Heroes Archives - Page 28 of 30

Hero Pit Bull Quarantined after Saving Girl from Rabid Raccoon

Eleven-year-old Savannah Vanase was cleaning the chicken coop in her family’s Norwich, Conn., backyard earlier this month when she was approached by a raccoon.

The family’s Pit Bull, 21-month-old Tank, saw the raccoon, which was just inches away from Vanase.

“All of a sudden my dog comes barking and sprinting under [the coop], and I look under, and there’s this huge raccoon,” Vanase told WTIC-TV. “I just didn’t know what to do. I just stood right here.”

She said she was surprised to see her mild-mannered snuggle buddy turn into “Super Puppy.”

“They were just tussling, and the raccoon went on his back and scratched him on his face, and Tank kept trying to pounce on him,” Vanase said.

Tank killed the raccoon, which later tested positive for rabies.

Unfortunately, Tank’s heroic act has the possibility of ending in an “Old Yeller” type tragedy for the pup. His rabies booster shot was a few days overdue. If he was infected, he will have to be euthanized.

Tank must be quarantined at a local animal shelter for six months to see if he develops symptoms of rabies. Animal control officer Donna Gremminger told KTRK that if Tank’s vaccinations had been up to date, he would have required a 45-day home quarantine.

“We’re trying to avoid [euthanization] and give him his fair chance,” Savannah’s dad, Chris Vanase, told WTIC-TV. “It’s the least I could do for saving my daughter.”

Gremminger said Tank has so far shown no signs of rabies, and said that none of the dogs she has seen quarantined in the shelter have turned out to be infected.

The six members of the Vanase family must also undergo a series of treatments for rabies.

“When he comes home, (I’m going to) make him a big, nice, peanut-butter-bone-treat cake and hug him as hard as I can,” Samantha told KTRK.

Hopefully Tank’s story will have a happier ending than “Old Yeller.” And hopefully Tank’s family will make sure his vaccinations are up to date for the rest of this hero’s life.

Photo via Facebook

Fort Worth Police Officers Stop Highway Traffic to Rescue Small Dog (VIDEO)

Officers Allen Speed and Paul Garcia of the Fort Worth Police Department quickly went into action when they saw a small Rat Terrier running on busy Interstate 30. The rescue was captured on their patrol car’s dashboard camera.

The officers blocked traffic with their patrol car, got out and, after a bit of coaxing, lured the female stray to their car. The stopped drivers cheered and tooted their horns to show their appreciation for the two heroes.

Speed and Garcia, who named the dog “Beach” since they rescued her near Beach Street, took her to the Humane Society of North Texas (HSNT).

“These men are true heroes!” the HSNT posted on its Facebook page today. “They even came back to check in to make sure she was doing well days later. Beach is one lucky lady!”

The Fort Worth Star Telegram reported that Beach was adopted Feb. 5.

Photo via Facebook

Coast Guard Rescues Dog from Icy Michigan Lake (VIDEO)

Just a few days ago, Los Angeles firefighters heroically rescued a Shiba Inu who was being swept away in the L.A. River. (The pup, who they named “Lucky,” has not yet been claimed by his owner.)

Halfway across the country today, the U.S. Coast Guard came to the rescue of a yellow Labrador Retriever who found herself in a similar predicament. But instead of falling into raging water, the Lab fell through ice into frigid Betsie Lake in Frankfort, Mich.

The dog has been named “Betsie” after the lake she fell into, but she really should be named “Extra Lucky.” She just happened to fall close to a U.S. Coast Guard station. When crew members witnessed it, they rushed to her rescue.

Tim Putnam, a boatswain mate third class, swam out about 200 feet to grab the Lab.

“I had to push a lot of the ice out of the way. It was pretty exhausting,” he told NBC News. As he approached Betsie, she swam toward him.

“It was almost like he knew it was his last chance,” said Putnam, who initially mistook Betsie for a male. “Luckily we got him out in time. It didn’t look like he had too much left in him.”

Betsie was taken to the Benzie County Animal Shelter in Beulah, Mich. She had no ID tags or microchip, so shelter staff are trying to locate her owners.

If no one claims Betsie, Putnam wants to adopt her himself. “Maybe it was just meant to be,” he told NBC News. (Okay, she really needs to be named Extra Extra Lucky.)

Over on the East Coast, yet another dog was saved today by firefighters. The dog, named Lucy, was walking with her family along the frozen Mystic River in Arlington, Mass., when she saw a swan and bolted onto the ice.

The ice broke, and Lucy fell into the icy water. Firefighters put on “warm suits” and were able to successfully save Lucy about 30 feet from the shore, according to WCVB. The dog was checked by a veterinarian and has been reunited with her family.

Maybe they should start calling her Lucky Lucy. Just sayin’.

Photo via YouTube

Firefighters Rescue Shiba Inu from Raging L.A. River

FEB. 5, 2015 UPDATE: No one claimed Lucky, so he has been adopted by Rachel Dably, who called 911 after seeing him struggling to stay afloat in the L.A. River.

As a thunderstorm passed over the San Fernando Valley this afternoon, an employee at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank saw a dog struggling to stay afloat in the rushing Los Angeles River.

She called 911, and by the time firefighters arrived minutes later, the small Shiba Inu had been swept two miles down the river. Firefighter John Terrusa was lowered on a cable from a helicopter, swam to the terrified dog and scooped him up in his arms.

The rescue wasn’t a done deal yet — as the helicopter flew the two toward an embankment, they started spinning in circles, nearly hitting some tree branches.

Once they were safely on the ground, the firefighters named the Shiba Inu, appropriately enough, “Lucky.”

“It was quite a team effort, quite a concert,” Terrusa told KNBC. “It is definitely a loved animal. It’s just one of those things where I’m sure the dog just got out of somebody’s yard and got in the wrong place, at the wrong time.”

Scot Sweet, who witnessed the rescue, told KABC-TV Lucky was “shaking, a little scared, but he was alive. A lot of people were cheering. It was something to see.”

Another witness, Carolynn West, told KCBS, “I think it was marvelous. It was just absolutely amazing. Everyone was astonished that they could pluck this little, shivering, tan dog out of this gigantic river.”

The 7-year-old Shiba Inu, who was wearing a collar and leash but no ID tag, was transported to the North Central Los Angeles animal shelter.

“He’s doing exceptionally well right now,” KNBC‘s Mekahlo Medina reported a couple hours later. “We saw him eat a short time ago. He had a bit of an appetite.”

Lucky, who is not microchipped, will be kept overnight for observation at a local animal hospital. The shelter is hoping to locate his owner. If no one claims him within seven days, he will be available for adoption.

“I’m sure if it has a home, it will go back. And, if it doesn’t, hundreds of people will want to adopt it,” West told KCBS.

The firefighter who plucked Lucky from the raging river was identified late Friday as John Terrusa. Let’s call him “Hero.”

Updated Jan. 31, 2015 at 10:30 a.m.

Photo via KNBC

Dog Heroically Rescues Owner…from Shallow Water (VIDEO)

In a viral video titled “Обманывать друзей нехорошо” (“Wrong to Deceive Friends”) posted by PositiveVideoShow on YouTube last week, when a big brown dog sees his owner disappear under the water, the pup jumps into the lake, landing on the man’s head.

The dog then grasps his amused owner’s hand in his mouth, and guides him to safety.

A heroic act indeed — but the dog dad had simply been ducking his head under shallow water near the shore.

Still, this dog deserves a вкусно награда (that’s Russian for “tasty reward”), don’t you think?

Photo via YouTube