Awww: Wisconsin Tornado Survivor Reunited with Lost Dogs

When a tornado with 120 mile-per-hour winds tore through northwestern Wisconsin Tuesday, it took two lives and destroyed dozens of homes.

One of the destroyed mobile homes belonged to Ron Belcher of Prairie Lake Estates. He was home with the two dogs he considers his children, Cocoa the Husky and Taz the Pomeranian, when the EF2 tornado struck.

“It came up all of a sudden and then it was so loud, and it got so dark,” he told WQOW. “Your windows are already busted, and … the roof came off. And then things were just flying, refrigerators flying, it was just unbelievable.”

Belcher was knocked unconscious by a collapsing wall. When he woke up, his home was in shambles and, most importantly, Cocoa and Taz were nowhere to be found. He feared the worst.

Emergency responders found Belcher and took him to a hospital, where he was treated for several broken bones, cuts and a head injury.

As Belcher recovered, a wonderful Marshfield Clinic nurse named Ciara Rockow took it upon herself to go looking for Cocoa and Taz. Her kind efforts quickly paid off. She found both of them, alive and well, at the Animal Hospital of Chetek.

Two days after Belcher thought he’d lost his dogs forever, hospital staff brought Cocoa and Taz to his bed.

“This is God’s gift, that’s what keeps me moving no matter how many bad things happen,” Belcher, whose recovery is expected to take six to eight weeks, told WQOW.

Their happy reunion was caught on video — grab a tissue or 10!

If Marshfield Clinic has a Nurse of the Year award, here’s hoping it’s bestowed upon Rockow.

Also deserving plenty of accolades are all the people who generously donated much-needed supplies to the Animal Hospital of Chetek. The hospital is caring for displaced pets free of charge.

“We’ve had an outpouring of people asking to help with the pets affected by the tornado,” the hospital stated on its Facebook page Thursday. “We have all the supplies we need and the Humane Society of Barron County is going to help us make arrangements to foster some of the pets that have been found.”

If you want to help, according to the hospital the best way is to make a donation to the Humane Society of Barron County or to the Veterinary Care Foundation (select Wisconsin and Animal Hospital of Chetek).

NFL’s Torrey Smith Paid Adoption Fees for 46 Baltimore Shelter Pets

There are some really, really good players for the Philadelphia Eagles (and there have been some very, very bad ones).

Among the best of the best, in my humble opinion, is Torrey Smith, a former wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens who will join the Eagles this year.

Torrey and his wife, Chanel, always attend the annual Pawject Runway event for BARCS (Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter).

“Each year he reminds us all what this glamorous and grand event is all about — raising money and awareness for Baltimore’s homeless, neglected and abused animals,” BARCS wrote on its Facebook page yesterday. “It’s safe to say that Torrey’s spirited and full-of-heart conclusion to the show is always a crowd-favorite moment.”

But at this year’s event, Torrey and Chanel were even more full of heart. Before the show, as the couple mingled backstage with some of the pets hoping to find forever homes, they discussed with each other what more they could do to help the shelter animals.

“They wanted to make sure that every single one of them had an adoption application by the end of the night,” BARCS wrote. “Torrey and Chanel decided that they would cover the adoption fees for every single cat and dog at Pawject Runway — 46 animals, wow!”

But wait, it gets even better. After hearing about the Smiths’ generosity, Torrey’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, announced on Twitter he would match their donation.

As you can imagine, adoption applications have been pouring in. BARCS is calling the first-in-line potential adopters. If you live in the Baltimore area and are looking to adopt a dog or cat, check out the BARCS website.

And please think about naming your new pet Torrey, Chanel or Drew.

Photo via BARCS Animal Shelter Facebook page

Fast-Acting Police Officer Saves His K-9 Partner’s Life

Anthony Coniglio, an officer with the Concord Police Department in Northern California, was directing traffic around a DUI-related collision about 2 a.m. yesterday morning when a pickup truck came speeding toward him and his patrol car that was parked behind him.

Coniglio’s K-9 partner, Hancock, was inside that patrol car.

When Coniglio realized the driver wasn’t going to stop, in an instant he made the decision to risk his own life and save his partner. Within seconds, was able to get inside his patrol car and move it about two feet.

The truck crashed into the driver’s side of the patrol car, but thanks to Coniglio’s quick thinking, both he and Hancock survived with only moderate injuries.

“It’s with certainty that we know if Officer Coniglio was not able to move his patrol vehicle, he and K-9 Hancock would have sustained serious injury or death,” the Concord Police Department wrote on its Facebook page yesterday.

The driver of the truck, Angel Carrera-Lopez — who was on probation for a previous DUI — was arrested for suspicion of DUI, treated and taken to the Martinez Detention Facility.

After being treated at hospitals for their injuries, “K-9 Officer Coniglio and Hancock are both resting at home and doing well,” the police department wrote.

“Thank you to all the concerned citizens who called and sent cards this morning. We have a wonderful community!”

Concord is lucky to have a wonderful police officer like Coniglio as well.

Photo via Concord Police Department Facebook page

George and Amal Clooney Donate $10,000 to Help Cocker Spaniels Saved from Breeder

George and Amal Clooney could easily afford a super expensive designer dog from a breeder, but that’s just not how this dog-loving couple rolls.

After falling in love with Mollie, a 4-year-old Basset Hound they saw on Petfinder three years ago, George and Amal drove over to the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society in Southern California and adopted her in person. They brought along one of their other rescue dogs, a Cocker Spaniel named Louie, to make sure he and Mollie got along.

