Is it dusty in here?
March 22, 2014 7:14 AM   Subscribe

Dying Rotterdam zookeeper gets goodbye kiss from a giraffe, courtesy of the Dutch Ambulance Wish Foundation (Dutch, facebook), which organises ambulance transport to fullfill the last wishes of terminally ill people.
posted by MartinWisse (27 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
Very touching, and what a wonderful organization, to do the things they're doing.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:37 AM on March 22, 2014 [5 favorites]


This has been doing the "upworthy" linkbaits for a smidge.
I had no context, so I refused to click.

I just feel dusty.
And I want to believe the giraffe knew, even though my cats make shitty healthcare workers.
Because I want to believe.
posted by Mezentian at 7:51 AM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]


The shots on the web page of the farmer with his ponies are sniffle inducing as well.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 8:05 AM on March 22, 2014 [4 favorites]


Goodbye kiss from a giraffe? AW HELL NO I AIN'T CLICKING THAT

the giraffe is my favorite animal

I'm getting throat-lumps just thinking about that

*sniffle*
posted by Doleful Creature at 8:11 AM on March 22, 2014 [3 favorites]


Screw your mere dusty eyes. I'm bibically wailing over here.
posted by kimberussell at 8:25 AM on March 22, 2014 [6 favorites]


This is marvellous, I'm glad he got to say goodbye. My cat would just be complaining about the decline in service lately.
posted by arcticseal at 8:29 AM on March 22, 2014 [16 favorites]


Oh well, I'll start building a wall.
Or wailing.
Possibly with feeders on the top to confuse future generations.
posted by Mezentian at 8:30 AM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


Really great, but that website sucks for mobile devices--forced me to the App Store to download their app the first time, then made me opt out of downloading their app the second time, before I could see the article. I thought sites had ended that shitty practice.

But that ambulance service, an outstanding practice of compassion.
posted by LooseFilter at 9:06 AM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]


For those who find this too touching, just pretend the headline is "Man's face chewed off by zombie giraffe."
posted by Sys Rq at 9:14 AM on March 22, 2014 [8 favorites]


I'm normally against the unworthy linkbaits, but I'm not sorry I clicked this one. How kind to the keeper, and how kind also to the giraffes, who got another chance to see their friend. (And agreed that the ambulance service is an outstanding practice of compassion.)
posted by immlass at 9:56 AM on March 22, 2014 [4 favorites]


BRB, finding out where you procure a giraffe...
posted by syncope at 11:22 AM on March 22, 2014


If anyone has a link that works on mobile (presumably from some other site) I suspect many here would be grateful.
posted by davejay at 11:32 AM on March 22, 2014


This is less heartwarming when you find out the zookeeper is dying from "Giraffe Herpes."
posted by ColdChef at 11:33 AM on March 22, 2014 [4 favorites]


BRB, finding out where you procure a giraffe...

Copenhagen butcher shops?
posted by Sys Rq at 11:38 AM on March 22, 2014 [8 favorites]


There doesn't appear to be video of the actual event. The source for much of the reporting on this seems to be the ABC News Blog's Medical page, which has the story and photos, and works fine on my phone.
posted by ob1quixote at 12:12 PM on March 22, 2014


For those who find this too touching, just pretend the headline is "Man's face chewed off by zombie giraffe."

Or "Cunning Zombie Tricks Charity into Letting Him Attack One Last Giraffe."
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:33 PM on March 22, 2014


GenjiandProust: "For those who find this too touching, just pretend the headline is "Man's face chewed off by zombie giraffe."

Or "Cunning Zombie Tricks Charity into Letting Him Attack One Last Giraffe."
"

You guys are cruel (but funny in a sick way).
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 1:43 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


My cat would just be complaining...

Cats are better than that.
During the last two years of her life, my grandmother befriended a feral cat that was allowed to walk in and out of her house via the garden door at will. Then my grandmother got cancer. She eventually got too ill to walk around, and her bed was put in the living room downstairs, for her to get some sun and to hear the birds outside - the cat was always there, beside the bed; sometimes she took a tour around the shelves with trinkets (without ever throwing anything down), then she returned to her spot, just silently keeping watch. For months that was her daily routine.
After grandma died, the cat went away...
posted by Namlit at 1:48 PM on March 22, 2014 [22 favorites]


Awwwwwwwwwww.
posted by limeonaire at 2:47 PM on March 22, 2014


Apparently, giraffes communicate by infrasound, inaudible to human ears.

So I'm just saying we have no idea what that giraffe might have been saying, is all.
posted by spitbull at 2:55 PM on March 22, 2014 [3 favorites]


Dammit. I was resting my cup of tea on my big belly, started sobbing and spilled tea all down my front. I think the giraffe knew.
posted by hazyjane at 2:17 AM on March 23, 2014


There doesn't appear to be video of the actual event.

Oh, there is.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:01 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]


Is that guy in the video feeding those giraffes Cheetos?
posted by lagomorphius at 11:58 AM on March 23, 2014


lovely story. what a fantastic organisation. I wonder if there are equivalents in other countries?
posted by Hartham's Hugging Robots at 2:38 PM on March 23, 2014


I wonder if there are equivalents in other countries?

I wondered that too. It's such a wonderful and beautiful idea. I wish there was something like this in Ireland; my sister-in-law's father is in hospital and seems unlikely leave, and he misses his dogs something terrible. As they do him... It would be wonderful for them to meet again at his home. Looking through the pictures on the organization's website there were so many wonderful shots of people with family and animals and enjoying the chance to say goodbye away from the hospital and machines. The person who set this organization up is a wonderful human being.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 9:46 PM on March 23, 2014


Honestly, when I read the OP, I thought that a special animal ambulance brought the giraffe to his house. Giraffe house calls would be a wonderful thing.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:14 AM on March 24, 2014




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