The ruthless killing of George Floyd has caused a thunderous uproar and rage throughout the world. In Winston-Salem, NC, hundreds of people gathered to protest against the killing of Floyd. They took to one knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds that is the exact length of time former police officer Derek Chauvin had shoved his knee onto Floyd’s neck which resulted in Floyd’s death. The killing of George Floyd has become a symbol of injustice not only in American society but throughout the world. “Say no to racism” has been the most trending topic in all regions of the globe. In this particular incident, it was a black man who was the victim and this is not the only time it has happened. Several cases have occurred which demonstrated the lack of compassion and justice in the way law enforcement has dealt with individuals from minority racial groups.

Yolanda Williams Dickey, a resident of Winston-Salem, NC, was driving by the protest when she decided she wanted her family to be part of this protest as a sign of solidarity against discrimination against the minority groups. She went home to pick up her husband and son, who were glad they got a chance to be part of this historic protest. For her little son, Kamari it was quite the experience. He had never seen a protest rally before this. He saw a lot of anger and pain in the faces of the protestors. He could also see his parents being very emotional too. His parents had told him what the protest was about and how Floyd had been murdered. Kamari couldn’t understand why the former police officer did what he did to George Floyd.

Kamari’s attention went to the police officers on the sidelines. He watched them very closely as they stood by making sure there was no violence at the protest. Kamari had always wanted to a police officer himself but now his mother was concerned that after this incident, maybe he would not want to be one. Most of the toys that Kamari had were related to the police and he spent most of his days playing with them. He often told his parents that when he grows up he wanted to be a police officer so he could catch the bad guys. This unfortunate killing of George Floyd might have shattered the dreams of the little boy. At the protest, as the family moved closer to the police officers, Kamari approached Sgt. Dan Battjes, who was sitting on his motorcycle.

Kamari formally introduced himself to the police officer, who was very kind and friendly to the boy. After a few minutes of talking, Kamari said goodbye to the officer by a friendly fist pump. While the citizens of the country are demonstrating against the police and there is an unbelievable level of anger toward law enforcement, this little boy kept no hatred in his heart. The innocence of the little boy showed the resilience of the American community. One incident cannot dismantle years of peaceful coexistence. Yes, there have been cases where the minority communities have been discriminated and there should be strict actions and reforms against such incident but Americans still need to live together. The dream of Kamari to become a police officer might still be alive. The question remains, is the dream of a multi-racial America living with each other with love, compassion, and tolerance still alive? Only time will tell if this dream is alive.

Commercial Township is a small township nestled in Cumberland County, NJ. Located just outside of Port Norris, NJ, the sleepy Commercial Township is rarely busy with activity. After all, with a population of just over 5,000 people, there isn’t very much to do! With all that being said, the kind state troopers from the State Police Department in Port Norris, NJ, had their work cut out for them on a sleepy summer afternoon! When news of a rampaging piglet made its way to their radio, Troopers Bryan Blair, Julio Ferrer, and Ray Coleman knew that they had their work cut out for them!

State police officers are charged with all manner of tasks, large and small. From corralling drunken parties to protecting lives when the time comes, troopers never know what they are getting into when they clock in for a shift. When Ray Coleman and his colleagues were called about a loose piglet running around on Magnolia Drive in Commercial Township, well, that was a welcome distraction! The Port Norris State Police department said of the event, “You may have a cool job, but you don’t have to get dispatched to an animal complaint for a loose piglet!”  

When Trooper Coleman arrived on the scene with his colleagues, they found that their perp was going to be harder to handle than normal! We don’t know if you know, but piglets are fast, slick, and incredibly adorable. The State Police Department said of the eventual capture that they had to, “Run around Magnolia Drive in Commercial Township with a bunch of your squadmates until you corner the little critter, catch him, take him back to the station for a full-blown photoshoot session.”