Three months later, the Clooneys found out about Nate, a scruffy terrier having a hard time getting adopted from LuvFurMutts Animal Rescue in Fairfield, Ohio. Nate, who’d been rescued from a hoarding situation, had birth defects that were a turn-off for some potential adopters.

“When we took Nate to adoption events, people would stare and kids would point,” the rescue wrote on its website. “Several people applied to adopt him but then said no when they met him. … The lowest point came when an adopter cried when she met him and said she would be depressed the rest of her life if she had to look at him every day.”

But LuvFurMutts saw Nate as “a handsome, charming, sweet and normal little boy” — as did the Clooneys. A beloved terrier belonging to George’s parents had died the year before, so George thought Nate would make a perfect Christmas present for them.

“What is impressive is the fact that George picked Nate out, and Nick and Nina accepted Nate just the way he is,” wrote LuvFurMutts. “They could have any dog in the world, but they chose to adopt a dog who was crippled and could have been with LuvFurMutts for life.”

The Clooneys also made a donation to the rescue to cover the cost of Nate’s previous surgeries.

Help for 9 Rescued Cockers

Speaking of donations, fast forward about a year and a half. After hearing that Camp Cocker Rescue, a dog rescue organization based in Sherman Oaks, Calif., had just taken in nine Cocker Spaniels from a terrible backyard breeding operation, George and Amal, who are expecting a new family member of the human persuasion soon, donated $10,000 to the organization. Both of their babies of the canine persuasion — Louie and another dog, Einstein — were adopted from the rescue.

“You can imagine how blown away we were when we heard that a $10,000 donation was pledged to our doggies,” Camp Cocker wrote on its Facebook page. “After we all did happy dances and cried with happiness for this unbelievable matching donation offer — we then asked the donors … if we could reveal their names to our supporters in order to help us reach our big goal this month.”

As for those nine rescued Cockers, “So far, we are looking at two ear ablation surgeries, a bilateral mastectomy, a cherry eye surgery, nine dentals (all have never seen a vet in their lives and need extractions) plus the usual spay surgeries and lab work on all nine dogs to get a baseline of where they all are health wise,” according to the Camp Cocker Rescue website.

Camp Cocker Rescue is currently having a donation drive where contributions will be matched by the Clooneys’ generous donation.

“We have a philosophy where we want to be very inclusive of all of our supporters and it’s important to us that no matter how small of a donation, every person feels like their donation is meaningful and that we appreciate them,” Camp Cocker founder Cathy Stanley told PEOPLE.  

Want to be as cool as the Clooneys? Click here to make a donation.

Photos via Camp Cocker Rescue Facebook page and LuvFurMutts Facebook page

Last of Dogs Rescued after 2016 Freeway Chase Finally Has Forever Home

Back in January 2016, as California Highway Patrol officers approached a car parked on the side of the 710 Freeway in Los Angeles, the woman behind the wheel, Tiffini Tobe, took off and lead the officers on a slow-speed chase. It ended in Long Beach when officers used the PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver to make Tobe’s car spin around and stop.

Tobe got out of her car along with three of the six Pit Bull mixes who were inside it. After they ran up to Tobe, was lying face down on the freeway and about to be arrested, the dogs started running around, their tails wagging. They were soon joined by the other three dogs in the car.

What could have been a terrible situation was avoided, because the CHP officers were able to stop traffic on both sides of the freeway. (My sincere gratitude to those CHPs, considering that some cops would have likely shot the loose dogs). Animal control officers from City of Long Beach Animal Care Services were able to corral all six dogs.

“This gives a whole new meaning to the term PIT maneuver,” ABC7 cleverly wrote on its Facebook page at the time.

The six Pit Bulls corralled after the car chase, including three puppies, their mother and two other dogs, had “no obvious signs of significant injury or illness,” Ted Stevens, manager of Long Beach Animal Care Services told NBC Los Angeles. “So far they’ve shown no aggression. They appear bright, alert, responsive, friendly.”

Being taken to the Long Beach city animal shelter may have been the best thing to ever happen to Tobe’s dogs.

The previous year, Tobe had been charged with a misdemeanor count (that’s all?!) of failing to provide veterinary treatment after one of her dogs had chewed the skin off a rear foot, exposing the bone. The 4-year-old Pit Bull was suffering from hypertrophic osteopathy and had to be euthanized. Tobe was ordered at the time not to have any pets.

When she failed to show up for a hearing a few weeks before the car chase, a warrant was issued for her arrest. After she was arrested by the CHP, Tobe was charged with a felony count of reckless driving and misdemeanor counts of DUI, resisting an officer and driving without a license.

Sadly, one month later, Tobe died after she jumped from a moving bus.

But Tobe’s dogs had much more fortunate outcomes. The puppies and one of the adult dogs were all soon adopted. The remaining two dogs, sisters Brittney and Honey, were transferred to the spcaLA P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village & Education Center in Long Beach.

Brittney became involved in spcaLA’s award-winning violence prevention program, Teaching Love and Compassion (TLC). She spent a month visiting a middle school with five other shelter dogs, helping the students learn to treat animals and all living beings with kindness and compassion.

In January, one year after the car chase, Brittney was finally adopted. “It is a true testament to the dedication of the spcaLA staff and volunteers that Brittney has found her forever home,” Madeline Bernstein, spcaLA president, said at the time. “They regained her trust in humans as they helped her overcome her inhibitions. For her to finish her shelter stay working with kids is truly extraordinary.”

As a further testament to the dedication of spcaLA, Brittney’s sister, Honey, has also just been adopted, 15 months after the car chase.

“It couldn’t be a better situation for her,” Bernstein said. “A true Hollywood ending.”

Photo via YouTube

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