Animal Stories

Sad story:

Jamie Hanson mourns her dog Jesse, who helped her escape a fire her cat caused. Jesse tried to help the cat, but both died.

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - After a disabled woman's cat started a house fire, her specially trained dog came to the rescue, then died trying to help the cat still in the house. Jamie Hanson said the 13-year-old dog named Jesse brought the phone so she could call 911 and also brought her artificial leg.

"She got me outside and then she heard the cat upstairs and she went up there to get the cat and she wouldn't come back to me," Hanson, 49, said at a news conference Monday at Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center where she was being treated for her injuries.

She received third-degree burns to an arm in the fire Sunday night at her home in the town of Rhine south of Elkhart Lake, the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department said, adding that both pets died in the fire.

Hanson, who lost a leg in a car accident three years ago, said she was on the couch watching television when the cat ran over the back of the couch.

"And he jumped onto a table that had a candle on it and tipped it over and lighted the artificial plants on fire," she said.

Hanson said she fell off the couch and was unable to get her artificial leg from the table, "so my dog got my leg for me and went and got the phone and brought the phone to me so I could call 911."

She said she tried to put the prosthetic leg on, but it was too hot, and the dog, a golden retriever-German shepherd mix, came to her aid again before going back inside for the cat.

When rescuers arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames, the sheriff's department said. Hanson was in the doorway and was assisted by a deputy.

Why would that dog try to save the cat that caused all the problems? All that over a little pussy cat!!!!








Police Dog Falls Two Stories but Gets Man

GILFORD, N.H. - A Gilford police dog fell from a second-story window while searching for a robbery suspect during the weekend, but still got its man.

Police were looking for a man who reportedly robbed a car driver at knifepoint Saturday night. Police say Michael Mount, 30, pulled a knife on the driver of a car in which he was a passenger, forced her off the road and stole her purse.

Police called in their dog, Agbar, to track Mount.

They say Agbar fell from a second-story window while on the hunt, but was not hurt, and led officers to Mount, who was arrested outside his apartment.

Dog on the run, got no gun, but got his man!!!!









Police Follow Beer Trail to Suspect

CALGARY, Alberta - A man suspected of stealing a loaded beer truck was nabbed after a police dog followed a trail of beer and clothes to find him hiding on top of a porch, Edmonton police said Tuesday.

The police dog was called out to a parking lot in the western Canadian city Monday morning where a beer delivery truck, recently stolen outside a liquor store, had been abandoned after a collision.

Edmonton police spokeswoman Karen Carlson said the dog and its handler followed a trail of discarded beer, a cooler, a hand cart and pieces of clothing to a nearby apartment building.

"I guess the dog had a pretty good scent to go on," Carlson said.

Just as police readied to enter the apartment building, the suspect was seen climbing out of a second-story window and on to the roof of the building's porch.

Police said the man was arrested without incident and charged with theft and hit and run.

Have no fear, this dog knows his beer.









Baby Sitter Kills Black Bear Near Kids

PORTHILL, Idaho - A northern Idaho baby sitter shot and killed a 422-pound black bear that broke into a backyard where three toddlers were playing.

The bear was likely drawn to the yard by the scent of food from a barbecue, said Idaho Department of Fish and Game Conservation Officer Greg Johnson.

"We've not had a single incident in Idaho of a black bear attacking a person," he told the Bonner County Daily Bee newspaper. "If you have a bear, you probably have food out."

The baby sitter did not want her name revealed and could not be reached for comment. She was baby-sitting for her sister, Becky Henslee.

Henslee said her 3-year-old daughter Brooklyn and twin 2-year-old sons Cleo and Charles were playing in the backyard of their home on the Canadian border early last week when Brooklyn alerted their aunt by shouting "Bear! Bear!"

Henslee said her sister looked up and saw the bear running out of the woods toward the backyard. She grabbed the three children from the yard and ran inside the house, shutting the door.

After taking the children into a bedroom, the woman loaded a 7mm hunting rifle and returned to the back door, where the bear had pawed the screen door and broken the door frame.

When the bear looked away from the door, Henslee said her sister opened the door slightly and shot twice, killing the bear instantly.

Henslee said her sister had a valid Idaho bear hunting tag.

Wild berries, the main food source of bears in the region, have been less abundant this season than past, prompting the animals to look for other food sources in residential areas, Johnson said.

All she had to do was throw another steak on the barbecue for the bear.








If you drink, don't get behind the, uh, reins

Georgia woman charged with drunk driving after her horse collides with car

CLAYTON, Ga. - A woman who authorities say steered the horse she was riding onto the highway and collided with a car has been charged with drunk driving.

Heather Darnell, 22, remains in intensive care after being airlifted to a nearby hospital following the accident Friday night.

Three people, including a 13-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy who were in the car, were also treated at another hospital and released. The horse apparently survived, officials said.

Trooper Anthony Coleman said the driver of the car did not see the horse until too late and was unable to avoid hitting it.

"If it's on the public right-of-way, you're under the same jurisdiction as if you're in a car," Coleman told the Anderson Independent-Mail for a Tuesday story.

300 horse power car vs. 1 horse power - the 300 will always win. Drunk driving a horse, how does that work?








Turkey Testicle Festival Can Keep Name

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. - Organizers of fourth annual Turkey Testicle Festival can keep their name, despite concerns about the propriety of the word and the island's virtue.

The Fort Myers Beach Council voted 4-1 Monday to allow the Surf Club bar to use the Turkey Testicle Festival name after a laugh-out-loud discussion, according to the News-Press.

Councilman Charles Meador said this year's festival will the fourth annual, and went on to list more than 12 other cities that host annual events with the name "testicle."

"Who cares what the name is," Mayor Dennis Boback said. "Money is going for a worthy cause."

The festival has raised about $3,000 for the Harry Chapin Food Bank in each of its past three years. A change in policy that requires the town council to approve special events brought the issue of the name to the table two weeks ago.

Councilmen Bill Shenko and Garr Reynolds had said the name is inappropriate for a family island. They asked that the word testicle be removed from the name and all advertising.

Shenko reversed his position Monday and supported the name. Reynolds continued his opposition.

"We do have youngsters here," Reynolds said. "We're trying to uplift their thinking."

These people have no balls!! What's in a name? The kids have no idea, right!!!





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