Imagine if your best friend weighed nearly 1,000 pounds, stood 6 inches taller than basketball star Shaquille O'Neal and wolfed down his own turkey at Thanksgiving. For Casey Anderson, it's a normal part of life with his best bud—Brutus the Grizzly Bear.

Get to know Brutus and Casey.  

In 2002, Casey rescued the 5-month-old cub, who was born into captivity. From that day, an unbreakable bond was formed. "When he was a little baby, I was bottle feeding him, and I looked down in his eyes and he had a little tear in his eye. I just kind of chalked it up for he was straining from sucking on the bottle," Casey says. "Then, several years later, Brutus got a bit of a bellyache, and I was rubbing his belly. And in his eye, he had the same tears. And at that moment I realized that grizzly bears can feel the same emotions we do."