2025 delivered a flood of feel-good animal moments. A shelter dog’s joyful “freedom zoomies” after seeing her new backyard for the first time went viral when the dog’s owner, Taylor Madison, posted a video on social media. The clip shows the newly adopted pup racing around a lush yard, clearly overwhelmed by the thrill of finally having a home.
Another viral video starred Tilly, an Australian Kelpie who spotted her dog walker in public and could not contain her excitement. As soon as she saw the familiar face she leapt up on her hind legs, wagging and wriggling until she could give the walker a hug.
Not all of 2025’s animal stories were about single pets. In February, hundreds of Golden Retrievers and their humans flooded the streets of Golden, Colorado, for the annual “Goldens in Golden” event. The city welcomed friendly dogs of all breeds to march in the golden-hued parade.
At the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas, an orphaned maned wolf pup named Amora found an unlikely friend in Slinky, a three-month-old shelter dog. Zookeepers paired the two to keep each other company, and they quickly became inseparable.
When winter wildfires swept California, national animal-welfare groups teamed up with volunteer pilots to airlift more than 300 dogs and cats to safety. The pets were flown across the country to shelters in Salt Lake City, New York City and the East Coast where adoption chances were better.
Perhaps the most astonishing story of the year involved Mirage, a senior cat who survived a nearly 400-foot fall in Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park. After being treated for a collapsed lung at a veterinary hospital, Mirage was adopted by Chelsea Tugaw — the pilot who helped rescue her — and now enjoys life with her new canine and feline siblings.