Ann and Ellie
Ann Tolman has been rescuing animals for 40 years - cats, dogs, donkeys, horses and even emus. Her compassion truly knows no bounds.
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Lucien, Linny and Popcorn
Music: Love Wins by Lee Rosevere; Firefly by Podington Bear.
Brian and Donkey
Brian talks about how he found Donkey, a rescued street dog from Puerto Rico, and how Donkey has changed his life and become the mascot for his coffee shop.
Mary and Eli
Jennifer and George Eliot
George Eliot
George Eliot found our family eight years ago. She had had four foster families before us which we thought did not bode well for her character (surely there was a reason these others had not wanted to keep such a beautiful dog?) George corrected this myth soon after coming under our roof. She was a perfectly dear, smart, and well-behaved animal and one thing was clear, she had chosen us.
Great Pyrenees are not a dog for every family. They are bred as working dogs, livestock guarders who live out on the range along with their wards. They are haughty, independent and unrelenting barkers (not our George though, she’s the Marcel Marceau of Pyrenees) with a tendency to guard the perimeter of their territory. Without a fence, they are soon, gone long gone.
And that is exactly what George did, the first day she came to us. After the death of my previous Pyrenees, Scout, (a most remarkable therapy dog and companion who worked with terminally ill and Alzeheimer’s patients) I felt the loss of her presence so profoundly I started to speed-date with Pyrenees rescue organizations. It felt wildly illicit, beautiful dogs brought to your home, or to meet you in a park or by the side of the road, yet all of them were not Scout. It was just too soon. As the foster parent went over George Eliot’s history as we sat on my back porch, I explained to her that I was not feeling up to the adoption. When we looked around, George Eliot was gone. After a panicked search, (we live in a high traffic urban area and she was headed up a highway exit ramp) we brought her home again. We were supposed only watch her for the afternoon while the foster mom went to a family reunion but George never left again.
She seems to love her life which encompasses a high level of travel (takes care of that roaming instinct), from rural to urban environs. She loves New York City. The crowds, the bustle, all those friendly dogs and of course the excessively high count of squirrels per square inch in the city’s parks. With all that interaction potential you never know who you might meet. In our neighborhood there is another rescue Pyrenees named June. The very first time they met they both just lay down on the street and kissed each other. George has never done this with another dog. This was family.
When George first came to us, she was so insecure and dis-spirited she couldn’t, wouldn’t look us in the eye. She ran away whenever a camera was brought out (we thought this signaled that she was in a witness protection program and didn’t want to be identified and sent back to where she came from). Today, as you can see in her picture, she is the master of her universe. Eager to greet everyone she meets and play with every dog she encounters. We don’t know how old she is but it seems she has Benjamin Button syndrome. With each passing year, her heart is becoming younger, more playful and more joyful. When the evening grows dark, she stands at the door of the same porch she jumped off of the first day she came into our lives, wagging her tail to ask to come into her home, the one she had looked for across four states and claimed as the life she instinctually knew was out there waiting for her.
- Jennifer Gross 2015
Jim and Theo
Jim talks about his french briard Theo, his personality, moods and sense of personhood - all with whimsy, compassion and love. For the One Language Project www.onelanguageproject.com - a non-profit project of Naturestage, Inc. to show people acting with compassion across species lines, emphasizing what we have in common - emotions.
Penny and Jim
This beautiful spirit who happens to be a pit bull (often wrongly thought of as being very aggressive) comes through the voice of her owner (guardian) Jim. Jim gave me an interview while we were at the Brimfield Antiques Fair where he and his wife have a booth and always bring Penny. During the photoshoot, Penny kept trying to get all the passersby to play ball with her...One of Jim's messages about what we can learn from other animals is to play more. To read and see more stories, check out www.onelanguageproject.com. You can also donate to our non-profit project to build compassion through these stories.
Vincent and Gigi
Vincent describes his poodle Gigi's sensitivities to his daughter and imagines her world and the strong bonds that tie her with his family.
Myrtle and Sherrie
A diver talks about her 20-year relationship with the 70 year-old green sea turtle Myrtle who has been at the New England Aquarium since the 1970's. She observes her personality, moods and emotions and shares their special bond. Produced, filmed and edited by Miranda Loud (second camera, Dana Cataldo) with Music used by permission from Music Bed. Part of the One Language Project - a series of films and installations that highlights our emotional kinship with other species through looking at individual connections.
Starting a Family with Henry
Amanda and her fiancee decided to adopt a puppy from a list that helps servicemen and women place their dogs if they can no longer take care of them. She describes the emotions she observers in Henry and her own heart opening as she sees how she will be as a future mother, and also how her fiancee will be as a Dad.
Communicating with Cows - from the Cow School in Switzerland
I was gathering stories two summers ago about people who have deep connections with cows and stories to share that show their personalities and emotional lives and bonds, and discovered the incredibly brilliant and intuitive Anne Wiltafsky who founded the Kuhschule (Cow School) just outside of Zurich. Here is an excerpt of an interview with her talking about her connection with one of the cows.