Real Life Wonder Animals!

A Tribute to Quentin & Oscar: Real Life Wonder Animals!

The New England Journal of Medicine has reported that Oscar the Cat (How can I not capitalize "Cat" in this instance?) can determine when a person is going to die at the Steere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, where he lives. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/4/328 And, as a hard working feline, Oscar makes sure he snuggles up close to the person who is getting ready to pass away, to provide purrfect comfort during their twilight hours.

In Saint Louis, Moussouri, http://www.strayrescue.org/ founder Randy Grim is the human for another exceptional animal, Quentin the Miracle Dog. Quentin is a Dog who survived the gas chamber and who, like Oscar, has taken on full time employment. He is working to help stray dogs throughout the country. Quentin is also the subject of a wonderful book, "Miracle Dog - How Quentin Survived the Gas Chamber to Speak for Animals on Death Row." With a wonderful foreward by Dr. Jane Goodall, this book is a true "Must Read."

The saints known to be closely linked with animals are the obvious, saint Francis of Assisi, the patron of animal lovers and birding enthusiasts, saint Roch, the patron of dog lovers, and saint Hubert, http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_hubert_medal_story.htm the patron saint invoked to protect folks from encountering rabies, among other things. We have pictured the hand-painted saint Hubert medal above, with a stag to his right and a loyal Dog on his left. It's nice to know that these saints are able to represent our four legged friends and offer their various protections to all of us.

And, on a comical note, it is fun to examine the saint Hubert medal very carefully.... If you look at the medal you will see that there is a cross in the antlers of the stag next to saint Hubert. Hubert saw that cross while hunting one Sunday and it drove him straight to the church, where he belonged on Sundays! Now keep that image of Hubert, the cross and the stag in mind the next time you go to a bar or a liquor store. Before you start drinikng, take a close look at a bottle of Jagermeiser. You will see the image of the cross and the stag in the center of the green and orange bottle. And if you drink the contents of the bottle you may turn into Dr. Doolittle and start conversing with saint Hubert, the stag and the dog. If you do and if they have anything interesting say, please let us know what you talked about. And if you want to wear an image of saint Hubert, you know where to find a nice one!