Peanut may only be six months old, but already this Pit Bull puppy from North Royalton, Ohio, is being hailed as a life-saving hero for detecting a gas leak.
He was barking all night long on March 22 at what his dog dad, Brian Maloney, assumed was the family’s cat. As Peanut’s barks grew more persistent, Maloney decided he’d better go downstairs and check it out.
“I got up and as soon as I came out of the bedroom, I got hit with a real strong odor of natural gas,” he told Fox 8 News.
He found the source of the gas leak: his hissing stove. One of the burners had been turned on, but not enough to ignite it.
“So, I went and turned the knobs off and I had to get all the animals out of the house and open up all the windows,” Maloney told Fox 8 News. “Thank God I didn’t turn a light switch on, because who knows what would have happened. I could have blown the house up, I’m sure.”
Along with Peanut and the cat, the Maloney family owns two other dogs, another cat, chickens, ducks, horses and swans. They believe one of the cats may have jumped on the stove and accidentally turned the burner knob. Maloney said they’ll be taking the knobs off from now on.
And of all those pets, he added, Peanut is now the family favorite. “Thank God for Peanut,” Maloney said.
If your dogs are anything like mine, they have no problem unmaking a bed by kicking away pillows and pulling off sheets and blankets.
But a ridiculously cute, wigglebutt, 1-year-old Pit Bull named Rush can do just the opposite: as more than 860,000 YouTube viewers have witnessed, Rush can make his own bed.
“The family had seen the video, came and met Rush, and fell in love,” Nora Vondrell, the shelter’s executive director, told ABC News.
The timing couldn’t be better — October is National Pit Bull Awareness Month.
“There are a lot of negative stereotypes about the American Pit Bull,” Vondrell said. “If we were able to highlight the cute, cuddly points of Rush, then we can help people look beyond the Pit Bull label.”
After Rush was brought to SICSA by animal control earlier this year, he was adopted, but he was returned to the shelter in September because he was too rambunctious for the family.
“They weren’t just casting Rush away,” Vondrell told ABC News. “They really did try some things, but it wasn’t a good fit for their family. He is a high-energy dog that really wants to be with you, but he likes to play and run.”
SICSA trained Rush to improve his behavior — but he figured out how to make his bed on his own.
“Day after day, the staff would watch Rush make his bed, and one day, one of our marketing interns got it on video,” Vondrell told ABC News. “We put it on social media to encourage people to come in and adopt the animal.”
It worked. Rush was adopted by Angie and Ronnie Wallace, a local couple who said in a SICSA video they knew it was meant to be when, on their way to the shelter, they saw a Cincinnati Bengals billboard with the words “Rush to be there.”
The couple told WKEF they get asked a lot if Rush still makes his bed.
“He will drag around a blanket, but he slept in our bed the first two days,” Angie Wallace said.
Vondrell told ABC News the shelter hopes to get the message out that although some people may think shelter dogs are misbehaved or have diseases, in reality they are wonderful and healthy.
“What we are asking is for you to visit your local animal shelter,” Vondrell said. “See if there’s an animal that you can love and find a forever home.
“There are lots of Rushes out there.”
Here’s the video that led to Rush’s adoption. Enjoy!
The images from 10 years ago still break the heart: Dogs forced to be left behind in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, struggling to stay alive on the roofs of their New Orleans houses and frantically swimming across flooded streets.
Hundreds of animal rescuers who were moved by those images made their way to New Orleans in 2004, doing whatever they could to save displaced pets.
Among them were dog trainer Anne Trupo, veterinarian Lisa Hart and Amy Beichler of the Public Animal Welfare Society (PAWS Ohio), who drove down in a caravan from their Cleveland homes. They rescued 18 dogs and 12 cats, including a mixed-breed dog the women named Hurricane.
“It was 117 degrees and we were overwhelmed,” Trupo told The Plain Dealer. “We were asking people about trapped dogs and one woman told us about a mean dog she locked in a bathroom. We went into the abandoned house and found Hurricane. He had been locked away for a week and was crazy with heat and starvation.”
Hurricane was a smart dog — he figured out how to turn on the bathroom’s water faucet, which kept him alive.
Homeland Security officers alerted the women to another abandoned dog, a German Shepherd with a broken leg who’d been left in a yard with no food or water.
“They said they had been feeding the dog, but that he needed help,” Trupo told The Plain Dealer. “We found him. I put my hand through the fence and Storm just laid his head on my hand. We broke through the fence and saved him.”
The women drove Storm and the other animals they’d saved back to Ohio.
All of these four-legged Katrina refugees found forever homes — or at least places to stay until their original owners were able to take them back. Trupo fostered and then adopted Storm. Matt Harmon of South Euclid, Ohio, became Hurricane’s dog dad.
“Hurricane and I were best friends from first eye contact,” Harmon told The Plain Dealer. “He trusted me right away and I let him know I was there to stay. He was very sick at first, infected with parasites and extremely underweight. He and Storm had heartworms, which are tough (often fatal) to treat, but he recovered.”
For the first time in 10 years, Hurricane and Storm were reunited at Forest Hills Park in East Cleveland this week. The Plain Dealer reports that Storm, now 11 years old, seemed to instantly recognize his old buddy. The two seniors spent half an hour playing and chasing each other around the park.
“Oh, he’s gonna feel that tonight,” Trupo said. “He’s an old dog and he does not get around as well as he used to, but that’s not stopping him today.”
Watching Hurricane play with Storm, Harmon told The Plain Dealer, “He’s going to be a tough act for another dog to follow. While I’m sure he won’t be my last dog, he’ll always be my best dog.”
The death of so many abandoned pets in the aftermath of Katrina who weren’t as fortunate as Hurricane and Storm, as well as the deaths of pet parents who refused to leave their loved ones behind, led to the passing of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS Act) of 2006. This law requires shelters to be provided for people as well as pets after a disaster.