After capturing the little piglet, now named Norris, the troopers attempted to contact the owner of the animal. Due to the region, it was possible that Norris came from any number of directions. Unfortunately, an owner wasn’t forthcoming immediately and this led the troopers to bring Norris back to their department for a quick photoshoot. The troopers told Norris that he had to “Meet the Sarge” and that was exactly what happened! The State Police department was thrilled with the work done by their young officers as they went on to point out that they hadn’t trained their troopers in the art of pig catching. The head of the department admitted that, perhaps, it would be “cooler if they did” add that technique to the training material. Who knows how many piglets they’ll have to corral in the future!

Port Norris is an unincorporated communicate with a population of just 1,377 people. With such a sparse neighborhood, we are sure that Norris the Piglet had quite the audience to his hijinks!  We’ve heard of police officers having to detain dogs, help with deer, and even find cats — but piglets? That one is new to us and to Port Norris State Police. The Department commented on the idea of training for piglet catching, “Perhaps we’ll think about adding that to training.”

Any responsible pet owner knows that if you cannot bring the animals with you then you need to make arrangements to ensure they are taken care of. If you are going to be gone for any length of time it is also a good idea to have someone check in on the house once in a while to make sure everything is ok. Last year one Canadian man agreed to watch his neighbor’s home while they were away.

The neighbors were going to be traveling for a few weeks visiting family overseas. They asked the man and his wife to watch the house and their pets and check on the house for three weeks while they went to Taiwan as his mother was dying and they wanted to see her and spend time with the family. They left the man $500 dollars for food for their 2 German Sheppards and their cat. The man agreed and went over daily to feed the pets and would walk through the house to check on things every week.

On July 1, he got an email asking if the man and his wife could watch things for a little longer. It was taking more time than they expected to take care of everything after his mother had died. They agreed and expected the man to return in 2 week’s time. They never arrived and no other communications were received. On July 21, the man sent an email but never got a reply. By the end of the month the neighbor’s cell phone had been disconnected and he was not responding to any email messages at all now. At some point in the following weeks a pipe had burst and ended up flooding the basement causing massive water damage. The man did not know what to do now since he still could not get in touch with the family.

He ended up paying someone out of his own pocket to have the leak fixed, and he also paid for one of their dogs to have surgery. This was quickly becoming a real nightmare situation, and worst of all, he had no idea how long it was going to last. He thought about trying to track them down via social media but they had a very common last name and he had no address or name for contact on who they were staying with in Taiwan so it seemed a search on his own was going to be fruitless.

The electricity was still running in the house, which the man credited to an autopayment. The internet was also still working. There was no way to track down a place of employment or other contact ins Canada who might know the couple and be able to help track them down. So, after waiting nearly a year, the man filed a missing person report with the police to try and get some help finding out what happened to the couple.  Eventually, they got a response- there was good news and bad news.

The good news was that the couple were alive and well and not dead or in prison as the man had feared. The bad news was that they seemed to be very irresponsible and privileged people. They said they had asked a relative to come to get the pets and deal with the house but had never checked in with him to see if any of it had been done. They said the man and his wife could keep the pets if they wanted or he could find some way to take them off their hands. He also seemed to care little about the house and made a statement along the lines of – if we ever come back we can pay to fix it or just buy a new house.  

The man said that he and his wife would keep the pets as they couldn’t bear to give them up after a year of caring for them. They were also very worried about what this couple may do with animals they seemed to truly care so little about. It is one of the most bizarre stories ever, but at least it ends on a happy not and those pets are still in good hands and are being loved and cared for. But let this be a warning before anyone agrees to house sit or pet sit for something- get all the details and contact information before you ever say yes!

Giant murder hornets, also known as Vespa mandarinia, have been in the news a lot lately. They have been recently spotted in the United States. These hornets were seen in Washington State back in December and it marks the first time they were documented in the U.S. British Columbia has also experienced a number of different spottings throughout last fall. Many experts believe these hornets ended up in the area through cargo transport.

The hornets pose a threat to the dwindling honeybee population in the United States and, since they have few natural predators, they can wreak havoc on other fragile ecosystems. These deadly hornets have also been known to kill dozens of people each year in Japan so they really are not kind to humans either.  

