Yankee the giant St Bernard lets stray cats snuggle up to him every night

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They were originally bred to rescue mountaineers trapped in snow storms.

So it is perhaps no surprise this giant St Bernard also wants to help the needy, albeit of a rather different kind.

For nine-year-old Yankee has been letting dozens of stray cats cuddle up to him when he goes to sleep every night to shelter them from the cold.

Owner Keegan Vansoelen, 24, said the cats started coming over to the home from a barn about a year ago and have never looked back.

Mr Vansoelen said: 'We discovered the cats sleeping on him one morning about a year ago.

'It looks like a big ball of fur. Many of the cats are the same colour as Yankee's coat, so sometimes they are hard to see on him.'


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