Senior Blind Dog Rescued from 15-Foot Deep Hole

Although a 13-year-old dog named Cesar who lives in Pasadena, Calif., is blind, he managed to find an opening in his backyard fence last night and escaped from the yard. Unfortunately, he wandered onto the construction site next door — and plunged 15 feet down a hole.

Cesar’s owner, Mary, knew something was wrong when her other dog started barking frantically. When Cesar barked back, Mary realized he wasn’t in the backyard. She found him down in the hole, which was only about 3 feet wide, and alerted the construction foreman. They notified the Pasadena Fire Department, and a search-and-rescue team arrived within 10 minutes. Rescue personnel from four other nearby cities also came to help.

Getting Cesar out of the deep and narrow hole was no easy task. “This is a construction zone,” Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin told ABC7 Eyewitness News. “Confined space rescues are low-frequency, high-risk. There are a lot of steps we need to do to make it as safe as possible, for not just the dog but also our rescuers.”

The rescue effort was captured on video. Using ropes and pulleys, one of the rescuers was lowered into the hole. He attached a harness to Cesar and, about 13 minutes after the rescue effort began, they both emerged. Although Cesar cried while he was stuck in the hole, it’s pretty amazing that he wasn’t seriously injured.

The rescuers posed for a photo with Cesar. Saving the lives of pets “always makes us feel good,” Augustin told ABC7 Eyewitness News. “At the end of the day, all of us are pet lovers. I have a dog of my own. We want to make sure we take care of not just our residents, but also our furry friends.” Sweet!

Cesar “is an old dog,” Mary, who didn’t want to give her last name, told ABC7 Eyewitness News. “But he’s still very curious and adventurous.” Hopefully after this misadventure, Cesar will stick to wandering only around his own yard.

Photo: Pasadena Fire Department

Puppies Survive Fiery Wreck after Car Chase

During a high-speed car chase late last night, a suspected drunk driver lost control of his vehicle, crashing through a railroad crossing gate and into a barber shop in Pacoima, Calif.

The car burst into flames.

“The male attempted to climb over the female passenger to escape but wasn’t able to,” an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, who’d been pursuing the suspect, told CBS Los Angeles. The man was taken into custody.

The man and woman weren’t the only passengers. The woman told the police there were two puppies in the car.

One of the puppies was found, but the other wasn’t discovered until several hours later, covered in the foamy water used by the fire department to put out the blaze. Amazingly, neither of the puppies was injured.

“Fortunately the puppies are pretty resilient,” a police officer said at the scene as he held one of them, KABC reports.

The puppies were taken to the East Valley animal shelter in Van Nuys. Hopefully they’ll be rehomed with more responsible pet parents.

Photo: CBS Los Angeles/YouTube

 

Prince Harry and Meghan Adopt Beagle Rescued from Breeding Facility

Once upon a time, a Beagle born in a breeding facility was doomed to spend her life having puppies to be used for medical research. But along came the Humane Society of the United States, which rescued the 7-year-old dog (along with 4,000 other Beagles) from that terrible, horrible place. And then that lucky Beagle, named Mia, was adopted by royalty. Mia and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex lived happily ever after.

“The duchess called me personally,” Shannon Keith, director of the nonprofit Beagle Freedom Project, told the Los Angeles Times. “She calls on my cell with no Caller ID and says, ‘Hey Shannon, this is Meghan.’ We talked for 30 minutes, and I thought, ‘Is this Megan Fox?'”

Nope, it was the Duchess of Sussex, who along with her husband had heard about the rescued Beagles. They wanted to provide a forever home for one of them on their 7-acre Montecito, Calif., estate. The Duke and Duchess paid a super-secret visit to Keith at her home in Valley Village, Calif., where they played with Mia in the backyard.

“The Duchess is holding Mia and was like, ‘We’re adopting her,'” Keith told the Los Angeles Times. “She was like, ‘No, we don’t want a Christmas puppy. We want ones we can help who are older.'” Mia, at 7 years old, is considered a senior. She has arthritis and a mass under her chin.

Before whisking Mia off to her fabulous forever home, Prince Harry asked Keith if the Beagle had a favorite toy. The Duke and Duchess flipped over a box filled with dog toys, and Mia chose a fox toy that she’d played with as she traveled across the country from Virginia to California.

“Okay, now we can go home,” Harry said.

Horrific Conditions at the Envigo Breeding Facility

According to the Beagle Freedom Project’s website, it took in Mia and her eight puppies after an overcrowded animal shelter asked for help. The BFP’s Shelter Safeguard program helps shelters rehome laboratory testing survivors.

During a historic rescue mission in June, the Humane Society of the United States removed about 4,000 beagles from Envigo, a facility in Virginia that bred dogs for medical research. The Beagles were removed after a lawsuit by the Department of Justice described horrific violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

Beagles with treatable medical conditions were being euthanized, some without first being given anesthesia. The meager amount of food provided to the dogs was full of mold and maggots. Over a two-month period, 25 puppies died from cold temperatures; over seven months, 300 dogs died from “unknown causes.”

“Basically, it’s a breeding prison,” Keith told the Los Angeles Times. “Not only were the issues not corrected after inspectors went, but they were getting worse.”

Non-Royals Want the Rescued Beagles, Too

The good news is that many of the Beagles, like Mia, have found loving forever homes. There’s currently a waiting list of about 1,000 potential adopters for the 25 dogs and puppies taken in by the Beagle Freedom Project, Keith told the Los Angeles Times.

