They are just like us, just a different shape that’s all. Different shape… just to colour the world, you know? Just like different flowers.

They are beings with all intelligence, all love, all resolution, just like us!

Affectionate viewers, welcome to another heartwarming episode of Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants! Did you know that animals can understand us better than our best friends, dogs can be vegetarians, turtles can recognize their human caregivers and rabbits can meditate? Animals bring us immense love, and their noble presence greatly enhances our world.

Today we’ll meet some adorable animals and their caregivers, who will share many delightful stories about their friendships. First we’ll travel to sunny Ethiopia to meet two happy chickens and one affectionate dog, who are best friends living under the care of their compassionate human companion Worku, who is one of our Association members.

His name is Coocoo. My relative brought (him to) me, when my mother died two years ago. They wanted to see me after my mother died. They didn’t know that I was a vegetarian then, a vegan, in fact. So I adopted him, and also the second one, who is called Ilu, or Coocoo No. 2. The same friend from the countryside where we are working with the community, one of our facilitators, brought him for the Easter holiday. He didn't know that we don’t eating animals. So we kept them together. They are now our family members.

Katy the dog was adopted from a local village by Worku’s wife. She’s a very loveable canine with a taste for nutritious food!

Here is Katy. She is a very good dog, living harmoniously with us and with the Coocoos. They happily play together. They don't fight. They are living together peacefully. She eats carrots and anything we eat. We play with her. She wants to hug us sometimes she welcomes (us), and she is very intuitive. She’s intelligent, and very friendly to others, too.

Worku truly appreciates the animals in his life.

They’re very pure, and they love you, they're very pure, and because of this, I love them very much. We give them housing, we give them food, we give them the attention they need, we play with them, they love (it), and they also give us (love), too.

Next let’s find out about a special toy poodle named Momo who lives in Kowloon, Hong Kong with his mama Fung Wan Wai-ki, also known as Ki, and papa Lok. According to mama Ki, Momo is clever, active, lovely and playful and loves to stay by Ki whenever he can!

One day, Momo sat on Ki’s lap as usual while Ki was watching a video on YouTube about how Moon bears are imprisoned and then have their bile cruelly extracted. Ki was brought to tears by the suffering of the innocent animals and suddenly felt a special connection with Momo, which she had never experienced before.

At that time, my heart felt uncomfortable and I shed tears naturally. Momo suddenly looked at me so sweetly. Then, he saw his mommy was so sad and used his tongue to lick my tears away. He seemed to tell me, “Mommy, please don’t be sad.” It was like that. In fact, I felt very warm in the process.

“Feeling very warm” meaning he didn’t need to use any language to talk with me, but he still could feel my emotions and fully understood what mommy wanted. I think animals are very spiritual beings. They definitely can be our good soul mates.

Ki is proud of Momo not only because he’s such a thoughtful, gentle boy, but also because he’s very healthy and happy and has a good appetite for the nourishing, meat-free meals she prepares for him!

I switched him to vegetarian food when he was six-months old. His skin condition really improved and he was much healthier. Since then, we are very sure that eating vegetarian food is more nutritious than meat containing foods and dogs would have better health. Momo, apart from eating vegetarian dog food, we also give him fresh fruits to eat. It’s because he likes to eat fruits, especially apples, kiwi fruits, strawberries as well as blueberries; he likes to eat them very much.

Now besides fresh fruits, we give him some snacks, such as vegetarian strips with green algae and carrot (flavors), as well as vegan teeth-cleaning bones. After eating vegan dog food, his temper improved and he is now obedient to mommy.

What can be more precious than a kiss from your loved one when you get home? Meet Lyckas, the meditating rabbit who always welcomes his human companions home with loads of love! Lyckas is an eight-year-old French Lop rabbit adopted by our Hungarian Association member.

Lyckas is an 8 year old French Lop. I found him on the web when his previous caregivers were urgently looking for a new forever home for him. Here in Stockholm (Sweden) it is a difficult situation for unwanted bunnies, who are often simply placed in a park due to a lack of bunny refuges. They quickly overpopulate (the park) or become feral there or jump in front of cars.

During his first week with his new caregivers, Lyckas didn’t understand why he had to leave his previous home.

