Talented in their kindness

We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals… For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Animals are much more right than men... They don't flatter and they don't intrude. They don't pretend. They are as they are, like stones or flowers or stars in the sky.

Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission – to be of service to them whenever they require it.

Who feeds a hungry animal, feeds his own soul.

Nature has endowed man with a noble and excellent principle of compassion, which extends itself also to the dumb animals.

This holiday is a good occasion to introduce those people who took animals, as they say, out of the gutter. All of them work at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus, they are talented not only as performers, artists and representatives of other theatre services, but also as people capable of extending mercy and kindness. Here's what they say on social networks about their rescued pets (on the official Facebook page of the Bolshoi Theatre). These stories are touching, instructive, and will not leave anyone indifferent.

– Discussions about a dog that we need for complete happiness have been going on in the family for a long time. Everyone expressed own wishes about the breed, argued and we did not

KSENIYA KULIKOVA

come to a consensus. I've always liked Staffordshires and French Bulldogs, the boys dreamed of a shepherd dog. The daughter was against them all, and our cat Mason supported her.

He appeared in the family eight years ago. The cat quickly understood who was the boss in the house, overmastered everyone except dad. He respected him and could even sleep on the dad's head. At first glance, Mason wins the hearts of everyone who comes with his beauty and plushness, but after a few minutes, he dispels this good impression by his bad behavior. He growls like a dog, hisses, bites, scratches, looks with unkind eyes and does not allow to be stroked or taken in arms. He sniffs his food for a long time with contempt, doubting whether he was given something tasteless.

Snatching the right moment when mom was on tour, and dad was on a business trip, the son brought home a puppy. He sent both of us a video with a cute furry belly. It was impossible not to soften. I quietly advised to name the dog (it turned out to be a girl) Laima, in honor of my father's dog from childhood, in order to melt the father's heart. So, a dog appeared in our house. Mongrel. The cat reacted with hostility, as, in general, to all the guests, not expecting that it would last forever. Laima is still trying to make friends with him, but invariably gets socked in the nose. But they began to eat from each other's bowls, and the cat is no longer choosy, falls upon food until it is taken away.

Laima has a very good character. She loves all people indiscriminately, she doesn’t bite at all, a sweet and kind dog. She also takes me out every morning. If not for her, I would not go out at all, but would only work. Now my morning begins with her licking and hugging me,

then she drags me for a walk. I can say I breathe fresh air and stretch my bones.

Laima is very unpretentious in food, like any mongrel. She eats everything, and she never gets sick, like the highbred dogs of my friends do. Either their ears hurt them, or their eyes, or they have stomach-ache... She can eat my shoes – and nothing will happen, they will be digested without problems! So far, two pairs have come to harm, but I don’t get hurt, they have already been worn for a long time. However, the children noticed that with the appearance of the dog, dad became much kinder. She rushes to meet him with such joy that she relieves all the stress accumulated during the day.

Don't be afraid to take a friend off the street. These dogs are very faithful and loyal. In the place where I live, I met people who also took dogs off the street. Now we are friends, we communicate. Dogs unite us, give us positive emotions, relieve stress and make us kinder!"

– Once on a Facebook page of our theatre production designer, I saw a photo of a cat from an animal shelter. In color, in the expression of the face, it seemed to be a copy of cats from my childhood – there were several such beauties in my parents' house at different times. And for a long time I dreamed of finding the same-looking cat... It is interesting that my sister used to breed British cats for some time, and I could take a pet of any color. But this is not mine – these cats are not mine either by nature or by temperament. Therefore, after seeing the photo, I found out where to go and took Sima home within an hour.

This cat is very attached to me, tails after me everywhere, just like her kitten – little Sindy, who is very similar to her mother in color. Being very tiny, Sindy constantly attacked my foot, on which she then rode. As a result, we call her Sandalik more often than Sindy.

They are both girls with character, despite their attachment to people. Sima, for example, will play, will allow to give her a light squeeze, but not for long, otherwise she may get offended. And in general she is touchy: once she brought a swallow, I punished her for that, and to this day, I feel, she remembers it. She just brought her booty to show. The swallow, by the way, survived and flew away immediately.

Sima and Sindy aren't just great. They are smart, clean, live with me like queens. They love to ride in a car: I often go to dacha, and they are always with me. They caught all the mice, moles, and shrews on my plot of land. And now they are helping the neighbors.

– Meet! My Sweet Inga! Ingusya! I took her to my house through Zoochance! And I'm very happy! When my beloved cat Marysya died, I thought that I would never take a pet: it is very painful to lose them, especially if they have been living nearby for many years! Quite by chance, I came across a video with a kitty Ingusya! It was an event held by ZOOchance and Mark Formelle. I saw Inga and fell in love at first sight! A very nice girl, Elena Rusinovich, helped me. This is a story of the miraculous finding of a new friend!

"I saw Tolik while leafing through the Facebook feed, volunteers were looking for a home for him. The caption to his photographs said not about a dog, but about old age and the fact that sometimes no one needs you in old age. Especially if you are an old mongrel dog, a little deaf, blind and with a bunch of diseases...

