Like humans, animals clearly can show empathy and caring for others, including humans. These are images from Waterford Country School, a unique school in Connecticut that, as part its mission, takes in injured or disabled animals to give them shelter and rehabilitation. Linda, one of the caretakers, clearly has an intimate relationship with the horse “Rusty Bucket” an abandoned horse taken in by WCS. Not only does she actively love Rusty Bucket, but it is clear he loves her back. As does Stormy the squirrel who Linda healed to get ready to go back into the wild. Rick McPherson, the director of experiential education, came to Waterford Country School because “I was feeling a need to work with people instead of doing engineering work, I had no previous experience with animals, my love of animals developed here while working on the schools farm. ”
A cool aspect of WCS is that the rehabilitation of these animals is done by youngsters from the area who have significant social problems. So while the animals get help, so do these kids. For more info about WCS, please visit their site.
