In this crazy life we are finding our way through, we come across a lot of bad stuff on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter what your financial or social status is, you will certainly come across your share of bad people over the course of each passing year. The media tends to give these people a lot of press because they are in the business of shock and awe. It makes sense… shock and awe will gain better ratings than a feel good story every time. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be but unfortunately that’s the way it is.

Today we are focusing on the good in people. Unfortunately in some of these stories, there had to be a bad person committing a scumbag act, in order for the good person to come in and save the day. Save the day they did though, and there are lots of stories today about people risking their own lives to save helpless, injured animals. Some of the stories are so incredible that you might not believe them. Those are the really good ones, because they are true. So when you are watching the nightly news and see that it’s filled with bad stuff, think of these people who deserve plenty of recognition.

15. River dog

This poor dog was stranded in a river in Los Angeles for over an hour before emergency personnel arrived to save him. Initial attempts to save him from the flowing water were unsuccessful and a second alarm was eventually called out to help with the rescue. The additional call for backup included a rescue helicopter.

That’s what it took to save the pooch’s life from the deadly waters. The fire crews wouldn’t give up and as you can see they eventually saved the dog, who looked very relieved to be out of the rushing waters. Good job guys! These guys do it all without any thought of putting their own lives at risk.

14. Stranded Leatherback sea turtle

One time while a wildlife rescue crew was wrapping up a talk at a school a ten year old boy burst into the school room. He told them about a giant turtle that was in trouble. If you want to talk about being in the right place at the right time, this is a perfect example of that.

The crew rushed down to the beach and found a giant Leatherback turtle that had been pulled on shore to be slaughtered. When they arrived they found the 1,000 pound turtle upside down with legs flailing in the air, trying to turn over to get away.

The captors said it was accidental that the giant turtle was caught, but the rescue crew didn’t buy their story. They forced the people to release it. Almost by fate the turtle was saved.

13. Canal dog

Superstorm Sandy was an event that will never be forgotten by residents in the Northeast. It was something that thriller movies or books are made out of. The perfect combination of weather events combined for one of the worst storms to ever hit the United States. Humans weren’t the only ones who were put in harm’s way by the storm though.

Here you see what looks like it might be a Husky being rescued by a brave firefighter, from a canal filled with rushing water. Anyone who has been in these situations knows the extreme danger this type of rushing water brings in one of these storms. The dog was in danger and the man put his life at risk to save it. Bravo!

12. Flash flood horse

Flash flooding is a danger anytime heavy rains enter a region. The flooding that comes from several inches of rain falling over a short period of time can be devastating. The force that comes with such flash flooding is unbelievable to those who have never seen it up close. The rushing water can wash away people, animals, vehicles large and small and even houses.

This is clearly a flash flood event and the horse found himself in a lot of trouble. Several locals saw the horse in trouble and were able to pull it out of danger to save its life.

11. Cop and dog

This La Porte, Texas police officer shut down traffic on this road to save a wounded pooch. The weather was damp, cold and rainy and it wasn’t a pleasant day for the officer or the dog. The little guy was obviously injured as his soaking wet body limped around in the roadway.

If the officer hadn’t of stopped traffic to rescue the dog, it’s pretty obvious what would have ended up happening. You can clearly see that this is a heavily traveled road and the outcome would not have been good. This is a good example of “Protect and Serve”.

10. Canal cat

When canals are built they serve a good purpose. They steer rushing water away from areas where if it were to go, it would put homes, humans, animals and anything else in its path, in extreme danger. They are very useful to have around but you have to be careful around them.

They have steep drop-offs and if one isn’t paying attention they could fall in and become injured from the several foot tumble. That’s obviously what happened to a poor cat here. Luckily two men found the injured cat and by using teamwork, they were able to save the cat. Good job guys!

9. Miley

Not a lot is known about Miley. A man was walking past a pile of trash and he found her stuck in the trash, severely injured and hardly able to take a single step. The man was able to free her and as you can see Miley made a full recovery.

She is now very healthy, happy and living with a new family. Who knows what would have happened to her had this man not came upon her. The end result would probably not have been good for her. Stories like this one, and all of these today for that matter, are nice to read about.

