Heroes Archives - Page 24 of 30

Fearless Florida Woman Grabs Alligator, Saving Her Dog

It was the worst screaming Lori Beiswenger said she’d ever heard. To her horror, she realized it was coming from Hope, her 9-year-old Terrier mix. A 7-and-a-half foot alligator had Hope in its jaws and was dragging her into a pond at the Point O’ Woods Golf Course in Inverness, Fla., which Beiswenger owns.

“I said, ‘God, no, this can’t be happening,’ and it was the scariest feeling in the world,” Beiswenger told WTSP.

She may have been feeling scared, but when no one immediately responded to her cries for help, the 52-year-old potential Dog Mom of the Year winner fearlessly jumped into the pond and grabbed the gator’s tail.

“I pulled him back and he started thrashing and rolling her some more,” Beiswenger told WFTS.

But she wasn’t about to give up Hope. “I just kept pulling it, saying, ‘You’re not getting her, you’re not going out there,’ because I knew what he had in mind,” she told WTSP.

After three good pulls on its tail, the alligator released Hope. Beiswenger could see her dog’s nose poking out of the water, but the gator disappeared.

Beiswenger continued screaming for help. Jody Daniels, a golf course volunteer, showed up and, using a shovel, removed Hope from the pond.

“I thought it was dead because all I could see was the whites of its eyes,” Daniels told WFTS.

But Hope was alive and, after that ordeal, she was even able to take off running.

“When he pulled her out, she started running up the bank, and the gator did, too,” Beiswenger told WTSP.

Daniels hit the alligator’s head with the shovel. Beiswenger told WFTS the alligator was later trapped and killed by a private company. (Too bad it couldn’t have been relocated to a safer location.)

As for Hope, she suffered a severed artery and other injuries, but is recuperating after three hours of surgery. “It’s really a miracle that she survived it,” Beiswenger told WTSP.

Like a cat, Hope seems to have multiple lives. Beiswenger rescued her just before she was to be euthanized. Hope also survived being struck by a car.

Beiswenger told WTSP rescuing Hope was the “dumbest, bravest” thing she’s ever done.

“I love this dog. I wasn’t going to lose her,” Beiswenger said.

Photo via Facebook

Firefighters Save Poodle with Paw Stuck in Bathtub Drain

This has been kind of a busy week for dogs getting themselves into sticky situations.

On Friday, a Pit Bull mix named Jimma somehow managed to get her head stuck in a tire rim. Two crews from the Indianapolis Fire Department worked for more than an hour to free her.

Over on the West Coast Tuesday afternoon, a Poodle mix in Costa Mesa, Calif., got his paw stuck in the bathtub drain. (As if the bath itself wasn’t bad enough!)

Using a sledgehammer and chisel, three crew members from the Costa Mesa Fire Department worked for 40 minutes to open the drain and safely free the dog’s paw.

“The dog would bark and bite very time we tried to move it, just from pain,” Fire Capt. Nick Cerciello told the Daily Pilot.

The dog was apparently okay after his ordeal, and was even able to bolt down the apartment’s stairs as the family’s kids cheered.

“Didn’t have a limp or anything,” Cerciello told the Daily Pilot. Nevertheless, he advised the pet parents to have the dog checked out by a veterinarian.

“Sometimes it can be a ruff job,” the Costa Mesa Fire Department noted on its Facebook page yesterday.

Another Poodle, Another Stuck Paw

Strangely enough, a Poodle named Morita found herself in this exact same predicament 11 months ago.

A crew from the Albuquerque Fire Department cut open the bathtub and removed the drain — with Morita’s paw still stuck inside it. She was rushed to a vet, who was able to free her. Morita wasn’t seriously injured, but suffered pain from her swollen paw.

Don’t Let This Happen to Your Dog!

The takeaway from both these incidents? Be sure to use a drain cover when you give your dog a bath, and remove your dog from the tub before draining the water.

Photos via Twitter

Indianapolis Firefighters Free Stray Dog Stuck in Tire Rim

JULY 18, 2015 UPDATE: Happy news! Jessica Arnold, the woman who had been feeding Jimma and took her to the fire station, has become the former stray’s official dog mom. “Jimma will become a part of her family permanently,” the Indianapolis Fire Dept. wrote in a comment on its Facebook page today.

