Unlike his namesake, Hansel’s early life was no fairy tale. In 2015, when he was only 7 weeks old, the Pit Bull was rescued from a dogfighting operation in Canada.
Thanks to the wonderful folks at Throw Away Dogs Project, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit that trains rescued dogs to become K9 officers and service dogs, young Hansel is about to become the first-ever Pit Bull arson-detection officer in the state of New Jersey.
“He exhibited all the qualities that a regular working dog, police K9 dog has,” Carol Skaziak, the founder of Throw Away Dogs, told News 12.
Hansel will start his new job at the Millville Fire Department on Jan. 19 alongside his partner, firefighter Tyler Van Leer. The two spent 15 weeks in training at the New Jersey Police K9 Association’s academy. They did about 12 practice searches every day.
Arson dogs, also known as accelerant detection canines (ADCs), are trained to sniff out tiny traces of gasoline, lighter fluid, and other accelerants that may have been used to intentionally start a fire. “Canine teams have proven to be the most effective tool that fire investigators can use to locate accelerants,” according to the U.S. Fire Administration.
“In the instance where the scene is safe, I’ll determine where the point of origin is and then I’ll dig out that area, and then Hansel will come in and sniff out the area that I’ve dug out,” Van Leer told News 12. “If he sits, then I’ll take evidence. If he doesn’t sit, then it most likely was not an intentionally set fire.”
Van Leer said Hansel is super excited about his new job. “When I put on his harness and I tell him, ‘Do you want to go to work?’ he literally does laps in his crate,” he told News 12.
“Hansel has been through hell and back, and absolutely needed to find his niche, his person — and Fireman Van Leer is that person and his job,” Skaziak told News 12. “Now he’s going to have a purpose.”
Not only that, but Hansel will also be an ambassador for his often misunderstood breed. His work will “really help change the minds of a lot of people” regarding Pit Bulls, New Jersey Police K9 Association President Kenneth Sacavitch told News 12.
Zeus, a 9-month-old Pit Bull, played in his Webster, Fla., yard last week as 10-year-old Oriley Richardson and his 11-year-old brother, Orion, cleaned the young dog’s water bowl.
Suddenly Zeus pounced on the ground near the boys and started attacking something. Oriley thought Zeus was playing with a rope.
But it wasn’t a rope. It was a venomous coral snake. These snakes, with red, yellow and black bands, live in the southeastern United States. According to National Geographic, this snake is “famous as much for its potent venom as for the many rhymes — ‘Red and yellow, kill a fellow; red and black, friend of Jack'”—created to help distinguish between coral snakes and other non-venomous snakes with similar skin patterns.
Zeus used his body to cover the coral snake, laying on top of it to prevent it from moving toward the boys.
The dog’s eyes looked “bugged out,” the children’s’ mother, Gina Richardson, told CNN. When they turned Zeus over, they saw he had bitten off the snake’s head — but not before the snake bit him four times.
Although the Richardson family rushed Zeus to an animal hospital and a veterinarian immediately gave him anti-venom medication, the hero dog died the next day.
“I just started bawling,” Richardson told CNN. “My kids woke up and heard me crying and then they too started crying. We were all an emotional wreck.”
What’s even more heartbreaking is that Zeus died on Oriley’s birthday. “He was a good boy and I loved him with all my heart,” Oriley told CNN. “I played with him all the time. I feel sad and I miss him.”
The vet bill for Zeus was $1,000. But the Richardson family doesn’t have to worry about paying it, thanks to donations to a GoFundMe fundraiser from animal lovers touched by the Pit Bull’s heroism.
That heroism is the one upside to this tragedy. Zeus has been making national headlines for saving the lives of those boys.
Their father, Gary Richardson, told CNN that Zeus was his best friend. “I’m torn between wanting to be happy that this situation has brought awareness to his breed and their kind and loving nature, and the sorrow of having lost him,” he said.
He told FOX 35 Orlando that although he’d had many different animals in his life, “Pit Bulls are the most loyal dog I know of.” (I agree wholeheartedly.)
