When I was 18 years old, I got a trip to Paris, from my father, as a birthday present. He had arranged for me to stay with the children of a friend of him, N. The family lived in a suburb area, not a very nice neighborhood. Arriving at the apartment, I learned that the “youngsters” were car thieves. The apartment was dirty, there was nothing to eat. I went out to look for something to eat. It was ten pm; the streets were dark and frightening. Nothing was opened…just darkness waited for me. Finally, far away, I saw a light coming out of a shop. On the street, I could discern the shadow of a small dog, waiting for me. I had not done my Animal Communication courses, yet, but I could sense that the dog was there to help me. When I approached, the little dog guided me inside where I could get a sandwich and friendly smiles.
Why do animals appear in our life when we most need them? The answers are multiple: because they feel our need, because they come to heal us, because they need our presence, care, love and friendship, etc…
Companionship and faithfulness is a feeling better understood and practiced in nature; with packs of animals living and working together for their survival: Elephants, Lions, wolves, cat’s colonies, zebras, etc…the list is infinite, going from insects to big animals. Only humans create wars and betray their kind.
Animals see the human world with mixed feelings, depending on each animal. They can accept our: games, entertainments, society, rules, personalities, life styles and lives and play an important role on it or they can look at us with love, waiting for us to grow spiritually.
The companionship of an animal changes our lives for the better and changes us, humans, for the better. Their look on life and nature takes us to another dimension of our personality, one that we did not know it existed.
Animals meeting us and traveling with us in different countries and places
Everybody followed the saga of Dion Leonard, an ultra marathon runner from Australia, who, in June 2016 was followed by a scruffy dog in one of his races, in China. The story became a real saga with Mr. Leonard trying to adopt the dog, losing him and then finding him again (who he named Gobi) and it became a book and a future blockbuster movie.
Gobi appeared during the race and ran 77 miles with Mr. Leonard, giving him companionship…for life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NInzqTmssEw&list=PLIYPY5zizGRVfik31bPc4NX-2GxMkw9ym&index=2
It is not unusual that animals appear to us, when we most need them. They can stay with us forever or just for a period of time.
Liz Clark, a lady form California, has been sailing around the world since 2006. In 2013, she adopted a kitten who has been traveling with her since then.
Animals present during our work
Many times, animals appear during the human’s work, talking to him . Communication is always sought by our brothers and sisters, the animals. On May 2015, a baby Robin came to a man, working on his garden, in New Jersey, and asked for food. The man started a friendship with the bird and found a lot of worms for the bird to feast on. Sometimes, when we think we are alone, our friends, the animals are there, right by our side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyFjRXHJa6I&list=PLIYPY5zizGRVfik31bPc4NX-2GxMkw9ym&index=4
Brett Eldredge (country singer) brings his dog, while on tour and Shania Twain performs with her horse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKf_5vQODbU
On the contrary of what people think, some animals do like to perform with their owner and friend (actually it is not his owner but his family). Animals are intelligent beings and find, sometimes that performing with the human that they love is interesting and the partnership is just beautiful to watch. The bond between person and furry friend runs deeper than life, itself. The Pignon family, in France, performs with horses that enjoy what they present. The result is pure magic.
Animals as Playmates
It is not only when we are alone, that animals appear in our life. Many times, they find our games amusing and want to participate and play with us. Dolphins always look for the presence of friendly humans. In Egypt, it is normal to swim with wild dolphins. They are free and could go away, but they stay and enjoy the interaction with the humans. They do feel protected by the presence of boats of HEPCA http://www.hepca.org/ , but they also swim very close to the humans, trying to play and communicate with them. No, they are not fed by humans-it is strictly forbidden to touch or feed them. They are there exclusively for the companionship and play. I had 2 encounters, one in Sinai and one in Marsa Alam and I can attest that dolphins love to play and look for the companionship of humans. The afrescos of dolphins in Cnossos, Crete, (Greece) prove how close they used to swim near humans, before A.D.
Animals are here to be our friends and teach us that life is a game to play. The video of a swan playing ball with a man illustrates it clearly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwqP5Fj-Vf0&index=5&list=PLIYPY5zizGRVfik31bPc4NX-2GxMkw9ym
Animals and children
Animals are the best companionship to children, protecting them and communicating with them. At the humane society of Missouri, children are reading to shy and fearful dogs. The program is called the”Shelter Buddies Reading Program”, but we can observe that the phenomena of companionship between children and animals is universal. Any child can interact with his own pets like he would interact with a human; children do know that the animals understand them and communicate with them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwBzKM11vnE&index=7&list=PLIYPY5zizGRVfik31bPc4NX-2GxMkw9ym
The videos in YouTube of animals interacting, voluntarily, with humans, are numerous. The company of animals is always a pleasure for the human kind. Many coffee shops, around the world are bringing cats inside in the hope of attract new customers. We could think that only lonely people would come to these kinds of shops, but the idea attracts all kinds of people. The calming effect of the cats makes the atmosphere of the shops ideal for relaxing.
There was even an event in Japan’s Gifu prefecture, when Yoro railway Co ltd and Kitten Café Sanctuary paraded cats on board a train to create awareness on the culling of stray cats, on September 2017. The event was created to bring awareness to adopt stray animals in Japan. The happiness of the clients was apparent. Also in Japan, the story of Hachiko, the loyal dog who waited, for nine years the return of the deceased owner.
In 1924, a professor in the University of Tokyo adopted a golden brown Akita that he named Hachiko. He would commute daily to work and Hachiko would leave the house, each day to greet his owner at Shibuya station. The pair continued this daily routine until 1925 when his owner died of a Hemorrhage at the University and never returned. Hachiko continued to go to the station, at the same hour, each day, to wait for his owner and friend for the next nine years, nine months and fifteen days until his death. Many articles were written on Hachiko, in Japan. “His faithfulness to his master’s memory impressed the people of Japan as a spirit of family loyalty to which all should strive to achieve.”
Animals and the homeless
Many cynical persons could say that animals just approach humans for food but the most striking example that could deny this theory would be the companionship of animals and homeless people. Many homeless people do not have money to buy food for their loyal friends, but the dogs and cats do stay with them, forever.
I talked, in the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil with inspectors of the “centro de controle de Zoonoses”. It is an institution that inspects and controls the stray population in big cities of Brazil. They inspect the animals of the homeless and help the homeless care for them and, the most amazing: they help the homeless to find programs of rehabilitation for drug or alcohol use. So the animals are really bringing help to the homeless people, in Brazil.
Most memorable reading
In 2016, a lady asked our Animal Communication group an impossible question; she had been visiting a wild pony refuge and upon meeting an old pony CB. , she had felt that he wanted to tell her something. Looking at the photo, the horse showed to me that he wanted to warn her that one of her “friends” was being negative to her and bringing her unhappiness and that she should research her friendships and evaluate who was not worth it. She did say that she was upset, on that day and understood his message. A precious piece of advice.
Animals are always trying to help people, even the ones they do not live with. Their presence is a gift for children and adults, a gift that should be highly valued and kept.
Sources:
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centro_de_Controle_de_Zoonoses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D
https://www.thedodo.com/kids-read-to-shelter-dogs-1620612867.html