I phoned the guys who were rehoming him. It turned out that before meeting the volunteers, Tolik used to wander along the streets of Brest.

Well, already for a year, he has been living with me! The biggest problem for Tolik in his "new life" was the elevator, it took him a long time to enter it, in the elevator he hunkered and hardly breathed, and rushed out of it like a shot. Now he's an experienced elevator-rider!

Anna Elizarieva, head of the

"It all started with Barguzin... I have a house in the village and this dog came to my yard and stayed for permanent residence.

I thought that I could not afford a dog, because I already "keep" a whole cat family. But Barguzin turned my world upside down, and now I can't imagine life without dogs. Unfortunately, Barguzin later died.

I began to look for a dog similar to him. Carrie helped me survive the pain of losing my pet. I found her thanks to Olya Petrakovskaya, the head of the Public Association for the Protection of Animals "HappyPet", and Dmitry from Chuck Shelter.

Carrie is a touching, timid and incredibly beautiful dog. I adore her.

And Fedka appeared 4 months later. I picked him up on the highway. Frightened, he was darting between the trucks, at risk to be hit by the wheels. I could not drive by.

I tried to rehome this guy with character twice, but in a new house his behavior was just awful. He bit, turned on the new owners, in general, did everything to be taken back.

At some point, I realized that I would no longer look for a new home for him, and he, as if feeling it, immediately calmed down. Now he is my main admirer, hugger and kisser.

Motka, the cat, appeared "suddenly". He was thrown out of the car in front of my neighbor, and he came to my yard. A fearless kitten that held the line in front of two dogs. At first it was called Katka.

Then I tried to use a more noble name – Matilda. At the vet’s examination, it turned out that this is a guy. This is how the name Motya appeared. Motka has grown to be an incredibly affectionate and gentle cat.

This is how we all live together. Do not be afraid to take adults or older animals, they know how to love and be grateful. And they also deserve love, care and attention, like any of us.

And I am very happy that I have them!

This trinity, which the reader sees in the photo, did not appear in our family overnight. The older black-and-white cat Ashka, like a year after her, the half-

persian Mars came to us from near Minsk. There, at the suburb Drozdy, they were born in one of the dachas, where there were many homeless cats. Whoever could, fed them. And as soon as our kind-hearted friend Natalya appeared at her dacha, the cat's pride rushed to her, ahead of each other. The cats had a gut feeling: soon there will be food. In Drozdy they lived wherever they could – in

sheds with wood, in garages, bathhouses. In general, they fought for life. Some died, others were born. Natasha tried in every possible way to rehome the feline baby that was born. We also helped her a little. In addition to Ashka and Marsik, we found owners for four kittens. But the third, our youngest Yatsyk, who is over three, might have died, if not for his feline mind, or, perhaps, the strong genes of the descendant of Ceylon cats. His three brothers did not survive their first winter in the village of Yatskovschina. And the background of his

appearance is as follows. Yatsyk's mother, the cat

Aisha, often came to us when we arrived at my husband's parental home. According to the villagers, she had been thrown out of the car on KletskLyakhovichi road, which runs right through the village. So Aisha took root here. One day she used to live in the household outbuildings in one place, another day – in some other. She had kittens in our garage by the house, and then carried them to the barn of our neighbor Valentin. He told us about it. Once, in the August evening, before imminent thunderstorm, Aisha came to us. We fed her as usual. And when it suddenly started to rain, contrary to human logic, she jumped out like a bullet and rushed along the path from the courtyard. Then we did not know about the kittens yet. After the rain we saw them. They were sitting near a jasmine bush about five meters far from us, and Aisha was licking her cubs. It flashed through the mind: autumn in coming, cold weather is approaching, how they will survive the winter... In the fall, when we used to come to Yatskovschina, we went to visit Valentin with treats for the kittens. And they also came to us, and the ginger one more often than the others. Ususally he came running, sat down nearby and sat like a statue. Once he allowed me to take him in my arms. Well, I joked that he just wants to go to town with us. Deep autumn came round. On the day off, we came to close the house for the winter. The ginger did not show up. Getting into the car, I said: if he comes, I will take him with me. In less than a minute, I saw my pet jump over the bumps in the neighbors' garden and rush towards our fence made of metal mesh. He easily jumped over it and ran to the open car door. He paused for a moment, looking at me questioningly. Come on, jump in, I said. I immediately wrapped him in a towel. I pressed him to my breast and he rode two hours to Minsk without moving. The older cats did not accept him right away, at first they were afraid. We took him to the veterinarian, who was surprised: where we found such a neat kitten...

We, like the employees of the Bolshoi Theatre, have never regretted that this friendly troika lives with us. Male cats sometimes chase the she-cat. But what can we expect of them: they are boys. And there is also one thing: Yatsyk, a child of nature, hates French perfume and the smell of good cream.

VALENTINA ZHDANOVICH

Valentina Zhdanovich