An orphaned (孤儿的) deer named Afra and a rabbit named Alice have formed a friendship that’s straight out of a Disney movie. Workers at Chase Sanctuary (保护区) and Wildlife Conservancy in Webster, Florida, have seen many interspecies friendships_______ over the years, but this one is, by far, the cutest!

Alice and Afra were_______drawn together when landing in the sanctuary since they were both alone. Afra lost her _______ at an early age and couldn’t _______ herself in the wild. Around the same time, Alice’s former owner made the_______ and sent her to the shelter, where he felt she would be_______ “Her owner came here for a tour, and saw we have this big, open habitat. He _______   her to run all around in the grass,” said sanctuary founder, Nina Vassallo.

These days, they’re always_______   Afra follows Alice and eats the green grass in the day, and they sleep curled up together at night. “They_______ each other,” Nina explained with _______   “They watch out for each other, just like human friends. It’s so amazing!”

Visitors_______ seeing the two friends together, and the sanctuary says they don’t plan to_______   them. Watching their friendship grow up makes the_______   business of rescuing animals very_______. As is known, rescuing them often faces challenges.

“It always brings us joy to_______ to make an animal’s life better,” said Nina.

Paws walk across my keyboard, and my cat Monty nests himself on my lap, unaware of the world beyond our garden fence. In these uncertain times, the______ of animals is needed more than ever. To the ______of our cats, dogs and all pets in between, staying at home is really an opportunity to give them our undivided attention. ______, they provide us with a much-needed source of joy.

Pet-ownership is well known to help settle______, reduce loneliness and lift moods. Even as we spend an unprecedented amount of ______in isolation, pets are still acting as gateways to building a sense of community ______ people share pictures of their beloved companions online in an effort to raise spirits.

It is in such times that we realize just how much our pets ______as part of the family. As a long-term cat lady, I have never______that a pet is a cherished member of the household. Our pets can be as valuable as our human family members in______us about ourselves and how to ______ the world. In short, our animals’ love and loyalty are unique.

As such, the death of a pet can feel as ______as that of a close friend or family member. The grief that accompanies it remains something______seen as shameful, and many admit to requesting time ______work without being honest about why. However, with the loss of a pet comes a(n) ______where their unconditional devotion once was, and moments in the day once dedicated to their care become suddenly______. It is a very feeling that only provides further proof to their status as family.

Vet and author James Herriot wrote, “If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty and gratitude, animals are better off than a lot of humans.”

Life is just full of surprises! Some are _________ surprises and some maybe not so pleasing. I had a good surprise a few days ago that is worth sharing with readers on my blog. I had gone into town for Thanksgiving shopping and _________ coming home with a 15-month-old German Shepherd (牧羊犬) female. I usually plan to do as much as possible on my trips to the town because the town is 45 miles one way. One of my stops was to _________ medicine for my senior German Shepherd male, Bozwell.

My trip to the veterinarian (兽医) takes me right by the local animal shelter. I glanced over and _________ a German Shepherd dog sitting in the corner of the outdoor enclosure (围栏). _________ I love all dogs, the German Shepherd is my first choice. I _________ to the enclosure and got off my pickup truck. One of the _________ came up and asked if I was looking for a dog. I said I wasn't but wanted to take a _________ and send it to my husband. I asked the staff about the dog. It _________ that Lucy, the German Shepherd female, is 15 months old and was going to be delivered to another shelter in a distant city the ____________ day.

My husband and I decided to adopt (收养) it. So I finished the necessary adoption process and took Lucy ____________ to the veterinarian for an exam. My husband and I know our dogs very well and knew that introducing another dog like this would not be a(n) ____________. We have brought many dogs into our pack family over the years and because we fully understand our dogs, __________ a new dog has never been much of a problem for us. So Lucy is now part of our ____________ and has all the love we can ____________ to it.