Fat border collie Jiffy survives freezing to sidewalk overnight

Fat border collie Jiffy survives freezing to sidewalk overnight

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Monday, December 8th 2008, 9:46 AM
Klein/AP

Jiffy, who was left outside overnight and consequently froze to the sidewalk, was described as a "morbidly obese" dog.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - A dog weighing more than 120 pounds survived being frozen to a sidewalk overnight, probably because he was insulated by layers of fat, authorities said.

The "morbidly obese" dog, an aging border collie mix named Jiffy, froze to the sidewalk when he was left out overnight Wednesday, the Sheboygan County Humane Society said. Few dogs could survive the single-digit temperatures, and it was probably the fat that made the difference, shelter manager Carey Payne said.

Jiffy's 59-year-old owner was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of animal neglect, Sheboygan Police Lt. Tim Eirich said. She told police she tried to get the dog inside but couldn't, and instead checked on him every few hours.

The dog is 11 or 12 years old, Eirich said. Shelter workers poured warm water over Jiffy's back end to unstick him from the sidewalk, Payne said, adding it was too soon to say whether he suffered any long-term effects.

Puppies save three-year-old boy lost in freezing Virginia woods

Puppies save three-year-old boy lost in freezing Virginia woods

BY JANE H. FURSE
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Monday, December 8th 2008, 1:57 PM
Jaylynn Thorpe, 3, with his family.


The two hero puppies who saved Jaylynn's life.

A toddler lost in the Virginia woods was back home safe Sunday thanks to two puppies who kept him warm through a harrowing night of freezing temperatures.

Jaylynn Thorpe, 3, wandered away from his baby-sitter at 4 p.m. Friday and was missing for 21 hours as hundreds of friends, family and law enforcement officials searched for him in the thick woods of Halifax County, fearing the worst.

"The only thing we wanted to do was just keep searching until we found him," Halifax County Sheriff Stanley Noblin told reporters.

Jaylynn's frantic family knew time was not on its side.

"We didn't forget the issue that 17 degrees was almost unbearable," said his father, James Thorpe.

"People all over the State of Virginia was down there looking for that child. For a while there, one time, I didn't know whether they would find him or not," said the child's grandmother and guardian, Katherine Elliot.

Officials said the lost little boy and the two family puppies wandered up to a mile in the dark, even across a highway, but it wasn't until Saturday afternoon that members of the search team found him sitting by a tree, the two puppies nestled against him.

The little boy didn't say anything, according to rescue team member Jerry Gentry, but instead "just opened his arms up like, 'I'm ready to go.'"

"When I first saw him, he was like, 'Momma, I got cold. I slept in the woods last night. The puppies kept me warm.' He told me that ... the dogs slept up against him. And I'm sure the body heat kept him warm," said his mother, Sarah Ingram.

Billie Jo Roach, another member of the search party that found the boy, said the puppies refused to leave his side.

As the child was placed in an ambulance to be taken to a local hospital for examination, "The puppies were watching where he went.

"Where he went, they went," Roach said.

As word went out that the child was alive and well, family members cheered and cried for joy.

"Praise the Lord! Welcome home, Jaylynn!" yelled his aunt, Amy Zimmerman.

Close to 300 people from North Carolina and Virginia joined in the search to find Jaylynn.

"I love you! God bless you," Ingram told the rescue teams.

"I think I just said, 'Thank you Lord' ... for us to have another chance!" said the child's father.

The boy spent Saturday night under observation at Halifax Regional Hospital and chowed down on a double cheeseburger, a hot dog, strawberry ice cream and French fries.

Meanwhile, the furry heroes, their tails wagging, were rewarded with food.

"I definitely call this a miracle," said Noblin.

Two Pups Keep Boy Alive

Puppies Credited With Keeping Lost Toddler Warm Overnight in Woods

A 3-year-old Virginia boy was rescued Saturday after spending the night in the woods with only his puppies to keep him warm.

Jaylynn Thorpe, 3, of Halifax County, Va., was found at around 1 p.m. Saturday about a half-mile from where he disappeared on Friday afternoon after wandering away from his baby sitter's house, FOX affiliate WRAL-TV reported.

They found him standing; he was wet, but the dogs were with him," Jaylynn's mother, Sarah Ingram, told FOX News on Monday. "I was told that the dogs slept with him. They could tell where they slept in the woods."

Ingram said her son slept sandwiched between the two 12-week-old puppies, which officials say helped keep him warm through the 21-hour ordeal.

Jaylynn wandered away late Friday afternoon from his baby sitter, who is Ingram's niece.

"The dogs went with him," Ingram said. "He told me he left that yard going hunting and fishing."

Around 300 people helped search for the missing child, and a command center was set up at the local Baptist church, the station said.

“God really protected the boy," Grace Baptist Church Pastor Dave Kline said. "We are happy that we were able to help.”

Ingram told FOX News that once he was found, her son ate two double cheeseburgers, a hot dog and strawberry ice cream polished off with three Pepsi-Colas.

"He was safely returned," she told FOX News. "And thank Jesus, without a scratch."

Vets fix feline's face after 'cat'-astrophe

Vets fix feline's face after 'cat'-astrophe
Tuesday, Dec. 09, 2008
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS - Associated Press Writer

BOSTON -- Me-ouch! Veterinarians in Boston on Tuesday performed an unusual surgery to reattach the face of a cat they believe was injured by a car's fan belt, probably because she tried to stay warm under the hood.

Edgar, a 4-year-old long-haired feline, went missing from her home in Winthrop for three days last week. When she finally came home, her owner found her in her litter box - with part of her face dangling from her head.

"When her owner saw her face, she passed out," said Elizabeth Kendrick, a surgical technician at Angell Animal Medical Center.

