Spreading kindness to animals every day

These stories may seem unrelated, but each of these acts of kindness started with dogs and cats (and a bird) in need and reveal how far people will go for animals, whether they know them or not.

At 87 years young, Conrad Carter has a new hobby — and it’s creating positive change throughout his community in Kerrville, Texas. The retired algebra teacher went to Kerrville Pets Alive! looking for ways to help the cats who lived outdoors in his neighborhood.

The shelter invited him to a class on trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) that they were hosting with San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition. There, Conrad learned how to humanely trap cats so they could be spayed or neutered and vaccinated before being returned to their outdoor homes. Conrad dove right in and soon earned a reputation in the community as the guy to call for help with cats.

Each cat Conrad brings in for care means fewer litters being born outdoors and better lives for the cats already there. This former math teacher is bringing exponential lifesaving to his community.

An Iowa police officer, Doug Scroggins, was responding to a call about a puppy who had been left tied to a tree. What happened next was like a scene in a comedy — or maybe a rom-com.

When Doug untied the blocky-headed charcoal-colored pup, the dog immediately acted like they were old friends. Doug took the dog, now named Odin, into his police car to bring him to the local humane society, and puppy antics ensued. Odin was so excited to go for a ride, and he kept flipping on Doug’s emergency lights and siren as he wiggled around the car.

Doug felt a connection with the pup (perhaps it was all the slobber from his kisses) and asked the shelter to call him if no one came forward to claim Odin. Days later, Doug got the call: Would he be interested in adopting Odin? It was a no-brainer, and now Odin is a beloved member of Doug’s family.

While many bird species frequent New York City’s Central Park, budgies (aka parakeets) — native to Australia — aren’t one of them. That’s why it was cause for concern when Mei Mei, a green-and-yellow budgie, was spotted hanging out with a flock of sparrows in the park. It wasn’t a climate in which she could survive long term, so residents came together to try to capture her.

For 10 weeks, Mei Mei evaded their efforts. But eventually a local birder, who had spent hours and hours trailing Mei Mei hoping to save her, slowly eased a net over her. Mei Mei was finally safe! Despite her time outside, she was in excellent health — only having a parasitic infection that was easily treatable. She departed the Big Apple for a bird rescue organization in Rhode Island, but she’ll always have her memories of being a big-city girl.

Lara Friedman was out one evening walking her 120-pound dog, The Dude, when fireworks started going off overhead. The Dude panicked, and Lara knew she wouldn’t be able to keep hold of the leash if he decided to bolt, especially because the sidewalks were slick from rain. She also couldn’t coax him to go back in the direction of their home.

So there they stood, frozen and afraid — until a kind stranger walked by and asked whether he could help. When both he and his friend still couldn’t help Lara coax The Dude to move, the man went to get his car while his friend helped Lara hold onto The Dude. When the car pulled up, The Dude gladly jumped in, and he and Lara got a lift home, safe and sound. Lara says her night might have turned out very differently if not for the kindness of two strangers.

Fifth graders at a Georgia elementary school are learning firsthand how their actions can have a positive impact. Each week, they use their writing skills and artistic flair to create adoption bios for dogs and cats at Walton County Animal Shelter. After learning about each animal, they write messages from the animals’ perspectives and draw pictures that truly capture their essence. The goal is to help potential adopters see each animal as a unique individual.

So far, more than 50 dogs and cats have been adopted as a result of the kids’ efforts. Adopters even get to take home the students’ drawings of the pets. Their teacher says this project teaches the students lessons in empathy and compassion and how to create a better world through kindness to animals.

Do you have a random act of kindness to share? Submit your story and a photo to editor@bestfriends.org with “random act of kindness” in the subject line.

This article was originally published in the July/August 2026 issue of Best Friends magazine. Want more good news? Become a member and get stories like this six times a year.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.