Daytona Beach Police Officers Rescue and Adopt Freezing Pit Bull Puppy

It’s not often that you see the word “freezing” in regard to Daytona Beach, Fla., but the temperature plummeted to only 28 degrees there overnight on Jan. 19. That morning, the Daytona Beach Police Department got a call about a Pit Bull puppy who some heartless loser had abandoned by the side of a road.

The DBPD’s animal control officers James Lee and John Pearson found the shivering puppy under a bridge by the Halifax River. They brought the poor little pup into their patrol car and wrapped her up in a blanket. Officer Pearson held the puppy to his chest to help warm her.

The officers drove the puppy to the Halifax Humane Society (HHS), where she was treated by a veterinarian. According to the HHS Facebook page, the puppy’s condition was touch-and-go for a while. Officers Lee and Pearson made regular visits to the shelter to check on the puppy whose life they saved.

“This beautiful, spunky puppy was nursed back to health at Halifax Humane Society,” the DBPD wrote on its Facebook page Feb. 5.

The puppy, who rescuers named River, wasn’t microchipped. Unsurprisingly, no one ever showed up to claim her.

The good news is that River is now in a loving forever home and will never have to worry about being abandoned again. Just over two weeks after her life was saved by Officers Lee and Pearson, River has been adopted by another member of the Daytona Beach Police Department: Officer Kera Cantrell.

It was “love at first sight,” according to the DBPD. Sweet!

Photo credit: Daytona Beach Police Department/Facebook

What to Watch on Super Bowl Weekend If You Love Dogs

If you’re like me, the big game on Feb. 4 isn’t Super Bowl LII, but Puppy Bowl XIV. The good news this year is that there’s another new bowl game with four-legged players to watch, plus a Very Special Episode of the beloved TV series “This Is Us” that may involve a dog.

“Puppy Bowl XIV” — Animal Planet at 3 p.m. EST Sunday.

The 14th edition of Puppy Bowl will feature 90 players — the most in the show’s history. It will be held in a brand-new venue: the bone-shaped Geico stadium. Once again, there’s no real audience, but wouldn’t it be cool if they sold tickets to fans and donated the proceeds to animal rescue groups? Are you listening, Animal Planet?

To recruit the adoptable players, Animal Planet worked with 48 animal shelters and rescue organizations in 25 U.S. states and territories. What’s especially heartwarming this year is that most of the puppies vying for the “Lombarky” trophy are from areas that were devastated by hurricanes last year. For the first time ever, there will also be a player from Villalobos Rescue Center, featured on Animal Planet’s “Pit Bulls and Parolees” series.

Some special-needs puppers will be playing this year, including Ryder, a sight-impaired Husky; Chance, a deaf Dalmatian; Moonshine; a sight-impaired and deaf Border Collie; and Luna, a Pomeranian mix with a cleft palate.

As for other adorable animals, look for Shirley the rescue sloth, who’ll be making her debut as the assistant to returning “rufferee” Dan Schachner.

Check out the Animal Planet website for the complete Team Ruff and Team Fluff lineup.

“Puppy Bowl Presents: The Dog Bowl” — Animal Planet at 8 p.m. EST Saturday.

Sure, all those puppies are ridiculously adorable, but a not-so-cute fact is that older homeless dogs have a much rougher time getting adopted. With this in mind, Animal Planet is debuting “Puppy Bowl Presents: The Dog Bowl” this year, which will feature 50 adult dogs from 15 shelters in 11 states. Their ages range from 2 to 15 years old.

The players will be “going nose to nose for touchdowns, furry fumbles and ultimately the win,” according to Animal Planet. “After the game of tail tugs and ear pulls is over, they all end up winners as they find their forever homes.”

Like “Puppy Bowl,” there will be two teams: Team Wags and Team Tails. The one-hour special will also feature “Dogs Life” profiles of some of the players, as well as NFL player Eric Decker and Jessie James Decker, who run Deckers Dogs, a nonprofit that trains rescue dogs to be to be service dogs for disabled vets; NFL player and animal advocate Logan Ryan; Tia Torres from “Pit Bulls and Parolees”; and Steve Greig, aka @Wolfgang2242 on Instagram, who rescues and cares for senior dogs in need.

