Heroes come in many shapes and forms, but they all do uncommon things in unusual situations. They stand out. We've all heard stories of hero dogs that save their owners. One dog saved his owner by fighting off an alligator. Another woke his sleeping family when a fire broke out in its home. Still others rescue injured or needy people in dangerous situations. One dog even managed to call 911 when his owner suffered a seizure. But one dog, named Ginny, performed heroic acts on a regular basis, not just once or twice in unusual situations. Because of her kindness, many lives were saved. Ginny the dog was adopted by her owner from an animal shelter in 1990. Within days of bringing her home, her owner discovered that Ginny seemed to be able to find cats in distress. On her daily walks, Ginny would often find abandoned, trapped, or endangered kittens or cats that needed rescuing. In one such episode, Ginny found a group of kittens trapped in a pipe. She managed to let her owner know, by scratching and barking at the pipe, that something needed her help. Because of Ginny, all the kittens were saved.

Almost daily, Ginny would find cats that needed rescuing or, in some cases, a little love. Ginny's owner reported that when Ginny saw a cat on their walks, she would pull away from her leash and run after the cat. Instead of chasing cats like most dogs, Ginny would nuzzle and lick them, giving them comfort. Because of Ginny, her owner soon found he was caring for hundreds of wild neighborhood cats. In addition, Ginny pushed her owner to adopt more than 20 cats, most of whom had permanent injuries or special needs.

"When we would go to the pound to drop off donations," her owner said, "Ginny always found the cat that was blind or deaf or hurt in some way. She would sit down in front of the cat's crate and not move until we brought it home."

What makes a dog behave in such a kind way? Some believe Ginny had a very strong mothering instinct. But how could she tell when a cat was deaf? How did she know which cats needed love and attention? Regardless of how she did it, Ginny rescued hundreds of cats in her life and set an example we all can follow.

What did the animals Ginny rescued have in common? Use details and examples from the essay to support your answer. (10 points)

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