Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Archives

Watch (If You Can) an Elderly Florida Man Pry His Dog from an Alligator

Dec. 19, 2020 Update: Gunner has been named a “deputy dog” by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. (His dog dad truly deserves to be co-honored, don’t you think?)

I don’t know 74-year-old Richard Wilbanks of Estero, Fla., but I do know this for sure: He will likely never, ever, ever, let his dog walk off-leash near his backyard pond again. That’s what he was doing when his little dog Gunner, a 3-month-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was snatched and dragged underwater by a small alligator.

“We were just out walking by the pond,” Wilbanks told CNN, “and it came out of the water like a missile. I never thought an alligator could be that fast. It was so quick.”

Wilbanks immediately sprang into action and was able to pry Gunner from the alligator’s jaws (even without dropping the cigar dangling from his mouth!). It took an agonizing 12 seconds, but Wilbanks and Gunner, amazingly, weren’t seriously injured. Gunner has recovered after being treated by a veterinarian for a puncture wound in his belly, Wilbanks told WINK. Wilbanks said his hands were chewed up and he had to get a tetanus shot.

The whole scary incident, which happened in late October, was captured on video, thanks to cameras placed on Wilbanks’ property by a partnership between the Florida Wildlife Federation and the nonprofit fStop Foundation in an effort to monitor local wildlife.

Wilbanks doesn’t blame the alligator for just doing what alligators do, and doesn’t want the critter to be removed or killed. “They’re part of nature and part of our lives,” he told CNN, adding that in the future, Gunner would only be walked on a leash at least 10 feet away from the pond.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) released a warning for pet parents following this incident, WINK reports. “We encourage everyone to take precautionary measures, particularly those who live or recreate near the water,” the FWC stated. “Dogs and cats are similar in size to the natural prey of alligators. Do not allow pets to swim, exercise or drink in or near waters that may contain alligators. Keep pets on a short leash and away from the water.”

Amen. Here’s the video, which is difficult to watch even though both Gunner and Wilbanks lived to tell/bark the story.

Other Dogs Saved by Their Owners from Alligators

Gunner wasn’t the first, and unfortunately won’t likely be the last, dog to be saved from an alligator by their owner. Here are two I’ve previously written about:

Another elderly man, 75-year-old Buddy Ackerman of Palm Harbor, Fla., was walking Oso, his daughter’s Golden Retriever, on a retractable leash in July 2019 when an 8-foot-long alligator slithered out from a retention pond and snatched the dog. Ackerman immediately began kicking the gator’s snout, and Oso was released unharmed.
In July 2015, 52-year-old Lori Beiswenger saved Hope, her 9-year-old Terrier mix, after the dog was snatched by an alligator on the Inverness, Fla., golf course she owns. Beiswenger pulled on the gator’s tail until it released her dog. Hope suffered a severed artery and other injuries, but recovered after surgery.

Photo: ABC7 News Bay Area/YouTube

Frank Sinatra Loved the Ladies…and the Dogs

Frank Sinatra, who was born 100 years ago today, didn’t just love the ladies (and vice versa) — he was also very fond of dogs, according to several sources. Who knows, maybe Ol’ Blue Eyes was thinking about sharing his bed with his pooches when he sang “Strangers in the Night.”

According to the official Frank Sinatra Facebook page, his mom didn’t allow him to have a dog when he was a kid, “but he made up for that later in life by having many!”

“He liked animals, period. Particularly underdogs,” his widow, Barbara, told the Palm Beach Post in 2011. The Sinatras had dogs, cats and horses.

“I found a snake in the yard one day and I called the gardener to kill it,” Barbara recalled. “Frank said, ‘No, no, he’s a friend of mine.’ So he threw it over the fence onto the golf course. He was very softhearted.”

Sinatra had an especially soft spot for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

“He absolutely adored them,” Barbara told the Palm Beach Post. “When he was sick in his room, he’d have the cats on one side of the bed, and the dogs on the other. And he would pet them both.”

In her memoir, “My Father’s Daughter,” * Tina Sinatra recalls that when she was a little girl and asked her dad where heaven was, he replied, “Heaven is where all the animals go.”

When Sinatra died in 1998, several mementos were placed in his coffin.

“My contribution was a small dog biscuit, for Dad’s love of little critters,” Tina wrote.

