....that sounds like tragedy looming. But have no fear: Penny was there to take the dramatic situation in paw.

After the cheeky blackbird had fallen out of its nest from high under the rooftop, it found itself in the middle of a large garden that is home to three dogs and three cats. When the accident happened, fortunately the cats were just preoccupied with soaking up the little bit of sun that Belgium had to offer last May. And even more fortunately, so were the dogs - directly at the landing site of the bewildered little bird. They three sniffed with great interest but it was Penny, an elderly Bichon Maltese lady, who decided to adopt the new arrival.

(Artwork by Penny)

Penny - oldie but goody

The cats were not amused! They held it against Penny to have prevented them from having a good time. But Penny is someone very sure of herself. She knows that her feline buddies would stop moping eventually - and so they did.

And the moral of the story? Could it sound something like: with sufficient motivation, old age and bravery go together quite well?

Epilogue: The bird woke up from his stupor rather fast and gave Helga a tough time by never-ending demands for food. After a few days it was getting ever more difficult to deal with the energetic fledgling. When it started with ever more vigor to crash against the cage-bars and by that threatened to injure itself, it was taken to a rehabilitation center from where it is now set free again into a long and exciting bird's life - hopefully without any more cat-encounters!

Normally they get on well - but there ARE exceptions.

Editor's note: This article was generously donated to us by renowned European author Herma Brockmann who—as it turns out—is a loyal Scoop fan!  She has written entertaining and provocative fictions about animals and is currently working with Végi-Info Belgique in cooperation with the Swiss Union for Vegetarianism (vetegarianisme.ch).

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