Gina Richardson noted that if a Pit Bull is aggressive, “most likely, it’s because they weren’t treated right,” she told FOX 35 Orlando. “If you treat them right, they would give their life for you and I owe my son’s life to him.”
Rest in peace, Zeus, and thank you for being such a very good boy.
During an otherwise routine fishing trip a few weeks ago, James White felt an especially strong tug on the line.
He was on the shore of Bodega Bay in Northern California — which should be very familiar to fans of the Alfred Hitchcock classic, “The Birds,” (affiliate link) which was filmed there. Whatever he had caught was super strong. It took him about 10 minutes to reel it in.
Perhaps as scary as those fictional flocks of bloodthirsty birds was what was on the other end of White’s fishing line. It was a six-foot-long, 100-pound sevengill shark.
When he tried to remove the hook, the shark bit White’s ankle and wouldn’t let go. “Immediately there was blood everywhere. The first bite punctured an artery,” White told NBC Bay Area. “The pressure was intense.”
White yelled to some nearby fishermen for help. Before they could reach him, his year-old Pit Bull, Darby, sprang into action. White had left Darby in his car (which is almost always not a good idea) because the location was near traffic. Darby somehow managed to push open a door and ran to his dog dad.
When Darby bit the shark’s gill, it sunk its teeth even deeper into White’s ankle. So Darby grabbed the shark’s tail in his mouth. “He literally ran up the hill with it and pulled it off my leg,” White told NBC Bay Area.
If Darby hadn’t come to his rescue, White may have lost his foot, or worse.
“He’s been a part of the family from day one,” White told NBC Bay Area. “Just now a little more.”
Despite this amazing case, you really should never, ever leave your dog in your car, especially during the summer. The interior temperature can quickly rise to well over 100 degrees. Too many dogs have died because of this. Fortunately, Darby survived and was able to save his owner’s life as well.
And yes, I do hope the sevengill shark, who was just minding its own business when it was caught, wasn’t seriously injured. White released the shark back into the ocean, where hopefully it will enjoy the rest of its life unperturbed.
In response to a growing number of passengers bringing aboard questionable emotional support animals, last year several major U.S. airlines changed their policies regarding these and service animals allowed on flights.
American Airlines, for example, prohibited hedgehogs, chickens, ferrets, snakes and some other rather unusual critters. JetBlue only allows dogs, cats and miniature horses aboard as emotional support animals. Southwest Airlines allows emotional support dogs and cats on leashes.
Unlike any other major airline, in June 2018 Delta Airlines banned all “Pit Bull-type” service and emotional support dogs from flights.
This controversial ban was “the direct result of growing safety concerns following recent incidents in which several employees were bitten,” according to a statement at the time from Delta. In one of those incidents, two flight attendants were bitten by a dog identified as a Pit Bull.
What’s interesting is that a Delta passenger was mauled in 2017 by an emotional support dog identified as a Labrador/Pointer mix — yet the airline banned neither of those breeds.
So instead of doing the sensible thing and taking action against the owner of the dog in the most recent biting incident, Delta decided to punish hundreds of dogs and their responsible owners. Breed bans and breed-specific legislation (BSL) unfairly single out dogs, usually Pit Bulls, based on their looks instead of their behavior. It’s sometimes referred to as “breedism.”
Because BSL is so unfair and has proven to be ineffective in increasing public safety, it’s opposed by almost every major animal welfare organization. The heads of both the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) quickly released statements condemning Delta Airlines’ new policy.
Prohibiting Pit Bulls only serves to spread “false and life-threatening stereotypes,” said Matt Bershadker, CEO of the ASPCA. “Every dog is unique, even dogs within the same breed, and their behavior is influenced by many factors.”
Kitty Block, president and CEO of the HSUS, agreed, pointing out that Delta’s ban also discriminates against passengers who need these dogs.
“People across the country and the world rely on their pets for their physical and emotional well-being,” she stated, “and this discriminatory policy hurts them without providing any associated safety benefits. … Federal laws in place to protect emotional support and service animals do not discriminate based on breed, but instead base exclusions solely on the behavior of the individual animal in question.”
