Posted on 10/17/2006 6:00:01 AM PDT by presidio9
After a disabled woman's cat started a house fire, her specially trained dog came to the rescue, then died trying to help the cat still in the house. Jamie Hanson said the 13-year-old dog named Jesse brought the phone so she could call 911 and also brought her artificial leg.
"She got me outside and then she heard the cat upstairs and she went up there to get the cat and she wouldn't come back to me," Hanson, 49, said at a news conference Monday at Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center where she was being treated for her injuries.
She received third-degree burns to an arm in the fire Sunday night at her home in the town of Rhine south of Elkhart Lake, the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department said, adding that both pets died in the fire.
Hanson, who lost a leg in a car accident three years ago, said she was on the couch watching television when the cat ran over the back of the couch.
"And he jumped onto a table that had a candle on it and tipped it over and lighted the artificial plants on fire," she said.
Hanson said she fell off the couch and was unable to get her artificial leg from the table, "so my dog got my leg for me and went and got the phone and brought the phone to me so I could call 911."
She said she tried to put the prosthetic leg on, but it was too hot, and the dog, a golden retriever-German shepherd mix, came to her aid again before going back inside for the cat.
When rescuers arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames, the sheriff's department said. Hanson was in the doorway and was assisted by a deputy.
She was no longer being treated at the hospital when The Associated Press called Monday evening for further comment.
Pets are like children! They can't foresee the consequences of their actions. And she doesn't even get it that she was the "responsible adult" who had the duty of thinking a few steps ahead of the kids.
Yeah, I've been lucky to never deal with a male cat. I generally prefer the females for that reason. However, usually a male cat marks the house because he hasn't been neutered. That's not always the case tho! I still think that, on average, cats are easier to "housebreak" than dogs. Not always true, but a general trend.
Oh, my name! LOL! I used to be the actress married to Humphry Bogart, but chaged my last name slightly, before Ahnold Schwartzenagger was elected as Governor.
Or something like that.
(And I'm a NYer, not a Californian.)
(And I'm not an actress, not professionally anyway.)
Wow...that's even more entertaining than what I'd imagined....;D
Close enough to be recognizable! LOL!
Wow, what's your version? :o)
I hate to pick on the lady when she's obviously grieving but your point is valid.
If people saw the lengths I go to just make sure my dogs are safe before I leave my house to go away for just a *little* while, they'd think I was crazy.
[well, crazy-ER, anyway]...;D
And to that end, I must now leave here and go "secure the perimeter" because I have to head to the grocery store.
I had my boy neutered at 6 months and never had a problem with him. Some people wait too long with males, after they've already acquired the spraying habit.
See ya! I have to go to a Drs. appt.
Been fun!
Hug the kitties for me!
I don't hate cats at all.. I once had 15 outdoor cats as a child!
OH man.. So sad :(
Saving Cat: bad. damn cat started the fire. Cats don't do sh*t.
It doesn't say it anywhere in the story, but I just bet ypu that goddam cat somehow made it out. The only thing cats are good for is looking out for their own ass.
Damn cats. Probably lured the dog back into the burning house and then slipped out the back way. The fur ball is probably eating scraps out of a trash can right now.
What a shame that such a great dog has to die for a cat.
And so on and so forth. Some people perhaps don't understand that some of us love our kitties very much.
I will also ask (in a general sense, not directly to you) - what exactly is a cat supposed to do to help in a case like this? Most dogs weigh 4 or 5 times the weight of a cat. My girls weigh 10 pounds each - I wouldn't expect them to be able to lug a phone over to me, let alone my leg or to help me out the door...
It's a matter of physical proportion. If a mouse started the fire and then couldn't help out, would you say that **** mouse?! (Again, not to you specifically, but in a general sense toward the people who don't like cats).
I just loved this story. I am a BIG dog lover and I am not very fond of cats. For me, this says it all. He he and I agree with you. What can I say?
That is dedication.
Thanks for the pic.
Glad you appreciated it.
Well, I hugged the kitties and said, "Auntie Salamander says 'Hello,'" and they looked at me as if to say, "What is your problem? We want our chow!"
I know...I know....
I get the same reaction when my dog's "gramma" sends her love.
If it ain't wrapped in kibble, they don't care.....;-D
Thanks HOTD, I always hate the sad ones!
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