Animal rescuers are the real heroes in my eyes

Call me slow on the uptake and knock me out with a feather, but I just don’t know what it takes to be a hero nowadays.

In the past – recent and distant – it was so much simpler to become a hero.

Most often, earning a bravery badge – or whatever token was bestowed on the bravest of the brave – involved dying. Let’s be honest, the bar can’t possibly be raised higher than that.

Soldiers dying in battle are all heroes if, of course, they were fighting on the winning team. The defeated dead are inevitably just casualties of war.

Dying from a disease or being hit by a car is only classified as heroic if the victim dies while saving others.

While dying does expedite one’s path to heroism, it isn’t a prerequisite. There are many examples of individuals and groups earning the title of hero and living to tell their tale.

There are also many professions that require a large dose of bravery from those who choose to earn their living doing what most of us prefer to avoid, like firefighters, police officers, security guards, and doctors.

Some people become heroes with their death-defying extreme sport, like skydiving, cliff diving and acrobatic flying.

For ordinary individuals, there are very few opportunities to become heroes and when those opportunities do arise, most of us don’t stand up to have our names recorded in the history books.

We choose safety – by staying at home. We choose not to participate in extreme events but remain in the safety of the pavilion.

But becoming a hero – in my book – doesn’t have to involve a life-threatening danger, a war or an extreme sport.

For me, every single person who has ever adopted and rescued a pet from a shelter, is a hero. There are thousands of wonderful, loving animals in shelters all over the country dying for some love and attention.

They inevitably become part of one’s family, giving more love than they receive, and remaining loyal throughout their short lives – the owners their absolute heroes.