I saw this picture some time ago on one of my writing forums accompanied by the story of a nurse who supposedly took it and wrote: 

It’s been 23 days since this patient came to this hospital and in these 23 days nobody from his family came to visit him. But there is a pigeon which comes every two days to sit next to his bed. The pigeon stays for a while and then flies away. We then found out that this patient sits on a bench in a park near the hospital every day and feeds the pigeons there. This once again showed us that animals have a better heart than humans.

NEWSFLASH, however … the nurse’s claim was later found to be a fictional “tail” spun to steal heartfelt emotion likes, clicks, and views from the unsuspecting social media masses. The photograph is real, but the accompanying narrative about the man being abandoned and the pigeon’s recurring, loyal visits is fiction. In fact, the shot was taken in 2013 at a hospital in Athens, Greece, by a man named loannis Protonotarios, who later confirmed it was a chance encounter with a pigeon that flew into the hospital room, and there is no evidence of the man feeding the bird or the bird recognizing him. Even so, the overall sentiment of this picture all but begs us to acknowledge the true gift that animals of all kinds are to humanity, especially if we’ve been blessed enough to have had an unconditionally faithful companion by our side at any point in our life who helped lead us through the darkness and into The Daylight.

The late British author and veterinarian, James Herriot, whose birthday is today once famously said,

If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.

No,

Truer,

Words!

Meanwhile, I have long believed that the SAD truth is that humanity doesn’t deserve animals. Thank GOD the animals don’t know that. Bye everyone, it’s me, CAT!