And so as we say goodbye to 2014 and look forward expectantly to the New Year (maybe this will be the year we finally win the lottery?!), we thought we’d take a look back at some of our favourite animal stories of the year.

• In March we heard about Charlie the Macaw, who won over the judges in a closely run contest to find Legoland Windsor Resort Hotel’s resident pirate parrot. Perhaps there were a few ‘pieces of eight’ involved?
• April saw the opening of New York’s first ever cat cafe, where clientele could enjoy a quiet ‘cat-accino’ surrounded by fabulous felines. Sadly the venture was only open for four days, but re-homed many of the resident cats to loving new homes in the process.
• In June we read about ‘Jefferson‘, a Uruguayan stray who joined four British men on their charity trek through South America. News coverage of the event touched one man in particular, Ignacio Etchetchury, ‘Jefferson’s owner. He recognised his missing dog and contacted the team, who were able to re-unite the pair once again, just a mere 800km away from home!
• September saw the unveiling of the ‘pet pre-nup‘, as The Blue Cross launched a legally binding document to help couples determine where their pets will live in the event of them separating. Blue Cross Pet nup.
• In November, an American woman boarded her flight from Connecticut accompanied by her 70lb pot bellied pig, after being cleared by customs officers as the animal was deemed to be of “emotional support”. Sadly her fellow passengers were not so tolerant and the two were forced to leave the plane before take off. Only in America!

2015 is sure to bring many more stories of brave, funny and entertaining animals – those of us who care for pets know all too well the many ways in which animals enrich our lives. At The Ralph Site we look forward to sharing your stories and memories with you in the year to come.
See you all in 2015!

With very best wishes from Shailen and The Ralph Site team