Wonder Pets

The State has two heartwarming (although one's is a little chilling as well) animal stories today.  First up is Sandy, a golden retriever who stood by his lost little master when two-year-old Connor Cummings wandered off from his North Carolina home over the weekend:

Connor, not yet 2, and Sandy were found together in a wooded area more than a mile from their home in northwestern Granville County more than 24 hours later.

Rescuers found Connor after two men on horseback heard Sandy bark.

“She’s pretty much a baby sitter for him,” Connor’s mother, Teresa Cummings, said of the golden retriever.

 As rescuer Steve Brewer said, "It's just like one of those Lassie stories" except I bet Lassie never got rewarded with three burgers and three pieces of chicken like ol' Sandy did.

The story that either a) warms the cockles of your heart or b) scares the bejezus out of you is that of Oscar the cat.  This frisky feline raised in a nursing home ain't no ordinary cat, friend - he can tell when a patient is going to die:

The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He’d sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would die within a few hours.

Angel of Death?I've been shooing away our own beloved Tiggy since I read that story this morning.  I mean, look at his eyes in that picture - you can tell he's none to pleased that we've introduced this new puppy into the house, so who's to say he's not planning to off me in retaliation?

As astute readers know, we love us some animals in the Kelly/Carrigg household, but lately we have some new favorites.  I'm speaking, of course, of The Wonder Pets.

Don't get me wrong, Sandy deserves the praise - and the burgers - he's getting for keeping Connor safe.  But two days? C'mon, the Wonder Pets rescued "A unico-orn! With a little ho-orn!" in less than 15 minutes the other day.  You give Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming, too, a couple of days like that, and they could round up all the lost dogs in Columbia and return them to their grateful owners - and still have time to munch on some celery. 

Heck, the other day, they helped a puppy who had to pee get of the house his stupid owners had left him in (see Season One, Episode 7).  If they had an 800 number on that tin can phone of theirs, I'd put in a call to get them to help housetrain our new puppy, as long as the cat doesn't eat him first.

Besides rescuing other animals, The Wonder Pets are preparing a whole new generation of children to appreciate Broadway musicals.  I'd say a good 70 percent of the dialogue in the show is sung rather than spoken.  My two-year-old daughter Sophie now sings (and here you have to imagine, say, the theme music to the Chris Reeve Superman movies) stuff like, "Da-addy! I want some gra-apes!" and "Mo-ommy! Where's my apple juice?"  It's darling, I tell you.