May 4, 2015: We’ve scoured the Web to find the best and most compelling animal stories, videos and photos. And it’s all right here.

Rico, a 6-year-old German Shepherd, was reunited with his California family after he was found in Virginia.

Dog Found 2,500 Miles From Home

Three years ago, a German Shepherd named Rico was separated from his San Diego family in a messy break-up. Then, two weeks ago, Andrea Arce got a call from a shelter across the country in Virginia, and was told Rico been found wandering in the streets. He was flown back to San Diego where Arce and her 6- and 8-year-old daughters went to greet him Saturday night. The reunion was a surprise to Arce’s daughters, who were shocked — and thrilled. Rico clearly remembered his family and started whining and scratching at his crate as soon as he laid eyes on them. Once the 6-year-old dog was let out of the crate, he jumped into Arce’s arms, smothering her with kisses as her daughters shouted in excitement. “It’s a connection that we had the first three years of his life,” she said. “We never forgot him and he never forgot us.” — Watch it at Los Angeles’ KTLA

Study: Penguins Use Poop to Melt Ice for Babies

New video footage of Gentoo penguins in the Antarctic suggests the birds’ poop melts the ice in their habitat, making room for places to raise their chicks. Thousands of hours of video showed that the penguins would gather on the snow and ice in large groups, leaving huge piles of poop, or guano. The dark color of the waste allowed the light from the weak Antarctic sun to be more quickly absorbed, which then fueled the melting of the ice. That left a lot of bare rocky shelters, which is the perfect nesting ground for penguin chicks. The study was completed by researchers at the University of Oxford in England. — Read it at Live Science

Jon Stewart Reportedly Bought Farm for Rescued Animals

The comedian hasn’t revealed much about his plans after he leaves the “Daily Show” this summer, but one hint came from a Farm Sanctuary press release last month. Jon Stewart and his wife, Tracey, have long worked with the group, which saves farm animals. Tracey is working on a book due out in the fall called Do Unto Animals: A Friendly Guide to How Animals Live, and How We Can Make Their Lives Better, and some of the proceeds will go to the Farm Sanctuary. The group says the animal loving couple has bought a farm in New Jersey “with the intention of providing a home for farm animals rescued from cruelty.” The sanctuary also said it recently named two rescued sheep Jon and Tracey in their honor. — Read it at the Huffington Post

A kitten was named Survivor after he was freed from the apartment building wall where he was stuck for a week.

Kitten Pulled From Building Wall

Little Survivor has already lived up to his name. Residents of a Nashville, Tennessee, apartment building could hear the kitten’s cries coming from behind a wall for a week. After residents’ attempts to reach him were unsuccessful, they finally called firefighters for help Friday. The crew broke through a wall in a communal bathroom and saved the tiny kitten. Survivor has now been adopted by residents of the building. — Watch it at Nashville’s WSMV

Sloth Sanctuary Packed With Orphans

The staff at the Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica has their hands full with 28 baby sloths in their NICU. It’s the largest number of babies the sanctuary has cared for at once, they said on their Facebook page Friday. Each of the babies needs a syringe of milk every four hours, and they start eating leaves after their first week. The sanctuary says it’s in need of more incubators to care for the infants. — See photos at Facebook