I wish Sinatra a very happy birthday. I’m a huge fan of his, as was my mom, who as a teenage bobby-soxer ditched high school to see her idol perform at the Chicago Theater. “The Summer Wind” was one of her favorite Sinatra tunes, and I can fondly recall her and my dad (a non-fan who called Frank “Snotnose,” LOL) slow-dancing to it on the living room floor. I’d like to dedicate this to the memory of all three of them.

Rest in peace, up there where all the animals go.

Photos via Amazon; YouTube; pinterest; Buzzfeed; ilxor.com

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‘Bright and Alert’ Ebola Patient’s Dog Is Quarantined at Naval Air Base

Bentley, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel belonging to Ebola patient Nina Pham of Dallas, is “bright and alert this morning. Looking good and happy to see us!” wrote Dallas Animal Services (DAS) today on its Facebook page.

Ever since he was taken by Dallas Hazmat from Pham’s apartment Monday, Bentley has been quarantined and monitored in a residence at the decommissioned Hensley Field, a naval air base owned by the city, according to CBS News. He has a comfortable bed and toys to play with.

Fortunately Bentley won’t suffer the same fate as Excalibur, the rescue dog belonging to an Ebola patient in Madrid. Despite hundreds of thousands of requests to quarantine the 12-year-old dog, Madrid health officials euthanized him last week, insisting that “available scientific knowledge indicates there’s a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans,” the Associated Press reported. (Just imagine the terror that poor old dog felt as strangers in hazmat suits entered his home, pinned him down and gave him the lethal injection.)

While it is possible for dogs to contract Ebola, there are no documented cases of them transmitting it to people. This is even less likely to occur in places (like Spain and the U.S.) where dogs aren’t usually around dead bodies and don’t eat infected animals, American Veterinary Medical Association spokeswoman Sharon Curtis Granskog told CBS News.

When it was discovered that Pham had a dog, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told USA TODAY, “This was a twist. The dog’s very important to the patient and we want it to be safe.”

Pham and her family are very grateful that Bentley’s life was spared. “DAS Operations Manager Dr. Cate McManus just got off the phone with Nina Pham,” DAS wrote on its Facebook page yesterday. “Nina thanked Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center for caring for Bentley and appreciated the peace of mind of knowing he was safe.”

Photo via Facebook

Physician Faces Cruelty Charges for Leaving 9 Dogs in His Car While He Worked

The heat index rose to 90 degrees outside Charles A. Bickerstaff’s SUV Monday. Inside the vehicle were the South Carolina physician’s nine Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, who’d been left without food, water — or even a window cracked slightly open — while Bickerstaff went to work at a hospital.

When Bickerstaff returned to his car three hours later and found the dogs unresponsive, he took them to Mt. Pleasant Animal Hospital to be examined.

The dogs weren’t just unresponsive — they were dead, and rigor mortis had set in. They showed symptoms of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), a condition that causes clots to form and block the flow of blood to vital organs.

When Bickerstaff — who didn’t tell anyone his name — left the hospital, the staff notified police. It was apparent the dogs “succumbed to their injuries as a result of ill treatment,” according to an affidavit.

“This is a medical doctor. This is not acceptable,” said the woman who called 911, reports WCIV. “He had asked, ‘So, leaving the windows open is not adequate?’ No. Not when they’re in kennels and they have full coats, and you have them two by two in each kennel.”

Police were able to track down Bickerstaff, who admitted he had left his nine dogs, whose ages ranged from 5 months to 9 years, inside his vehicle in the hospital’s parking lot.

In even mildly warm weather, the interior of a car can become like an oven — whether or not the windows are left slightly open.

“The temperature inside of a car during spring and summer, and early fall, in South Carolina will rise so much that, for a dog, seconds can cost them their life,” Dr. Sarah Boyd, of the Charleston Animal Society, told WCIV.

For example, when it’s 75 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car can rise to 100 degrees in only 10 minutes.

Bickerstaff’s attorney, Bill Thrower, told The Post and Courier that the gastroenterologist got sidetracked with an emergency at the hospital, and couldn’t attend to his dogs, who he thought would be safe in the car.

“This was a tragedy that he feels as bad as anybody about,” Thrower said.

Bickerstaff has been charged with nine counts of cruelty, and his bond has been set at $90,000. Each count could result in up to five years in prison, with a minimum sentence of 180 days.

Joe Elmore, CEO of the Charleston Animal Society, told The Post and Courier that if Bickerstaff is found guilty, “we believe the maximum penalty should be applied by the judge in this case.”

Photo credit: Hugh Macdonald