Reader's Digest » Pets

Hero Pets: A Horse Guides Its Owner

Renata Di Pietro was studying to be an opera singer. But at 23, while on a music scholarship at the University of Iowa in 1976, her vision began…

Hero Pets: A Truly Golden Retriever

As Paul Horton, a 59-year-old retired mechanical engineer, rolls his wheelchair around his Austin, Texas, home, his six-year-old golden retriever, Yogi, trails closely behind him. Yogi and Horton,…

Hero Pets: Pudding the Cat’s Life-Saving Sense

When Amy Jung, 36, and her son, Ethan, eight, visited the Door County Humane Society in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin last February, they had no idea that one of…

Hero Pets: A Pig That Calms Special-Needs Kids

For special-needs students in San Francisco, pot-bellied pig Buttercup provides comfort—and a bit of fun.

Hero Pets: A Herd of Elephants Mourns Its Helper

Connections between man and beast can run deep, as one family learned after saving elephants in South Africa.

Hero Pets: A Little Girl’s Lifeline Is Her Dog

For young Alida Knobloch, loyal pooch Mr. Gibbs is a true lifesaver.

Hero Pets: A Lion’s Big Heart

Jupiter the lion may weigh in at 550 pounds, but his demeanor with handler Ana Julia Torres proves that even the king of the jungle can be a gentle giant.

Dog Stories: Dean Koontz’s Five Favorite Canine Books

Having written several novels in which dogs play leading roles and many more in which they are supporting players, having written five books from the point of view…

Dog Stories: Roma on Her Adored Master, Steve Madden

Dear That Guy,
You know that ratty old black and white chair by the window near the TV? The one you pulled out of the Dumpster by the…

Dog Stories: Tim Tebow on Otis, His Comeback Dog

For my birthday weekend the summer before my junior year in high school, I went with my brother Robby and my friend Kevin to Disney World. When we…