The good news is that most of the 50 players have already been adopted, according to USA Today. But hopefully they’ll inspire viewers to look for other older dogs that are still in need of forever homes.

“This Is Us” — NBC after the Super Bowl.

Spoiler alert: If you’ve never watched “This Is Us” but plan to one day, you might want to read no further.

For the rest of us, we know that this episode will finally reveal how Pearson family patriarch Jack died in a house fire. In the last episode that aired, we found out it was an old Crock-Pot that sparked the blaze, which was quickly spreading from the kitchen to the upstairs bedrooms as the episode ended.

Rebecca, Kate and Randall Pearson all survived the fire. (Kevin was away, spending the night at his girlfriend’s house.) So why did Jack die?

Here’s my guess: The family dog was sleeping downstairs. Maybe after everyone was safely out of the house, Kate begged her dad to go back inside and save him. And maybe that’s why, many years later, Kate didn’t want to adopt another dog, because it would stir up all those terrible memories. (Aren’t you glad she changed her mind? That little dog truly is as cute, as Kate said, as cute as Jason Tremblay.)

If that’s the case, Jack truly died a hero. No matter what happens, be sure to have a tissue box or two handy when you watch this episode. And thanks for nothing, NBC, for ending Super Bowl Sunday with a very sad bawlfest.

Photo: Puppy Bowl/Facebook

If Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle Cares About Animals, He Should Resign

FEB. 2, 2018 UPDATE: Wayne Pacelle did the right thing — today he announced his resignation as CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.

I’m a longtime supporter of the Humane Society of the United States, which has done an exceptional job in helping to eliminate puppy mills, cracking down on dog-fighting operations and assisting pets affected by natural disasters.

At the same time, I’m not a fan of its CEO, Wayne Pacelle. Why not? Because back in 2007, when more than 50 pit bulls were rescued from Michael Vick’s dog-fighting operation, Pacelle said they could not be rehabilitated and wanted them all to be euthanized.

Fortunately, the wiser and more compassionate officials at animal welfare organizations like Best Friends Animal Society and BAD RAP knew better, took in the dogs, and soon proved Pacelle to be dead wrong. Many of those survivors, known as the “Vicktory Dogs,” became certified therapy dogs, including Jonny Justice, who was awarded the ASPCA — not HSUS — Dog of the Year honor in 2014.

Nearly 11 years later, there’s even more reason to dislike Pacelle, as well as many members of the HSUS board of directors.

Sexual Harassment and a Toxic Work Environment for Women

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that an internal investigation of the HSUS identified three complaints of sexual harassment by Pacelle. Senior female leaders warned Pacelle that his history of sexual relations with subordinates, as well as with donors and volunteers, could hurt the nonprofit. When they complained about Pacelle’s behavior, it fell on deaf ears.

The HSUS offered settlements to three employees who said they were either demoted or fired after reporting the harassment. That settlement money came from donations intended to help animals, not the CEO.

Pacelle claims it’s all a lie. “This is a coordinated attempt to attack me and the organization,” he told the Washington Post. “And I absolutely deny any suggestion that I did anything untoward.”

Some HSUS employees agreed with Pacelle, saying all of those relationships were “consensual.” But others said he created a toxic work environment in which female employees believed they had to have sex with him to further their careers.

Seven HSUS Board Members Resign in Protest

Today the majority of the 32-member HSUS board voted to let Pacelle keep his job. Seven board members immediately did the right thing and resigned in protest. News of the board’s decision is already resulting in the loss of essential contributions from major donors, the Washington Post reports.

“I think Wayne Pacelle should do the right thing and resign,” Rachel Perman, director of charitable giving at Tofurky, told the Post. “I absolutely will not donate to HSUS if Wayne Pacelle is employed.” In November, Perman sent an email to all HSUS board members, urging them to investigate Pacelle after several employees told her they’d been mistreated by him. She only heard back from one board member, interior designer Erika Brunson, who asked Perman if she was out of her mind.

I believe all those women. By not ousting Pacelle, Brunson and the other board members are basically indicating it’s acceptable for the CEO to use his power to screw people — and with the loss of donations, they’re screwing animals as well. Pacelle and those board members should be ashamed of themselves.