He was madly chewing up everything in the apartment. Then I sat down with him and explained to him that from now on he is going to live here, and he is most welcome. Ever since then, he stopped chewing up things and runs around freely in the apartment. Also, he quickly adapted to being house trained. I named him Lyckas, which means “being successful” in Swedish, so that the rest of his life would be a big success.

Besides being the darling of the household, Lyckas also has a spiritual side.

A few months ago I placed one of Master’s (Supreme Master Ching Hai’s) books facing his smaller meditation hall. Ever since then he got into the habit of jumping in there around 10:00 AM and meditates non-stop for about four to five hours with us. Due to his being so diligent lately, his behavior has changed greatly and he has become a more relaxed, cheerful bunny with growing self-confidence.

Now let’s hear the tale of how one little black dog named Happy changed the life of Ming Rong, our Formosan (Taiwanese) Association member. At the time fate first brought them together, Ming Rong was a teenager.

Darling Happy, I’m so glad that you’ve finally found me!

I can still remember vividly how we met each other on Yi-Zhong Street. I remember, when mother refused to let me keep you, I deliberately took you out to a crowded place and left you there. That night, I couldn’t sleep even at midnight.

I am going to find the doggie.

From four o’clock until dawn, each time I spotted a black dog, I would dash over, but it was not you. Doggie where are you? I am so worried about you. Just as I was about to give up, I saw you from a distance begging for food from people at a bus stop.

Doggie! I finally found you! I’ll never let you go again!

Ever since you joined us, our family has become a lot more harmonious. You have also won the hearts of all our neighbors with your tenderness and affection, particularly our apartment manager, who gave you the nod of approval to stay. When I go out shopping every day, I always buy one more portion for you. You’re a member of the family. Thank you. I will forever love you.

Have you ever heard of a turtle “running” after someone he loved? Finally, we’re going to hear a touching story about how a woman named Ma Li saved a turtle called Longlong’s life, and the two developed a beautiful human-turtle friendship.

The story of my little turtle begins when he was at my work place. I was not his caregiver at that time.

Longlong’s human companion was Ma Li’s co-worker and he unfortunately did not look after Longlong well. The turtle became very ill because the colleague used chlorine-filled tap water in Longlong’s home which severely hurt his eyes.

At that time, his eyes were bulging out, and were white. No matter who touched him, he wouldn’t move at all. He also didn’t eat when he was given food. He looked very desperate.

Searching the Internet, Ma Li found some information on treating white eye disease in turtles and tried it along with giving Longlong pure, chlorine-free water.

I bought some eye drops and eye cream. Then, I applied the eye cream on the turtle every day, on his two eyes. I also let him sunbathe every day. I did that for a while. Then my colleagues also started to pay attention to him. At that time, I also tried to communicate with him, telling him that he was cared about and loved. We all cared about him. It lasted for a while, about a month. I prayed for him every day, hoping that his eyes would recover.

One day, after I changed his water, when I was looking at him, he suddenly opened his eyes, and his eyes were shining. I was so surprised and exclaimed, “The turtle can see now!” We were so happy and excited. We felt full of hope. Afterwards, every day during lunchtime, I would bring him out to have a walk and let him crawl around on the grass. So he became very cheerful and lively.

Later, for some reason, I decided to leave this company and resign my job. In the afternoon when it was time to leave, I took my stuff and was about to leave. Suddenly, one of my colleagues called me, “Come here! Look at that!” I said, “What happened?” and turned to have a look.

To my surprise, the turtle already got out of the tank. He fell off the window sill onto the ground and strived to crawl to me at full speed with his neck fully stretched out. He ran to me and stopped next to my foot. I was so surprised and I picked him up. My colleagues suggested that I adopt him. That was how I brought him home after I left the company. He has stayed with me since then and been living a very happy life.

Wow! Animals are truly wonders of our world. We should always cherish and respect them like our own brothers and sisters. Our sincere thanks go to the dedicated caregivers we’ve met today for the unconditional love they provide to their animal friends, along with a warm, welcoming home. May all animals around the world receive such everlasting kindness and tender loving care from humans.

Wonderful viewers, thank you for joining us today on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment after Noteworthy News. May Heaven forever bless all beings on Earth.