Jimma, a stray 1-year-old Pit Bull mix familiar to residents of an Indianapolis neighborhood, somehow got into a sticky situation today.

An unidentified woman who regularly feeds Jimma found her this afternoon with her head stuck in the rim of a tire that had been on a neighbor’s property. So the woman put Jimma in her car and drove her to the closest fire station.

“The dog who appeared to be stable was visibly shaken but not confrontational,” the Indianapolis Fire Dept. wrote on its Facebook page late this afternoon.

Using liquid soap and then oil, the firefighters spent 10 minutes trying to slide the rim off Jimma’s head, but the tire wouldn’t budge. They phoned another crew and requested extrication tools.

Removing the tire and rim would require large, loud tools, and the crews didn’t want to frighten or injure Jimma in the process.

They figured out a plan. The first step was to remove the tire.

“Several small tools normally used in vehicle extrication were used but ineffective due to the proximity of the dog’s head, noise, vibration and the rim material,” the fire department wrote.

As firefighters worked to remove the tire, others soothed Jimma by gently patting her and speaking to her calmly.

“Several times throughout the process, the dog turned skittish and firefighters had to allow the dog a minute to calm down before continuing,” the fire department wrote.

At last, over an hour later, the firefighters were able to cut through the rim using a tool normally used to cut brake pedals in cars. They then used spreaders to create a wider opening.

According to the Indianapolis Fire Dept., Jimma’s airway was never compromised and she appeared to be okay after her ordeal.

“A very happy Jimma was sent home with the resident,” the fire department wrote.

Here’s hoping the resident becomes Jimma’s permanent dog mom, or one of those hero firefighters adopts her, or Jimma’s story goes viral and she finds a forever home soon.

Photos via Facebook

Perfect Strangers Use CPR to Save Drowning Dog [Video]

Xena, a 10-year-old yellow Lab, loved to chase after the toy her dog mom, Regina Pugh, would throw in the ocean at Davis Islands Dog Beach in Tampa, Fla.

That’s just what Xena was doing Sunday when she began floating on her back.

“I thought, ‘Is she showing me a new trick?’” Pugh told the Tampa Tribune. “Then I realized something was going on. I didn’t expect the drowning to happen so fast.”

Pugh swam out to Xena and brought her back to shore. The dog beach was crowded that summer Sunday, and other pet parents didn’t hesitate to help the unconscious dog. As Pugh gave Xena mouth-to-mouth, three strangers took turns giving the dog CPR.

And then, in what couldn’t possibly have been better timing, a Tampa Fire Rescue truck drove by. Beachgoers flagged it down. Fire Capt. Timothy Hayes and firefighters took over the rescue effort, placing a human-sized oxygen mask over Xena’s face.

Within about four minutes, Xena was awake and ready to get up.

“Did we make a difference? I’m not the one to tell you,’’ Hayes told the Tribune. “We did what we could do. I think the majority of the credit goes to those bystanders there who pulled the dog out of the water and started CPR.”

According to her vet, Xena may have had a seizure in the water before losing consciousness.

“The most important thing is that I want to express gratitude and thankfulness for the people who helped me,’’ Pugh told the Tribune. “People jumped right in, got on their hands and knees, and did whatever they could do. They were perfect strangers willing to do whatever they could to help me.”

Hopefully those perfect strangers — emphasis on perfect — will be rewarded for their heroic efforts, as will Capt. Hayes and his crew.

Here’s a video of Xena’s rescue that was recorded by one of the bystanders.

Photo via YouTube

Rescued Dachshund Saves Kentucky Family from House Fire

During a severe thunderstorm early Tuesday morning, lightning apparently struck a house in Frankfort, Ky., sparking a fast-moving fire.

James Meadows, his wife and two grandchildren were fast asleep at the time. But thanks to Lacy, their 6-year-old rescued Dachshund, the family lived to tell the story.

“Lacy barked and woke me up,” Meadows told LEX 18. “I walked out of the bedroom, and I see the couch and behind the couch was glowing.”

Meadows was able to get his two-legged family members and two of their three dogs out of the house before it was engulfed by flames. Tragically, the third dog did not survive.

“We rescued Lacy, so she rescued us back,” Meadows told LEX 18 as he scratched the Dachshund’s ears. “She’s a hero in my book.”

A GoFundMe.com account has been created to help the Meadows recover from the loss of their house. To make a donation, click here.

Photo via LEX 18