For the love of animals

Hello Darling!
Today my thoughts are with my father and I wanted to share with you how grateful I am to him for instilling in me from such an early age a deep love for animals.
My father was the original Doctor Doolittle. Although his 'day job' was with human patients, he filled our home with all manner of sick and injured patients of the feathery, furry and scaly type.
It was the 1940s and we lived in a little village called Stanely, near Perth, in the heart of the Scottish countryside. Daddy ran a medical practice with two other doctors but his passion for animals was equal to the care he gave to humans. He could never pass any animal that needed help and had a habit of stopping the car when we were out on visits to rescue those that were in distress, be they a sheep, deer, cat, dog or bird, my father would make sure they were ok before he left the scene. He would often tend to a wounded bird or untangle a sheep from barbed wire.
Our home was basically an animal sanctuary. We had a large house with seven bedrooms and on the third floor there was a vast area that had been turned into an animal hospital.
We rescued many injured birds, of all kinds, mostly with broken wings. Daddy would splint them up and then they would have the freedom of the ‘animal hospital’ to relax with no fear of predators.
When their wings were mended, my twin sister Zandra and I helped them to find the confidence in flying again. One of us would hold a cushion and the other, from the far end of the room, would throw the bird up. It would fly across the room and be caught on the soft cushion landing. By this time, they had become very tame and we would have them on our laps, stroking, talking and giving them healing energy to bring them into total recovery. 
Throughout the years, we must have had at least 30 different animals come to stay with us for healing. Including a chimpanzee, two baby alligators and several small snakes - one of Daddy's friends ran Edinburgh Zoo. On one trip to the seaside, we even ended up bringing home a sick seal.
Is it any wonder that I've had a lifelong passion for healing but especially for healing animals? It brings me no end of joy to see an animal return to health and they are beautiful to work on because, unlike humans, animals are open to receiving the healing energies of the universe. They have no blocks of ego and resistance so often found in humans.
So today, I raise a glass to my father and thank him for giving me the love of animals that has filled my life with such joy.
Lots of love,
Zoë xx