On his show, Brave Wilderness, YouTube personality Coyote Peterson was actually stung on camera by a murder hornet. On the show, you can see him in pain and his hands begins to seize up. He later revealed that he was in pain for almost six hours. His arm ballooned up to twice its normal size. While a single sting isn’t likely to kill a human being unless there is an allergic reaction to the venom, 30 to 40 stings could in fact kill a human. Even if someone is not allergic to a hornet, the sting is incredibly painful and does have a lot of neurotoxins.

A murder hornet has also stung Conrad Berube, an insect expert. He was stung through a beekeeping suit and was also stung through two pairs of pants and the hornet drew blood in two different places. He later said that the day after he was stung, he felt like he had the flu with leg aches. He has said the sting was the most painful of any stings he has experienced.

The hornets have a longer stinger than a honeybee does. Hornets don’t break off their stingers when they sting. Since the hornet stingers can puncture thick clothing it’s best to avoid hornets and the nest when possible. The hornets are also attracted to tree sap. You could be stung by one while close to a tree. Avoid wearing dark clothing since hornets are more attracted to it and if you are going to be outside, avoid carrying any open top sweet drinks, such as a soda, in order to try and prevent these painful stings from happening.

These hornets are typically between 1.5 and 2 inches long and have large orange-yellow heads, along with prominent eyes and a yellow and black striped abdomen. The hornet’s life cycle begins in April. When the queen wakes up from her hibernation, she begins to scout out different spots to grow colonies and build underground nests. Murder hornets are the most dangerous during the late summer and early fall and this is when they are likely to do the most damage to honeybee populations. The hornets end up attacking the beehives and then decapitate and kill the adults. They do so while eating the larvae and pupae. It only takes a few hornets to destroy an entire hive in just a few hours. The hornets usually nest in the mountainous regions of Asia and it’s not often they are found in urbanized areas or large cities. The nest is typically found at the base of large trees and they aren’t able to tolerate extremely cold or hot temperatures, which gives some hope that they may not spread in certain climates in North America.

Currently, officials in Washington State are tracking the insects and using traps to ease some of the potential harm.

There are many incredible dog rescue stories but this one might be one of the most astonishing and amazing animal transformations through human kindness and compassion. 

Animal Aid Unlimited, a leading street animal rescue center in India, received a message from a person saying that there is a sick and dying dog on the street that is not even able to stand up. When the rescue group found the collapsed starving pooch by the side of the road, they realized the words of the Good Samaritan were not an exaggeration. The dog was extremely malnourished and so skinny that her body looked like just a pile of rocks. She was covered in mange and was completely hairless with painful sores all over her weak body. 

The rescues covered the stray with a blanket and took her to one of their facilities full of doubts the dog would be able to survive. The pup was so weak that she even did not have enough strength to eat when volunteers were attempting to feed her. Her sad eyes were full of pain and hopelessness. All she was doing was laying on her mat on the floor in the corner of the cell and staring at the wall. 

However, the rescuers did not want to give up and decided to do all they can to help the dog to survive and get back to a happy dog life. They named the pooch Helen and started working hard and tirelessly on saving Helen’s life. The saddest and the most heartbreaking thing was to find out that the dog was completely cut off from human contact and did not know what affection was. When one of the volunteers approached her and stroked her head gently, Helen shook it off like a fly because has never experienced such contact before. 

Even though the dog was very sick, both physically and mentally, the rescue team knew they could heal her. The first things they did were hooking the pup up to an IV  to offset dehydration and cured her damaged skin with the help of anti-inflammatory medications.  It took volunteers several months to bring Helen back to life. After 10 days her will to live was getting stronger, and Helen started her journey to recovery. It took her several months until she finally started getting better and transforming into a dog with some hope in her eyes and trust in humans. 

Soon the dog was unrecognizable. Her eyes got filled with the will to live and the body got covered with white soft fur. She looked like a brand-new healthy and happy dog. The volunteers say that she is an old, frail, and toothless girl with a very young and strong soul. At first, they thought they might lose her, but her hidden strong spirit helped her to survive. 

This story is an incredible example of how human kindness and a big heart can work wonders and transform the lives of other living creatures.