This final episode of This Animal Life is devoted to my fellow wolf-lovers. Sit down for a gripping conversation with Rick McIntyre, author of The Redemption of Wolf 302 in the Yellowstone Wolf series. Do wolves really have a moral code? Are some wolves more ethical than others, or are we humans just projecting?

Through Rick's compelling stories, you’ll find out why humans are more similar to wolves than to any other creature. You’ll also learn why anthropomorphism can be accurate and necessary, what our astonishing similarities to wolves teach us about our better nature, and why we’re wise to show mercy in this animal life.

“Animals Are Moral Creatures, Argues Scientist,” by Tia Ghose, Live Science, November 2012.

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? By De Waal, Frans. WW Norton, 2016.

Dog Behaviour, Evolution, and Cognition, by Miklosi, Adam, Dr. Oxford University Press 2016.

A Dog’s World: Imagining the Lives of Dogs in a World Without Humans, by Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff. Princeton University Press, October 2021.

The Moral Lives of Animals, by Dale Peterson, Bloomsbury Press, 2011.

The Redemption of Wolf 302: From Renegade to Yellowstone Alpha Male, by Rick McIntyre. Greystone Books, October 2021.

Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals, by Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff. University of Chicago Press, 2009.

Merry Christmas! Meet Debbie Garcia-Bengochea, the bestselling author of Mini Horses, Mighty Hope and cofounder of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses. The charity's miniature horses interact with an estimated 25,000 people all over the country each year, including survivors, first responders, hospital patients, and more. One of their horses, Magic, was named one of history's ten most heroic animals by Time magazine and declared the Most Heroic Pet in America by AARP. The question I pose to Debbie is this: do therapy horses really care about the strangers they comfort?

Our gift to you is the greatest insight into the nature of unconditional love from animals. Is it real or are we imagining it? When a therapy animal comforts a stranger in distress, does the animal understand or even care what it's doing? Join Debbie Garcia-Bengochea and me as we get to the bottom of animal hearts. I promise, you will be comforted and amazed.

Mini Horses, Mighty Hope: How a Herd of Miniature Horses Provides Comfort and Healing is an exquisitely poignant book that quickly brings readers to tears of empathy and joy with stories of how the Gentle Carousel Therapy Horses bring comfort, hope, and healing to children, the elderly, first responders, survivors, their families, and others experiencing life’s most difficult challenges. While the book brings you along on their many interactions with people, this episode focuses on what life is like for these tiny equines with such heavy jobs to do.