Animals in Distress

08/28/2025

did you know this?👍

If other countries can mandate no kill shelters. Why can’t the US?

08/21/2025

Some days feel like endless weeding, watering, and tending with no flowers in sight. But motherhood is a season, and every season has its purpose. Right now, it’s planting deep roots, even if the blossoms are still hidden. One day, the fruit of this work will be impossible to miss. And you’re going to reap what you sow.

08/17/2025

We honor such devotion in the Garden of Heroes at Animals in Distress.

08/15/2025

This is what love is all about. No fanfare. No awards. No publicity. Just pure love. It is the most beautiful thing in the world.

I was at the river, hidden in the reeds, hoping to take photos of wildlife when I espied a man tenderly carrying his dog into the water and gently setting her down. The old dog seemed soothed and contented to be in the water and moved around using her front legs.
When she got into deeper water, the man lovingly scooped her into his arms again and brought her back to shallow waters and there they stood together in companionable quietude.
I approached the man as I was leaving and shared that I couldn't resist taking photos of him and his dog. I learned that the man's name is Tony and his 13-year-old dog is Maya, who slowly lost movement in her hind legs after an accident five years ago. Tony had inherited her from his son who went into the Marines 11 years ago, and he and Maya have been inseparable since that time. He likes to take her to the river where the water makes her light enough to move around easily on her own.

08/15/2025

This is what love is all about.

Seven years ago, I walked into the store just looking for some dog food. I wasn’t planning on anything life-changing that day. But then, I saw this tiny black puppy, sitting quietly in the corner of a small enclosure. His eyes met mine and… something just clicked.
I remember picking him up and placing him in the cart, unsure of everything except one thing: he was coming home with me. That photo on the left was taken on our first shopping trip together. I had no idea what I was doing as a new dog dad, but he didn’t care. He just curled up in that cart like he belonged there like he belonged with me.
Fast forward seven years. That little ball of fur is now this beautiful, strong companion beside me. Same cart, same store, but a thousand memories in between. We've been through so much long walks, muddy adventures, quiet nights, health scares, and moments I didn’t know I needed until he gave them to me.
People often say “they’re just dogs,” but this guy… he taught me loyalty, patience, and unconditional love. He’s been there on my bad days, sat with me through heartbreak, and celebrated my wins with his goofy tail wags.
Now when we walk through the store, people stop and smile. They see the bond. What they don’t see is the man I was before him a little lost, a little lonely. And they don’t see the man I became because of him grounded, grateful, and forever changed.
Seven years in, and I still push him around in the cart not because he needs it, but because it reminds me where we started. From a puppy in a shopping cart to my best friend for life.
Here’s to many more rides together. 🖤🐾

08/15/2025

🐾 We Did It—Together! 🐾 The WAEB Radio-Thon for Animals in Distress wrapped up, and we’re blown away by your compassion and generosity. Thanks to our amazing listeners, sponsors, and supporters, we raised $235,076—making this the second most successful WAEB Radio-Thon in our history! 🎉
Thank you to our underwriting sponsor the Vinart Dealerships.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for tuning in, donating, and sharing the love for our furry friends. Every dollar brings hope and healing to the animals who need it most.

💛 Here’s to kindness, community, and every tail wag we helped make possible.

08/15/2025

Bobby Gunther Walsh and the WAEB team again hosted the Radiothon which is our biggest fundraiser of the year. We are grateful to them and all their listeners and our donors for making the Radiothon so successful. Each dollar donated goes directly for animal care. For saving lives. For bringing Hope into despair and Love into sadness. Thank you to all our volunteers as well, who work so hard on behalf of the hundreds of animals who presently live in our sanctuary. All of you, together, make our Kennel of Hope possible.

🐾 We Did It—Together! 🐾 The WAEB Radio-Thon for Animals in Distress wrapped up, and we’re blown away by your compassion and generosity. Thanks to our amazing listeners, sponsors, and supporters, we raised $235,076—making this the second most successful WAEB Radio-Thon in our history! 🎉
Thank you to our underwriting sponsor the Vinart Dealerships.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for tuning in, donating, and sharing the love for our furry friends. Every dollar brings hope and healing to the animals who need it most.

💛 Here’s to kindness, community, and every tail wag we helped make possible.