Photo: Slowking4

Beagle Who Fell Into Ice-Covered Pond Dies Saving Life of Owner

Usually when Sarah Bailey of Madison, Ala., took her Beagle, Olly, out to go potty at night, Olly would wait on the porch while Bailey grabbed her coat.

But Wednesday night, Olly walked off — and fell through the ice covering a pond in the apartment complex where they live.

“He was desperately trying to get out,” Bailey told WHNT. “The whole fight or flight kicked in.”

Olly was an abused rescue dog who’d required lots of training to overcome his fear of people. Bailey wasn’t about to let him die. She tried to grab his leash and pull him out of the freezing-cold water, but fell through the ice as well.

When Bailey’s 10-year-old daughter heard her cries to get help, she tried to help them herself — and also ended up in the water. She was able to climb out to safety.

Neighbors and Madison Fire & Rescue quickly showed up to save Bailey and Olly. Meanwhile, during what felt like an eternity to Bailey, Olly was saving her from drowning. “He put himself under the ice that was breaking underneath me and it kept it floating,” she told WHNT.

Tragically, her hero dog did not survive. “I was the only person he truly trusted because of the way he was abused and I feel like he was just saying thank you,” Bailey told WHNT.

After rescuing Bailey, Madison Fire & Rescue warned pet owners to keep their dogs away from ice-covered water. If your dog falls through the ice, don’t try to rescue your pet, they advised; it can take less than 15 minutes for exhaustion and unconsciousness to occur. Instead, you should call 911 and wait for help.

This is important advice, but for most pet owners, it’s easier said than done. As Bailey tearfully told WHNT, “I couldn’t watch him die.”

Watch Hero Officers Rescue a Bloodhound Trapped under a Car on Busy Freeway

During rush hour Wednesday morning, Placer County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Stan Semenuk was driving westbound on the busy I-80 in Northern California when he spotted a young Bloodhound darting across the interstate. The Bloodhound, named Ruger, somehow made it safely across all three eastbound lanes and then leaped over the center divider.

“Everybody came to a screeching halt trying to avoid hitting the dog,” Semenuk said in a video posted on the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. “So I immediately pull over — as a K9 handler, I have a little bit of a thing for dogs — and I tried to call him over to me. I just tried to get him out of the road so he didn’t get hit.”

Semenuk could tell Ruger was terrified by the Bloodhound’s body language. “He looks at me, kind of looks all around, probably trying to find his owner or something that looks familiar to him — and then he jets out back into westbound lanes of traffic,” he said.

Unfortunately, Ruger was struck by a car. He survived, but one of his paws was pinned under a rear tire, trapping the dog.

Semenuk repositioned his patrol car and turned on the flashing lights to keep other cars away the accident scene. An off-duty California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer who saw what happened also pulled over, and the two men immediately went to work to free Ruger. As the CHP officer raised the tire using a jack from his truck. Semenuk prepared to use a leash as a makeshift collar to pull the frightened dog out from under the car.

The deputy put on heavy gloves just in case Ruger bit him, but they were unnecessary. “He was actually very, very calm,” Semenuk said. “Once I got there, I started talking to him, trying to calm the dog down. He was in a lot of pain. He was crying, he was whimpering.”

Ruger let Semenuk lift him up and carry him to the side of the freeway. “He was a super good boy,” the deputy said.

The CHP officer went on his way and Semenuk comforted Ruger until officers from Placer County Animal Services arrived — along with Ruger’s owners, according to the Sacramento Bee. It’s not known how Ruger ended up running loose on an interstate.

Ruger was transported to a local veterinary clinic for emergency treatment. What’s really amazing is that despite what he went through, the Bloodhound had no broken bones — only lacerations and road rash. He’s expected to make a full recovery.

His rescue was captured on Semenuk’s patrol car dashboard camera. As the sheriff’s office warns, it’s disturbing to watch, but worth it, since it has a happy ending.

Thank you, Deputy Semenuk and the CHP officer for saving Ruger’s life.

Photo: Placer County Sheriff’s Office

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