If there’s one thing the internet can always agree on, it’s that a good animal rescue will fix your whole day. It really doesn’t matter what else is going on out there. Show us a kitten getting pulled to safety or a raccoon getting pulled out of a dumpster and everyone’s ready to swoon.
We know this, because June delivered a whole batch of them, and you absolutely loved each and every one that hit our corner of the internet. Summer is a particularly good time for these types of stories, and we couldn’t wait to see what was popping online with the most adorable animals out there at the beginning of the season.
This month’s rescues came in every size and species. We’ve got a raccoon, a couple of very determined kittens, a duck with strong opinions about public transportation, and a dog who had a much scarier day than the rest of them. Some of these ended with a quick release back into the wild. Others had officers doing double takes.
All of these stories have one thing in common, though: people and officers who wanted to make things right for these creatures. So, as a result, these stories had especially good endings. The animals lived, they went home, and maybe they even found a new place to live. All things that help us have more faith in the human race. Without further ado, here are the five cutest animal rescues we came across in June.
This Little Raccoon Found Itself in Quite the Kerfuffle Before Police Stepped In
Not every police call ends in an arrest. When a baby raccoon got tangled up in a soccer net at a Florida park, the Coconut Creek Police Department stepped in, and Animal Services Officer O’Neil did the honors of freeing the little guy by hand.
He was released back into the nearby woods no worse for wear, and the department’s photos of the rescue were about as wholesome as it gets.
Good Thing Cats Have 9 Lives: Kitten Becomes Stuck in Engine, Rescue Mission Takes Crazy Turn
A calico kitten in Seneca Falls, New York, managed to get stuck in a car engine compartment, and officers plus a local garage worker got it out. Then it bolted straight into a second car’s engine and made everyone do the whole thing over again.
Two rescues later, the kitten was safe, unbothered, and presumably plotting car number three.
Troopers Rescue Tiny Interstate Hitchhiker, Internet Agrees on the Perfect Name
Indiana troopers spotted a frightened orange kitten stranded in the median of Interstate 94 and stopped to scoop him up. The internet immediately fell in love and flooded the comments with name ideas, though pretty much everyone landed on the same one: Trooper.
Best of all, the little hitchhiker already has a new forever home.
Police Pull Off Unlikely Rescue, But the Duck Had Her Own Plan
When a Colorado family of ducks needed relocating to a nearby pond, Broomfield police showed up ready to crate everyone and drive them over. Momma duck was not interested.
She walked the whole way on foot with a police escort holding traffic, and still beat the crate full of her own ducklings to the water.
This Missouri Driver and Dog Had One Very Long Day in Flood Waters Before Finally Being Rescued
Our token humans-included entry, and a much more harrowing one. A Pettis County driver and their dog were swept off a low-water crossing and spent close to eight hours clinging to tree branches before a passerby spotted them and crews launched a boat rescue.
Both made it out safely, which is the only reason this one earns a spot on a “cutest” list.