, Fresh Truck is helping communities access fresh produce and healthy foods in more locations than ever before. As our friends in Boston would say, that’s wicked good news.
Want to help Fresh Truck’s mission to bring fresh, affordable produce to people who need it the most? Fresh Truck is looking to raise $250k to support communities in need this holiday season. Remember, All In is donating $5 for every trial kit order for the holiday season! Every donation—big or small—helps add fresh food to neighbors’ holiday tables. Click HERE to donate.
