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Most recently published stories in Petlife.
The whole world in a grain of sand
This photo was taken on a beautiful day in the beginning of May, 2015, in Angleton Texas, at the original Rowdy Girl Sanctuary. I had just flown in from Uruguay where my Mother and Brother and I had moved for a fresh start in life, after cancer had claimed the life of my Father and we had brushed with death ourselves in the later stages of neurological Lyme disease. I had recently survived an intensely abusive relationship and had found my voice in the animal rights movement, speaking up for the voiceless. I had seen a photo of this amazing woman who was to me, like a mystical unicorn among normal human mortals. Her name is Renee, and after reading her story, I had to go to her and help her cause as soon as conditions permitted. When I arrived, there were around thirty cows, four horses, and a few other fortunate animals. I spent an hour with this unbelievably beautiful horse, who I called “the Bowie horse” for having one blue eye, and one brown one, who would’ve been slaughtered if not for the heart work of Renee and her husband Tommy. This is one of a few photos I took with my ancient little iPhone 5 of our profoundly meaningful first meeting. He and I stood motionless with our foreheads touching, and I could clearly discern the depth of his wisdom, the beauty of his Soul. He told me of countless things and knew I could hear everything he shared. In the photograph, much later I realized the whole sanctuary lay visible, reflected in his other-worldly eye. There, in his curiosly shaped iris, is visible the now famous red trailer, which was once used to transport baby calves to the sale barn and ultimately, to merciless slaughter. Renee wrote a song about the red trailer, and how it would never be used to steal babies from their grieving Mothers ever again. This photo I chose among many many others for its sublime beauty and for the poignant message it will always serve to carry to all Truth seeking Souls in the history of Animal Liberation. It is by far, the most important one in a time when the Earth is screaming for our stewardship and care through every single one of her inhabitants, every one of our hearts. I fancy myself a skilled “iPhone artist” and believe in creating quality works using whatever tools one has. My trusty little phone has served me well in this endeavor and it continues to be my favorite tool for capturing life’s experiences, lessons, and stunning images.
By Natalia Iswara6 years ago in Petlife
Luna Life
This face is my favorite thing in the whole world to see. I currently have over 8,000 photos stored on my phone, and it is not an exaggeration to say that nearly all of them are of this big furry face. In times of happiness, I seek out this wolfishly grin to share my joy with. In times of sadness, these wide eyes brimming with such warm love and devotion bring me comfort.
By Amanda Knight6 years ago in Petlife
Meet Kiko
Meet the most popular cat in my town, Kiko. He is a bengal cat, which means he is two generations domesticated from an Asian leopard, hence the rosette spots covering his beautiful pelt. My parents had bought him off a breeder who specifically bred Bengal cats. At the time we were looking for a bengal cat because we had heard that these cats not only look cool, like a true wild feline, but are hypoallergenic and act similar to dogs in that they love water, like to take walks, and can perform dog-like tricks. So we messaged the breeder on Facebook and found out that her cats had a new litter of kittens ready to be adopted in a few weeks or so. So my parents organized a day for us to go out to the suburbs and meet this lady In her huge house probably filled with cats. We went over and had a lovely visit crawling in bengal kittens, trying to get a sense for the kittens, and seeing which one caught our eye. Of course the one that had stood out to us at that time, was a baby Kiko! He was the most social and outgoing, and came right up to us to be pet. He also seemed to have the most distinct rosettes on his pelt, which was a huge asset, and something my dad was looking for considering he was not a cat person, and agreed only to get one if it was the coolest looking and acting cat around. So we made the decision to take him as our new addition to the family, and took him home. We had given him the name Kiko, which is the Hawaiian name for cat, because it sounds cool and we had travelled to Hawaii not long before. Well, we also thought kiko was a very very cute name for a cat. For the first few days of arriving at his new house, he had hidden away from us strangers and cried all night, upset at the departure from his mother no doubt. It was truly heartbreaking to witness that, but in no time Kiko was out and about exploring his new and strange house. He was still very tiny at this point, and made an effort to sit on our thighs and laps if we were just hanging out on the couch. He started getting very comfortable, and started playing with our toys, furniture, and shoes! He was a very playful kitten, and seized every opportunity to climb up our legs, and leave bloody scratches all over our bodies...but we could not stop him. He was adorable! Later in the year, we also started training him to walk on a leash, like we had seen in so many videos of other bengal cats. He was frightened at first at the task, but soon came to love the regular nature walks and city walks we would take him on. He went real fast from keeping up with us and meowing all the way until we got home, to taking his sweet time sniffing every yard and not moving a muscle when we tried to keep him on track! It was not the easiest task to take him on a walk, but as he got older he got a bit better, and now we just let him roam the neighbourhoods during the day on his own. At the time when he was first walking, we had also tried to make a YouTube channel for the amazingly cute kiko who could walk, and do tricks like shake a paw and jump over the broom, but it didn’t blow up as much as we expected it to. We thought the internet was much more cat crazy. We needed up just sticking to Instagram posts and Facebook photos. Kiko also never grew fond of water like we were told, so we have a couple hilarious videos online of him avoiding the bath! Nevertheless, Kiko has matured into a very outgoing cat, almost dog-like in the way that he loves to be outside, loves to follow us when we walk, and still knows his tricks very well. He is however obviously a cat at heart, and has some attitude problems we have come to realize over the past couple years. He deliberately seeks vengeance for when we go on travel and leave him to the care of strangers, and bites our toes for attention, only to walk away when we give him it. Typical cat behaviours on an extraordinary cat. Strangers also seem to appreciate his coat very much, and his company, as he travels across the neighbourhood visiting every house, sometimes picking fights with other people’s cats or dogs, making his name and presence well known in our area. And I cannot even count the amount of times I have been stopped by people on our walks together, asking about his breed and exclaiming how beautiful he is, while taking gazillions of photos of Kiko. It’s been quite a journey watching him grow up into a playful cute kitten, into a cheeky yet beautiful cat.
By Veronica HD6 years ago in Petlife
Four Cats and a Sound Machine
Last night was one of those nights again. In the living room, I felt tired and sleepy but once in bed I was wide awake. I tossed and turned and when the zzzzzz’s failed to come and get me I gave up trying to sleep and lay staring at the ceiling. After a while I practiced some relaxed breathing, I counted backward from 100, concentrated on muscle relaxation, nothing helped.
By Conny Manero6 years ago in Petlife
