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Lost Dog and His Pig BFF Safely Back at Home

Petey the pig grew up with two dogs who are his best buddies. In fact, the pig pretty much thinks he’s a dog.

“I have a big backyard, and they run and play together all day,” their pet parent, Willie Landry of Seffner, Fla., told FOX 13. “He plays with the dogs, he eats with the dogs. They all live in the same house.”

After Petey and one of the dogs, K 2, escaped through a fence in that big backyard Tuesday, the other dog was “moping around without them,” Landry, said. He told FOX 13 he looked everywhere for the escapees.

Happily, K 2 and Petey are safely back at home, mostly thanks to the efforts of Bunny Laite of the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center, who found the two, and the Lost and Found Pets of Hillsborough County Facebook page, which posted their photos.

Alba Jimenez saw the photos of the odd couple and left comments on the Facebook page saying she recognized them as pets belonging to Landry, her neighbor. Meanwhile, FOX 13 aired a news story about the two.

“This morning, people started calling me, saying they’re on TV. Somebody found them,” Landry told FOX 13, choking up. He said he was surprised Petey and K 2 had managed to wander so far from home.

“They’re family,” he said. “I’m just glad to have them back home.”

Hopefully Landry will get the fence fixed soon — and get K 2 fixed as well. Male dogs that haven’t been neutered tend to roam more, according to the ASPCA.

Rescued Pit Bull Mix Rescues Family Just 2 Days after Adoption

Silvia Reyes and her family adopted a 1-year-old Pit Bull mix named Candi on Saturday during an event held by Miami-Dade County Animal Services.

Just two days later, Candi returned the favor by saving the lives of her new forever family.

Monday night, as Reyes, her husband and their 13-year-old son were sleeping in their Pinecrest, Fla., townhouse, Candi started barking downstairs and wouldn’t stop.

“We heard a lot of barking and howling,” Reyes told Local 10. “To my surprise, at one in the morning, I came down and our kitchen was engulfed in smoke.”

The smoke was pouring out of the refrigerator. “The compressor was making some kind of bad connection,” Reyes said.

Everyone was able to get out of the house safely, although the hero dog began vomiting and having breathing difficulties.

The Reyes family rushed her to an animal hospital, where X-rays revealed she had suffered a collapsed lung due to smoke inhalation. She spent the day there yesterday, receiving oxygen and IV fluids.

Candi is now back at home with her grateful family, and is expected to make a full recovery.

“She rescued us. She saved our lives, I promise you,” Reyes told Local 10. “I mean, we were sleeping. We wouldn’t have known otherwise.”

Photo via Twitter

Fearless Florida Woman Grabs Alligator, Saving Her Dog

It was the worst screaming Lori Beiswenger said she’d ever heard. To her horror, she realized it was coming from Hope, her 9-year-old Terrier mix. A 7-and-a-half foot alligator had Hope in its jaws and was dragging her into a pond at the Point O’ Woods Golf Course in Inverness, Fla., which Beiswenger owns.

“I said, ‘God, no, this can’t be happening,’ and it was the scariest feeling in the world,” Beiswenger told WTSP.

She may have been feeling scared, but when no one immediately responded to her cries for help, the 52-year-old potential Dog Mom of the Year winner fearlessly jumped into the pond and grabbed the gator’s tail.

“I pulled him back and he started thrashing and rolling her some more,” Beiswenger told WFTS.

But she wasn’t about to give up Hope. “I just kept pulling it, saying, ‘You’re not getting her, you’re not going out there,’ because I knew what he had in mind,” she told WTSP.

After three good pulls on its tail, the alligator released Hope. Beiswenger could see her dog’s nose poking out of the water, but the gator disappeared.

Beiswenger continued screaming for help. Jody Daniels, a golf course volunteer, showed up and, using a shovel, removed Hope from the pond.

“I thought it was dead because all I could see was the whites of its eyes,” Daniels told WFTS.

But Hope was alive and, after that ordeal, she was even able to take off running.

“When he pulled her out, she started running up the bank, and the gator did, too,” Beiswenger told WTSP.

Daniels hit the alligator’s head with the shovel. Beiswenger told WFTS the alligator was later trapped and killed by a private company. (Too bad it couldn’t have been relocated to a safer location.)

As for Hope, she suffered a severed artery and other injuries, but is recuperating after three hours of surgery. “It’s really a miracle that she survived it,” Beiswenger told WTSP.

Like a cat, Hope seems to have multiple lives. Beiswenger rescued her just before she was to be euthanized. Hope also survived being struck by a car.

Beiswenger told WTSP rescuing Hope was the “dumbest, bravest” thing she’s ever done.

“I love this dog. I wasn’t going to lose her,” Beiswenger said.

Photo via Facebook

‘In Dog We Trust’ Rug Auctioned off for $9,650

It’s said we learn from our mistakes. A dog rescue group has earned from one well-publicized error.

It took two months (!) for anyone to notice, but the typo “In Dog We Trust” was printed on a new rug in the lobby of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Largo, Fla.

(That’s the rug in the photo, with K-9 officers Axel and Riggs.)

A sheriff’s office spokesperson told WFTS the error was made by the rug’s manufacturer, American Floor Mats, which promised to make a replacement.

Instead of simply disposing of the $500 “In Dog We Trust” rug, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri decided to auction it off and donate all the proceeds to Canine Estates Inc., a non-profit adoption and sanctuary facility in Palm Harbor, Fla.

“The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office will not ‘sweep anything under the rug,'” notes the auction page. “Due to extensive interest regarding our plans for the ‘doggone’ rug, you can bid on it here.”

The auction ended at 4 p.m. Eastern Time today. Thanks to someone at American Floor Mats accidentally transposing a “g” and “d” (although I kind of hope it was intentional), Canine Estates Inc. will get a check for … drumroll, please … $9,650, the winning bid.

Dog bless the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, the generous winner (who hasn’t yet been identified) and all 83 bidders.

Photo via Facebook

Florida Dog ‘Wins’ $3 Million Lottery Jackpot

For stocking stuffers last month, Bill Kelly of Ococee, Fla., bought three scratch-off lottery tickets for his family, including their dog.

Turns out the ticket in the dog’s stocking was a winner, to the tune of $3 million.

“Giving Florida Lottery Scratch-Off tickets as Christmas gifts is one of my holiday traditions,” Kelly said in a press release.

“I always hope to at least win my money back and I play to win, but I never expected this.”

Kelly opted to receive the winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $2,351,433.02. He didn’t say how much of that windfall would be going toward treats for his lucky dog.

Last month, when Bryce Vucekovich of Dallas won $500 from a scratch-off ticket, he spent all of it on food and supplies for Dallas Animal Services.

Just sayin’, Mr. Kelly.

Photo via Facebook