8. Rasta

Rasta was found in the streets of Montreal. He was in such bad shape that he could barely move under the mess that his coat had become. He surely would have died if he had stayed in that state. When he was found, his rescuers weren’t even sure if he was a dog or not.

They took him in, fed him and cleaned him up. They cut off all of the matted hair that was hampering him and nursed him back to health. You can see that Rasta now looks like a brand new man and is in much better shape.

7. Highway dog

Back in 2014 a dog owner in San Francisco committed an act that is completely unforgivable. They left this poor little Chihuahua on the center divider of the I-680 highway during rush hour. Nobody came forward to say they saw who did it and animal lovers from around the world would love to get their hands on the lowlife who would do such a thing.

When the officer arrived the dog was scared to death and didn’t want to move. He gave him a piece of a protein bar and the pooch began to show a little trust in the officer. He was eventually able to bring him to safety and once the story hit the news many loving families offered to adopt him.

6. Lost frozen horse

This horse escaped his place of residence and was lost out in the open for four long days. She was on the side of a mountain with snow up to her belly and she was cold, tired and hungry and wasn’t going to last much longer.

Luckily a snowboarder by the name of Rafael Pease and a friend came upon the horse, which they originally thought was a big rock. They thought it looked out of place so they decided to check it out. It’s a good thing they did. They fed her and freed her from the deep snow. They brought her down the mountain and quickly found her home where her owner was extremely worried about her. Another great story of a life saved!

5. Wolf caught on fence

It isn’t certain when this rescue happened or where it took place but it’s another great case of a human taking time to rescue a helpless animal. These three guys were driving down the road and probably talking about where they were heading. You don’t always notice things on the side of the road but luckily on this day the men did.

What they saw was something they never thought they would come across. A wolf was obviously jumping over a fence and he mistimed his jump and became stuck in the wired fencing. Nobody knows how long he was just hanging there but the men were able to cut the wire and free him. The wolf was uninjured and happily ran off into the woods across the street.

4. Dog trapped in lava tube

Everyone knows that the beautiful lands of Hawaii have volcanoes. Because of this there are plenty of lava tubes that are created from flowing lava. Some of these have been in place for so long that brush has grown over them, making them hard to spot by humans let alone by animals.

In this instance, in March of 2016, a dog named Kula escaped from her house and decided to explore the surrounding area. Unfortunately she found one of these lava tubes the hard way and fell in. Luckily her owner noticed she was missing and went looking for her. Amazingly she found Kula at the bottom of one of the tubes.

Kula’s owner called for help and several emergency personnel quickly arrived on the scene and pulled her out.

3. Horse locked in flooded pen

There are a lot of great stories that came out of Texas during Hurricane Harvey. While there was a lot of bad stuff that happened as a result of the giant storm, a lot of heroic stories also came to the front of the news reporting.

One such story is about 17-year-old Rowdy Chance from Cleveland, Texas. He risked his own life in fast rising flood waters to save the life of this horse. The animal was stuck inside of his pen and it was obvious the end wasn’t going to be positive. The pen was locked shut but the teenager forced it open and led the trapped horse to safety. The video was posted on YouTube and has been viewed almost 13 million times. Go ahead and give it a few more views because he deserves it!

2. Stranded dogs rescued in flooded area

During Hurricane Harvey countless animals were left behind and just treated very poorly overall by their owners. Now, that’s not saying that every owner did that because that’s not true at all. Most owners went to great lengths to make sure their pets were safe.

This is Frankie and Bear who were stranded in their Houston neighborhood. Someone noticed them and sent a boat to rescue them. The pooches were brought to safety and hopefully they are now with a more caring family than the one they were with previously. Look at these guys… who wouldn’t want to welcome them into their loving homes?

1. Abandoned dog in Texas during Harvey

We hear a lot about the good in people when natural disasters strike. Unfortunately in a lot of those cases, the bad in people has to strike first in order for the good in people to be able to jump into action.

In this instance during Hurricane Harvey, some scumbag tied their dog up to a pole and left him there. Had a photographer not come by, the dog would have surely drowned in the rising waters. The photographer, Ruaridh Connellan, snapped the photo and then jumped into the water to save the pooch. He kept it and named him Lucky. No word on who the dirtbag is that left him there.

Sources: huffingtonpost.com, dodo.com, boredpanda.com, ebaumsworld.com, kidoplanet.com