If you’re interested in joining the Duke and Duchess by adopting a rescued Beagle, they have been transported to animal shelters and rescue organizations across the country—so it’s very likely there’s one near you. The Beagle Freedom Project offers a guide on how to care for these special dogs.

Here’s hoping every one of those Beagles finds a forever home in which they’ll live happily ever after. The End.

To help the Beagle Freedom Project save more lives, you can make a donation via their website.

Photo: “Harry Meghan” by dackelprincess is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Can People Spread Monkeypox to Dogs?

We know that people can spread COVID to their dogs (but not vice versa). We also know that monkeypox can be spread to people by animals like prairie dogs. But can people spread monkeybox to their pet dogs?

Lesions began to appear on a 4-year-old Italian Greyhound in Paris 12 days after her two male owners began showing the symptoms of monkeypox, according to a report published August 10 in The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal.

The dog tested positive for the virus, as did its owners.

The owners said the dog had been previously been sharing their bed. After the men began showing symptoms, they were careful to keep their dog away from other people and animals.

Monkeypox has been known to infect wild animals such as prairie dogs, other rodents, and primates. However, this is the first known case of a domestic pet dog or cat becoming infected with the virus, the report authors noted.

“To the best of our knowledge, the kinetics of symptom onset in both patients and, subsequently, in their dog, suggest human-to-dog transmission of monkeypox virus,” the authors wrote.

This should come as no surprise, said Dr. Rosamund Lewis at a Washington Post Live event yesterday. Lewis should know — she is the technical lead on monkeypox for the World Health Organization (WHO).

“This is an example where most pets will not be at risk,” she said. “It may only be those who are actually in the household of someone who’s infected.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it’s possible for people to spread the virus to animals “through close contact, including petting, cuddling, hugging, kissing, licking, sharing sleeping areas and sharing food.”

It’s not yet known whether pets infected with monkeypox can transmit the virus to people.

How to protect your dog from monkeypox

If you have monkeypox, the CDC recommends avoiding contact with domestic and wild animals.

“Pets that had close contact with a symptomatic person with monkeypox should be kept at home and away from other animals and people for 21 days after the most recent contact,” the CDC says. “Infected people should not take care of exposed pets.”

If you’re infected and can’t isolate yourself from your dog, the CDC recommends doing the following:

  • Don’t put a mask on your dog. (!)
  • Avoid close contact with your dog.
  • Ensure your dog can’t access contaminated items like clothing, sheets or towels you’ve used.
  • Make sure your dog’s food, bedding, toys and other items don’t come in direct contact with your skin or uncovered rash.

If your dog shows any of the following symptoms within 21 days of being exposed to someone with monkeypox, take them to a veterinarian:

  • a pimple- or blister-like skin rash
  • nasal secretions or crust
  • lethargy
  • lack of appetite
  • coughing

Fortunately, unlike COVID, the West African type of monkeypox is rarely fatal.

Photo: Jean (This is a random Italian Greyhound who doesn’t have monkeypox)

6 Ways to Keep Your Dog Safe in Hot Weather

Here come the dog days of summer! As the temperatures rise, it’s especially important to make sure your dog has plenty of fresh water and a cool place to hang out during the hot weather.

Here are some important summer safety tips from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the ASPCA.

1. Never, ever, EVER leave your dog in your parked car. Ever.

“Not even for a minute. Not even with the car running and air conditioner on,” warns the HSUS.

“On a warm day, temperatures inside a vehicle can rise rapidly to dangerous levels. On an 85-degree day, for example, the temperature inside a car with the windows opened slightly can reach 102 degrees within 10 minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees. Your pet may suffer irreversible organ damage or die.”

Do your dog a favor and leave him at home while you run errands.

2. Skip heavy exercise.

Walk your dog in the early morning or early evening during the hot weather. Sidewalks and asphalt can get very hot, so walk your dog on the grass or have him wear booties.

“Be especially careful with pets with white-colored ears, who are more susceptible to skin cancer, and short-nosed pets, who typically have difficulty breathing,” the HSUS notes.

3. If your dog is panting hard, check his temperature.

“Animals pant to evaporate moisture from their lungs, which takes heat away from their body,” Dr. Barry Kellogg, VMD, of the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, told the HSUS. “If the humidity is too high, they are unable to cool themselves, and their temperature will skyrocket to dangerous levels—very quickly.”

If your dog’s temperature is higher than 104 degrees, take him to a veterinarian or animal emergency hospital right away, because it could be heat stroke.

Other symptoms to watch for include drooling, weakness, seizures, vomiting and bloody diarrhea.

4. Don’t shave your dog.

While it’s fine to give your dog a haircut, the ASPCA says you should never completely shave off all his hair: “The layers of dogs’ coats protect them from overheating and sunburn.”

5. Keep insect repellents and citronella candles away from your dog.

“When walking your dog, steer clear of areas that you suspect have been sprayed with insecticides or other chemicals,” warns the ASPCA. “Keep citronella candles, oil products and insect coils out of pets’ reach as well.”

6. Supervise your dog around the pool.

Contrary to popular belief, some dogs are not natural swimmers. If you have a backyard swimming pool, be sure to teach your dog how to get out of it.

“Rinse your dog off after swimming to remove chlorine or salt from his fur, and try to keep your dog from drinking pool water, which contains chlorine and other chemicals that could cause stomach upset,” advises the ASPCA.

Photo credit: Gloria

Exit mobile version