07/04/2025

As I have mentioned numerous times, although many people enjoy the Fourth of July festivities, they can be a source of distress for others. My one wish is for people to be considerate and accommodating of those who are adversely affected by loud noises. It’s called common courtesy. Be safe and be kind!❤️🙏🐈‍⬛🐕

07/01/2025

Anton Chekhov was born in 1860 and died in 1904—just 44 years of life, marked by hardship, compassion, and brilliance. Yet in that short time, he reshaped literature and lived a life that refused to pass without a trace.
From an early age, Chekhov carried heavy burdens: a turbulent childhood, emotional trauma, and a quiet battle with tuberculosis, the disease that would eventually take his life. But rather than break him, these struggles seemed to deepen his empathy—and sharpen his pen.
He became one of the greatest writers of all time, producing more than 20 major works—plays, short stories, novellas—that remain cornerstones of world literature. But his greatness wasn’t only on the page.
Chekhov was also a doctor, a builder, and a quiet revolutionary in how he lived.
In his hometown, he founded a library and filled it with thousands of donated books. In Melikhovo, he treated local peasants for free, ensuring that no one went without medicine or care. During a cholera outbreak, while others fled, he volunteered to help—traveling village to village, day and night, healing where he could.
He also took a hands-on approach to community: helping build schools, roads, a fire station, and even a bell tower—not for recognition, but because he believed people deserved better.
He once wrote:
“It is good if each of us leaves something good behind—something that shows our lives do not pass without a trace, but carry traces into eternity.”
Anton Chekhov did just that. Through his words, his kindness, and his actions,
he didn’t just write about humanity—he lived it.

~Weird Wonders and Facts

06/17/2025

He Measured the Earth... with Just a Stick and a Shadow?! 🌍

Over 2,000 years ago, a Greek man named Eratosthenes pulled off one of the most mind-blowing calculations in history.

He didn't need satellites or space missions, just:

A stick 🪵
The sun ☀️
And some clever thinking 🧠

📍 From Alexandria to Syene, he noticed that shadows behaved differently at the same time of day. So, he measured the angles, did the math... and estimated Earth’s circumference.

😲 The result? He was off by less than 2%.

Let that sink in.

No GPS. No high-tech tools. Just ancient geometry and brilliant curiosity.

He proved the Earth was round, long before most believed it.

So next time someone tells you math isn’t useful, just remember: a guy with a stick once measured the size of the entire planet.

06/17/2025

In 1868, a haunting photograph was taken at Fort Laramie. It showed six white Army officers standing in crisp formation—and beside them, a young Native American woman, calm and composed, with a gaze that felt both timeless and unseen. No one recorded her name. For over a century, she remained a silent figure in a scene of war and displacement—known only by her presence, not her story.
The officers were all carefully named, their ranks and titles preserved. But she? She was left blank, like so many Indigenous women in that era. Photographed often, identified rarely. Treated not as individuals, but as symbols—used to suggest a culture fading away, rather than one surviving with dignity and complexity.
Then one day, historian Michelle Delaney came across the image—and something in the girl’s quiet strength wouldn’t let her go. Determined to break the silence, Delaney began a painstaking journey through records, oral histories, and genealogical traces. And finally, she found her.
Her name was Sophie Mousseau. She was of Lakota and French Canadian descent—her mother Lakota, her father a fur trader. Sophie was not an outsider; she was woven into the life of the frontier, later marrying James Bordeaux, a well-known trader with close ties to Fort Laramie. Her life wasn’t an interruption to history—it was part of its making.
Sophie’s rediscovery reminds us that Native women weren’t passive bystanders in the story of the West. They were negotiators, translators, cultural bridges—living at the intersection of worlds. Her presence complicates what we think we know about that time. And now, after 150 years, Sophie Mousseau finally has her place in history.

~Weird Wonders and Facts

06/17/2025

Fred Vautour, a 62-year-old janitor at Boston College, worked the night shift for 15 years so all five of his children could attend the university tuition-free. Despite earning $60,000 a year, he took advantage of the school’s employee benefit, which covered most of the $66,000 annual cost. His youngest is now set to graduate with a nursing degree, marking the end of a journey powered by sacrifice and love. 👨‍👧‍👦🎓