Canines and a Cat

Let's spotlight the animals today!!


Crash Victim Says Dog Saved Her Life

THOMASVILLE - A south Georgia woman bloodied in a car wreck says she owes her life to a German shepherd who - thankfully - just wouldn't stay in his yard.


Shannon Lorio says that after her car careened down an embankment, the wayward dog found her bruised and battered on the vehicle's trunk, pulled her by her shirt collar, dragged her about 50 yards through briars to a highway and let her lean against him so she could flag a passing motorist.

"I was bleeding from my face and my nose," she said. "All of a sudden, I felt a presence - a really huge presence. He was straddling me. I have watched too many horror movies about werewolves and vampires. I thought he was going to eat me."

Instead, the dog licked her face, she said.

The 2-year-old dog, weighing 70 pounds, dragged the 136-pound Lorio to the highway, then stood by to help her summon help before she collapsed, she said.

She didn't even know the dog and the dog didn't know her. Heroes come in all different uniforms!!





Man Bites Dog and Dog Bites Back

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Man bites dog; dog bites back. That was the sequence when Alsatian police dog Edge cornered two suspects on a cliff side after a grocery store robbery in Napier, New Zealand, police said on Thursday.

One of the suspects leaped down the slope and landed almost directly into the hands of police officers waiting at the bottom. The other suspect, who was armed with a knife took on Edge, and bit the dog in the struggle.

"He bit the dog first," Detective Sergeant John McGregor told The Associated Press.

Edge was unfazed, sinking his teeth into his attacker.

"The dog did win the fight, the offender ended up with one or two lacerations," McGregor said. "I think he knew he was going to get bitten - so he bit the dog first."

In June 2006 Edge underwent emergency surgery after an offender stabbed him in the chest with a hunting knife. After surgery and a blood transfusion, the dog made a complete recovery.

This is one bad (good) dog. The bad guy musta thought he was Mike Tyson!!!





Dog Eats Owner's $5,000 Wedding Ring

RAISINVILLE TOWNSHIP, Michigan - Here is a dog with expensive taste: A pit bull ate its owner's $5,000 wedding ring before being made to throw it up again. Tina Burlett had thought someone broke into her house and stole the custom-made ring. But her grandmother suspected the family dog, Missy.

X-rays showed she was right.

Missy has been caught gnawing on VCRs, electric blankets and even Burlett's diamond earring.

"I did have a dog eat a watch once," said Dr. Linda Fung of the Country Creek Animal Hospital. "Animals swallow a lot of stuff. It's not an unusual thing. We just made her throw it up."


Well, hello, yeah Pit Bulls eat everything, including people.






Mother Cat Adopts Newborn Rottweiler

MERIDEN, Conn. - Who says cats and dogs don't get along?

Workers at the Meriden Humane Society are marveling at a short-haired mother cat that has adopted a 6-day-old Rottweiler puppy that was rejected by its mother.

The tiny pup, named Charlie by Humane Society volunteers, nurses alongside a jumble of black and gray kittens recently born to Satin, who was taken to the shelter by an owner unable to care for her.

Charlie's mother was found by the side of the road in Meriden a couple of months ago. She gave birth to two puppies, but one was stillborn. As sometimes happens with a stillborn in the litter, the mother refused to accept Charlie.

Volunteers bottle-fed him every two hours, but the effort was exhausting for them and insufficient for the puppy, volunteer Chris Chorney said.

Research indicated that a suitable substitute could be Satin, who had given birth to four kittens that have quickly warmed to Charlie.

"The kittens scrum up with him and the kittens treat him like one of their own," Chorney said. "There's a certain social benefit of small animals being with each other."

Such relationships are not all that unusual in certain circumstances, said Deirdre Chiaramonte, a veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center, a specialty teaching hospital in New York.

The cozy arrangement between Charlie, Satin and the kittens will likely change as the pup grows. Full-grown male Rottweilers commonly weigh 100 pounds.

Volunteers are hoping that dog owners will volunteer their puppies to be Charlie's playmates.

"Dogs need to be with a litter of puppies, to learn to play with other dogs," Chorney said. "He has to learn to be a well-socialized dog."

Just a little feel good story for your Sunday.

That's all for today. Don't forget it's not too late to post your comments on yesterday's blog!!!