AP Photo - Edgar, a 4-year-old long-haired female cat, is seen with stitches running the length of her face while resting with an Elizabethan collar around her neck following surgery at the Angell Animal Medical Center, in Boston, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008. Veterinarians completed an unusual surgery to reattach the face of the cat that was slashed by a car's fan belt while she apparently tried to stay warm under the hood.

The owner, who asked not to be identified, recovered from the shock and rushed Edgar to an animal hospital.

Remarkably, Edgar suffered no major blood loss nor any permanent nerve damage from her accident. She just needed to have her facial skin stitched back on during an hour-long surgery, according to veterinary surgeon Michael Pavletic.

"And she should be fine after this," Pavletic said.

Besides the skin hanging from Edgar's face, Edgar seemed normal, Kendrick said.

"She was purring and sticking her head up so we could pet her," Kendrick said. "She even tried to chew at her skin. I'd never seen anything like it."

Pavletic reattached Edgar's face using about 35 stitches. She came through the hourlong surgery with no problems, though she looks as though someone punched her in the eye. "She'll need to take some medicine but I don't anticipate her having any problems," Pavletic said.

Bonnie Beaver, a professor of small animal clinical services at Texas A&M University, said such animal injuries are extremely rare since cats are usually killed instantly from car fan belts.

"She may have problems later," Beaver said, "but the cat was saying, "I may have lost this life but, by golly, I have eight more."

Little hope for Chile's highway hero dog

Little hope for Chile's highway hero dog
Tuesday, Dec. 09, 2008
The Associated Press

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chilean officials say they have lost hope of finding a dog whose attempted rescue of an injured animal inspired worldwide admiration.

Jorge Rivas, operations manager for Vespucio Norte Highway in Santiago, said police and highway workers had searched for the dog several times, "but not any more."

He said too much time has passed since March 23, when a surveillance camera captured images of the apparently homeless dog pulling the body of another, injured dog through busy traffic to the relative safety of a freeway median strip. The other dog, which had been hit by vehicles, died.

Rivas said earlier reports that the incident happened on Dec. 4 were based on confusion with the date the image was first shown on local television.

Hundreds of thousands of people viewed the surveillance images on Web sites and television shows and Rivas said his agency received 15 calls over the weekend from people offering to adopt the dog.

Luis Serey, 59, a taxi driver who often uses the freeway, often says the video "was impressive. This dog is a hero. I hope he gets a new life, a home. He totally deserves it."

Broadcast of the images came on the heels of an animal welfare scandal in the Chilean capital, where officials raided an Animal Protection Society accused of mistreating and killing dogs and cats in its care. Four employees of the society face charges of animal abuse.

Hero Dog' Pulls Injured Friend From Oncoming Traffic

Monday, December 08, 2008

Azteca America Colorado

A dog is seen rescuing an injured dog from a busy freeway in Santiago, Chile.

Footage from a traffic camera overlooking a busy freeway in Santiago, Chile captured a dog performing a heroic act — pulling an injured friend from oncoming traffic.

The video, from Azteca America Colorado, shows an injured dog lying in the middle of a freeway after being hit by a car, while a rescue dog dodges traffic to run to its side. The rescue dog then drags the severely injured canine across lanes of traffic as cars swerve around it.

No motorists stopped to help either dog, but a highway crew arrives at the end of the video.

The translation of the announcer is as follows:

"These images seen from the surveillance cameras show a very common situation with our overpopulated highways. It is normal for us to see dogs run over. In the video, we can see this dog fighting for his life because he was run over by the vehicle.

"What is very touching is to see the very heroic actions of this other dog who is trying to pull him to the side of the highway. We are going to keep seeing things like this until we find a solution to the dogs living on the streets."

Click here to watch the video. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28148352/

Dog's Owner Refused to Leave His Best Friend

Dog rescued from fire greatly improves
November 13, 2008 at 12:03 PM | Comments (84)



Regis at the American Veterinary Hospital in Oak Park. (Tribune photo by Milbert O. Brown)

The 13-year-old German shepherd mix whose owner died Wednesday after refusing to leave a burning house without him is doing "much, much better" and could be discharged from an animal hospital as soon as Monday, hospital officials said this morning.

John Petrik, 68, who lived alone with his dog, Regis, in a single-family home in the 1600 block of South Lombard Avenue, was the victim of a heart attack, authorities said. Officials said police had to forcibly remove him from the home about 2 a.m. because he refused to leave, saying he didn't want to abandon his dog.

Petrik's brother, Joe, described him as a private man who never married. About 12 years ago, John Petrik rescued Regis at a Cicero intersection after watching the dog get thrown out of the car in front of him at a stop sign. He had cared for the dog ever since, rarely leaving the house because he didn't want to leave the dog alone, Joe Petrik said.

"It was like his child, He was 100 percent devoted," he said. "Outside of normal conversation that's all he talked about."

Petrik suffered the attack in a police car as firefighters went into the house and saved the dog. He was pronounced dead at 2:10 a.m. Wednesday at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Regis, who suffered from smoke inhalation and burns, was placed in intensive care Wednesday at an Oak Park veterinary hospital. This morning hospital officials said the dog's condition had greatly improved, but he would remain hospitalized over the weekend before being turned over to Cicero animal control.

It was a remarkable recovery, said Dr. Cesar C. Agustin, who is treating the dog at American Animal Hospital in Oak Park. When Regis arrived at the hospital, he "wasn't even moving." He was administered antibiotics, fluids and placed under oxygen therapy because he was having trouble breathing, Agustin said.

Regis also suffered first-degree burns on his tail and was treated for flea infestation.

Today, the dog was eating, drinking and moving around, although was still having trouble walking straight, Agustin said. "He's doing much, much better than yesterday," Agustin said. "But let's take it one day at a time."

--Gerry Smith