As its summary states, “Hurricane Katrina has clearly shown that when given a choice between their own personal safety or abandoning their household pets, a significant number of people will choose to risk their lives in order to remain with their pets.”
FEB. 16, 2015 UPDATE: Carmen has been released from the hospital, an update today on the Carmen Ledford Crowdrise page reports.
“After almost two weeks of 24-hour care at Care Center, Carmen is strong enough to continue her recovery from home, with Ben’s brother, Phil and the watchful eye of the entire family,” according to the update.
“If it hadn’t been for the vet who rescued Carmen, the Care Center and the support and donations from friends, family and pet lovers from around the world, we would not have been able to provide Carmen with the level of care that has allowed her to walk out of the hospital today.”
As of Feb. 16, more than $29,000 has been raised for Carmen’s veterinary care.
More than $28,000 has been raised to pay for the veterinary care of Carmen, a 9-year-old Boxer who suffered severe lung damage while trying to shield her dog dad, Ben Ledford, from a fire in a Goshen Township, Ohio, home Feb. 5.
Unfortunately, Ledford did not survive. If not for the around-the-clock care by veterinarians at Care Center in Cincinnati, Carmen would likely have died as well.
When firefighters arrived at the house, they found Carmen on top of Ledford in the basement, shielding his face from the thick, black smoke. Ledford was still breathing, but died a short time later at a hospital.
Carmen was rushed to Care Center in critical condition, and placed on a ventilator to enable her to breathe. By Tuesday, she was able to breathe without the ventilator.
“She’s doing very well. We’re very happy with where her progress is at this point,” Dr. Marlo Anderson, the hospital’s critical care specialist, told WCPO Feb. 10.
“Initially when we take them off the ventilator, there’s a chance she may need to go back on for a few hours as her body is adjusting … but so far she hasn’t needed any of that.”
Dr. Anderson said it was an especially good sign that Carmen was able to breathe through her nose. “Prior to her going on the ventilator, she was breathing very hard through her mouth,” she said. “Dogs breathe primarily through their nose, so anytime they are breathing through their mouth you know there is a problem.”
“She’s awake, aware and even moving around a bit,” wrote Ledford’s brother, Phil Ledford, on Carmen’s Crowdrise page Feb. 10. “It was good to see her recognize the family and respond to our voices.”
Ledford’s sister, Emily Ledford, told WCPO Ben and Carmen adored each other. “There was nothing in this world that Ben loved more than Carmen and there was nothing that Carmen loved more than Ben,” she said. Her brother was a big Ohio State University fan, she said, and had named his dog after “Carmen Ohio,” the university’s alma mater.
Dr. Anderson said she wasn’t too surprised by Carmen’s heroic act. “A lot of dogs instinctively know when there’s a crisis going on, so a lot of them do go to try to protect their owners, so she very well may have been trying to protect him,” she told WCPO.
Carmen began physical therapy Wednesday, and continued to show signs of improvement during the week.
“Carmen is coming off fluids and IV medications today,” wrote Care Center on its Facebook page yesterday. “She still requires oxygen support at this time as her lungs continue to heal. She is eating and drinking on her own and will have some more rehabilitation today.
“Carmen is in good spirits and wags her adorable little nub tail to show it! She has started to give out some sweet doggie kisses to her family, Dr. Anderson and her technicians.”
Phil Ledford will adopt his brother’s beloved dog when Carmen is ready to leave the hospital.
“The ongoing support for Carmen, and Carmen’s family, has been overwhelmingly positive,” he wrote. “The family is humbled by the generosity being offered to help Carmen.”
With so many stories in the news about trigger-happy cops shooting people — and dogs — it’s good to know that there are plenty of compassionate police officers in this country.
Two such officers are Kelly Shay and Rodger Nolan of the Columbus Police Department (CPD) in Ohio. Both of them recently went out of their ways to help puppies instead of harm them. Bravo to these heroes!
Officer Kelly Shay Saves ‘Oscar’ from Trash Can and Adopts Him
While Kelly Shay was on patrol in May, a woman flagged her down. She said she had seen a man dump a puppy in a trash can near an elementary school.
Shay pulled the puppy out of the trash. His right front leg appeared to be broken.
“Ofr. Shay took him in her arms, [and] got a rescue to cover his medical bills,” according to the Columbus Division of Police Facebook page.
Shay became the puppy’s foster mom as he recovered. She named him Oscar — after the Sesame Street resident who lives in a trash can.
“Well, we are happy to tell you after fostering him and helping him post-surgery, Ofr. Shay adopted Oscar!!!” the CPD reported Nov. 10. (Hooray for foster fails!)
Oscar “has brought so much joy to us,” Shay said, adding, “He is FINALLY backing off of chasing our cat!”
Officer Rodger Nolan Pulls Pup from Wreck and Becomes His Dog Dad
“ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER CPD OFFICER RESCUES & ADOPTS A PUPPY!” says a Columbus Division of Police Facebook page update on Nov. 21.
Earlier this month, Officer Rodger Nolan was at the scene of a bad car accident on the east side of Columbus. Trapped inside the wreckage was a 4-month-old, mixed-breed puppy. Nolan managed to pull her out to safety. For unknown reasons, the puppy’s owner decided to surrender her.
“Officer Nolan fell in love with her instantly,” according to the CPD.
Nolan later managed to talk his wife into going with him to the Franklin County Dog Shelter & Adoption Center, where the pup had been taken. There they officially became the four-legged crash survivor’s new pet parents.
The pup, who they named Camden, is already becoming BFFs with the Nolans’ other two dogs, a Great Dane named Shea and Boxer named Wrigley.
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