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.
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.
OCT. 15, 2015 UPDATE: For being such a loyal friend, Tillie has been honored as a “Washingtonian of the Day” by Gov. Jay Inslee. During a ceremony today, Tillie received a written proclamation as well as a Washington apple pin on a ribbon tied around her neck, the Seattle Times reports. The governor encouraged everyone in Washington “to celebrate the bravery and loyalty of this canine companion.”
Best buddies Tillie, an 11-year-old Irish Setter mix, and Phoebe, a 4-year-old Basset Hound, went missing from their Vashon Island, Wash., home over a week ago.
In photos that have gone viral, the dogs were finally found Monday in a ravine, where Phoebe had fallen into a old water basin and couldn’t get out.
“For nearly a week, Tillie stayed by her side with the exception of the few minutes of each day when she went for help,” the volunteer-run nonprofit Vashon Island Pet Protectors (VIPP) wrote on its Facebook page.
Volunteers from the rescue organization had been searching for the dogs for days. Vashon Island resident Joe Curiel phoned VIPP Monday and said a “reddish dog” had been approaching him on his property for a few days. The dog would then run back into the ravine.
“So with a needle-in-the-haystack hope, we made our way into the ravine and after a bit of searching, finally heard that sweet sound we have been waiting for all week,” VIPP wrote. “A small, one-woof response when we called out, ‘Tillie.'”
When the volunteers found Tillie, she was laying next to a cistern, her head resting on the concrete wall. They feared the worst.
“We knew that meant Phoebe was inside the cistern, and every breath was held and every doggie prayer offered that the peek over the rim would somehow find her safe,” VIPP wrote.
The prayers worked. Phoebe was sitting on top of a pile of concrete rubble, safely above the water.
Although Phoebe and Tillie were hungry and cold, they are both doing well, USA TODAY reports.
The two dogs’ experience is a good example of why you shouldn’t give up looking for a lost pet.
“Hope is an awfully hard thing to keep open and alive in the face of heartbreak, but it so important for happy endings for missing pets,” VIPP’s Amy Carey told USA TODAY. “Or even for unhappy endings with closure.”
Phoebe and Millie’s dog dad, B.J. Duft, told ABC News he was thrilled when Carey called him with the news that the two had been found.
“I was absolutely not surprised to learn that Tillie had stood by her side the whole time,” he said. “She’s a very caring, loving and nurturing dog and the two of them are best friends.”
Duft has had Tillie since she was a puppy. He adopted Phoebe two years ago, after the two became buddies at a doggie day care.
During a party Duft was hosting Sept. 7, the two BFFs escaped out the front door that someone had left open.
“Tillie would never leave even if the gate was left open, but she’s best friends with Phoebe, and so when Phoebe follows her little Basset Hound nose, Tillie always goes with her to make sure she’s OK,” Duft said. “They’re best pals — inseparable.”
Duft told ABC News he’s ordered GPS collars for the dogs so they never get lost again.
And to prevent other dogs from getting stuck in the 90-year-old cistern on his property, Curiel used a jackhammer to destroy it, KING5 reported Sept. 18. Curiel had already partially filled the cistern so children wouldn’t get stuck, but it was still too deep for a dog.
On its Facebook page Monday, VIPP thanked Curiel for alerting them to Tillie and also thanked “the awesome and amazing Miss Tillie.”
“A true friend and a humbling example of the power of love,” VIPP wrote.
To make a donation to help Vashon Island Pet Protectors save more pets, click here.
Officer J.T. Kulish, of the Roanoke Police Dept. in Virginia, was cruising along in his patrol car on an off-duty assignment last week when he spotted two apparently lost dogs walking near railroad tracks.
The passenger-side window of the car was open, so Kulish whistled at the dogs. He must have been pretty surprised by what happened next.
When the two dogs turned and saw him, they both jumped into the patrol car through the open window!
According to the Safer City Roanoke Facebook page, “The trio hung out for a little bit while Officer Kulish did some research on his new-found friends and he was able to reunite them with their owner (but not before they all posed for this cool picture).”
That cool picture posted Sept. 4 is going viral, with nearly 17,000 Likes and over 4,000 shares as of Tuesday afternoon. The two dogs appear to be very happy and really seem to be enjoying the patrol car’s air conditioner (Roanoke’s daytime temperatures were in the low 90s last week).
More than 1,300 Facebook users have left comments praising Kulish’s action, and I’d like to join them. Excellent way to protect and serve, Officer Kulish!
A 1-year-old Vizsla named Rue had a rueful experience over the weekend. Spooked by fireworks on the Fourth of July, she escaped from her Salt Lake City yard, ran more than three miles and, after injuring a paw, became stranded on a ledge along a mountain trail.
Fortunately, a hiker saw Rue the next day and called 911. A crew from Salt Lake Fire Station 10 hiked over two miles up the Shoreline Trail to reach Rue, who wasn’t moving.
They gave the dehydrated dog water, then firefighter Tony Stowe hoisted Rue onto his shoulders and carried her down the trail to safety.
Rue, who was microchipped, was reunited with her relieved family yesterday. The injury to her paw was minor.
“My son-in-law takes her and the other dog they have in the car to the Shoreline Trail and goes mountain biking with them,” Danny Morgan told ABC 4 News. “So she knows the area, but doesn’t know how to get to the area on foot.”
Over the Fourth of July weekend, Salt Lake County Animal Services received more than 180 calls about stray dogs, according to ABC 4 News.
“We’re just happy that the dog is okay and we had a successful rescue,” Fire Capt. Ginger Barraclough told ABC 4 News. “We’re honored to be able to work with Animal Services and help dogs. They’re a member of a lot of people’s families.”
During a search-and-rescue training session last week, a police dog named Thames went missing in the Tararua Range, a mountain range in New Zealand.
For seven days, six people searched for the 4-year-old German Shepherd, including his handler, Constable Mike Wakefield.
On Saturday, just as Wakefield was giving up hope of finding Thames, the team came across a “big, fresh paw print in the mud,” the New Zealand Police said in a news release.
The next day they saw Thames in the foliage, just before a clearing.
“I whistled and called, but he ran off as if to say, ‘Come this way,’ before running back and giving me a big lick,” Wakefield said in the news release.
“He wolfed down half of my salami, which is a treat for him. I gave him a cuddle and we had a big play. I was just lost for words.”
In the video “Thames and Mike’s Big Reunion Moment,” posted on YouTube yesterday by the New Zealand Police, Thames covers his handler’s face with smooches. In a bit of an understatement, Wakefield says, “As you can see, he’s pretty happy to see me and I’m pretty happy to see him.”
Although Thames was “a bit skinnier in the haunches after a week of foraging,” according to the news release, he was well enough to take a four-hour walk down the mountain with his rescuers. It was too windy to attempt to fly him out via helicopter.
Thames and Wakefield are taking a few weeks of annual leave to recover.
“The vet says Thames is remarkably healthy for his ordeal,” Wakefield said today in a news release. “He’s a bit skinny, stiff and sore, but that’s to be expected. We’ve had a good night at home and now we’ll recoup, ease the muscles and then get back into work.”
Wakefield said it was great to have Thames, who is also a family pet, back at home.
“The response from colleagues, the search-and-rescue and civilian volunteers, and the support from members of the public has been amazing,” he said. “I can’t thank people enough.”
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