Delta Airlines’ ban did, in fact, break those federal laws.
Banning Pit Bulls as service dogs violates both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). Under the ACAA, airlines may exclude service animals that are too large or heavy, pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others, cause a disruption of cabin service or are not allowed in a foreign country. Nothing in these regulations “permits the airline to deny ‘Pit Bull’ dogs (or whatever label someone subjectively wants to assign to them) as service dogs,” notes the Animal Farm Foundation (AFF), which provides service animals, including pit bull type dogs, to people with disabilities.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), which oversees the ACAA, confirmed this in June 2018, stating that “a limitation based exclusively on breed of the service animal is not allowed,” according to the Washington Post.
Fourteen months after enstating its Pit Bull ban, Delta Airlines will have to end it — but not because it wants to.
“The Department’s Enforcement Office views a limitation based exclusively on breed of the service animal to not be allowed under its service animal regulation,” the Final Statement says. “The Enforcement Office intends to use available resources to ensure that dogs as a species are accepted for transport. Airlines are permitted to find that any specific animal, regardless of breed, poses a direct threat.”
The DOT’s Final Statement also includes new rules that allow airline employees to ask passengers “reasonable” questions about a service animal’s vaccinations, training and behavior. Airlines can still require advance notice if passengers are bringing emotional support animals on flights. Any animal perceived by an airline to pose a threat to the health or safety of other airlines can be prohibited from a flight.
The new rules will go into effect after the Final Statement is published next week in the Federal Register. Airlines will have one month to start following them.
Many thanks to the DOT for this decision that will help save the lives of Pit Bulls and the people they support. As for Delta Airlines, I strongly recommend that all dog lovers take their business to an airline that doesn’t unfairly and illegally discriminate against certain dog breeds.
Portions of this story were originally published on Care2.com in July 2018.
Kayla Marie Blake saved the life of her Pit Bull, Rebel, two times. The first time was three years ago, when she adopted him from a shelter. The second time was last week, when she left him in the bedroom of her apartment with the door closed.
While this may not seem like a life-saving action, it was the closed door that probably saved Rebel’s life when a five-alarm fire broke out in the Harrisonburg, Va., apartment building on March 28.
Harrisonburg Fire officials said all occupants of the complex were safely evacuated within an hour, but that didn’t include some four-legged occupants, including Rebel.
Fearing the worst, Blake returned to the apartment complex two days after the fire. “I saw the window of my room, and I couldn’t believe how much was still left compared to the rest of the building,” she told WTVR.
Imagine the relief Blake felt when she heard Rebel barking from inside her third-story apartment. But she was still concerned that he may have been injured. She called the fire department to check on her dog.
When firefighters entered Blake’s bedroom, Rebel was hiding under a desk.
“He was growling at them,” Blake told WTVR. “Then he started barking and didn’t stop until he saw me enter the room.”
A crowd that had gathered outside the apartment complex cheered when Blake emerged, carrying her beloved Rebel in her arms.
RESCUED FROM THE RUBBLE: Days after a fire destroyed an apartment complex in Harrisonburg, a dog named Rebel was found by firefighters on the building’s third floor: https://t.co/gryFp78bKrpic.twitter.com/wB3taCGs4a
Today, firefighters were dispatched for a public service call at Lois Ln., where the fire occurred on Thursday. To their surprise they made another pup rescue. Rebel, is one lucky pup. pic.twitter.com/20gotPrP9r
Despite his ordeal, Rebel only suffered a burn to his nose. His veterinarian said it was hard to tell the dog had lived through a fire.
Rebel isn’t the only lucky pet to survive the fire. Another dog was found alive, curled up in a bathtub, about five hours after the fire was put out. Sadly, a cat didn’t survive the fire, which is believed to have been caused by “improperly discarded smoking materials,” according to the fire department.
Blake’s apartment may be a total loss, but she still has what mattered to her most. “Rebel was the only salvageable thing in the room,” she told WTVR. “I’m just happy I have my best friend back. The rest can be replaced.”
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