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.
I guess I see "house-breaking" as an active task that requires effort on the owners part. Most cats I have ever had automatically go to the litter box and never have to be told... I brought my 6 week old kittens home and they have only had two accidents in the 3+ years I've had them. And it was accidental both times, they were as unhappy about it as me.
Dog people (those who are strictly) seem to conjure up some nasty things, I'll say.
Of course, I'm breedist, so I'd probably just for fun say some of those things about certain types of dogs (I hold my tongue alot). Dog breeds are very different so sometimes I feel I'm being dishonest when I say I love dogs. I love some dogs, don't much care about others and despise/resent certain breeds. ;-) But, I am nice to them regardless!
Well, I'd disagree with that a bit. I think most people who do it right can get an animal to understand what is wanted.
My dog now never ever went potties in my house (until recently when she had some problems). She almost did wandering around the 1st night I brought her home at 9wks, but my reaction to her crouching was so strong (to her, the poor wimpy thing) that maybe that set her from ever trying things from "that end". Of course, she also slept solid through the nights, so almost never had to worry about it.
But she was oddball.
OTOH, while I think my Ashley was absolutely wonderful, he did have a fatal flaw - occasionally marking despite the fact he had been neutered since 6mos or so. He was very much boss cat and seemed to feel the need to mark inside every 6 mos. Many cats seem to have this problem - and we all know how bad the urine is!
Actually it's a shame that the dog and a cat (there were 2 cats, the one that tipped over the candle survived) had to die on account of such a stupid human. Nobody should leave a candle burning unattended in a container that won't keep it from setting other things on fire if it's tipped. For a person who is severely mobility-impaired to do this with cats in the house is flat-out stupid. Insurance companies should be able to avoid paying for damage caused by this sort of stupidity.
Just picture it: woman with one real and one artificial leg, and 2 cats and a dog and no other people in the house decides, "I think I'll light a candle now", and after she's done the deed decides, "I think I'll take off my artificial leg now". And when it's all over, she says she hopes people learn to appreciate their pets! (per article linked in post #64). Sorry, hon, that's not the lesson that needs to be learned here.
The dog and cat paid with their lives and everybody who carries home insurance with the same insurer pays with their increased premiums.
Not really...my dog eats cats.....
I guess that makes him a neo-conservative....
Wow.
I was doing a lot better when I didn't have a face to put to the name.....:-(
She's beautiful.
Klaus must have a really, *really* big.........bank account.
[or sumpthin']....;]
"Cats are more like humans"
Exactly.
That's why I prefer a dog, any day.
They *transcend*....:)
Warning...get out your hankies...you knew this was coming eventually;
The Power of the Dog
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passsion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart to a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-term loan is as bad as a long--
So why in--Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Rudyard Kipling
I do not believe my dog would be of any use in an emergency such as this.
Never bet on that.
I have Ibizan Hounds which are not reknown for acts of daring rescue...yet...my first one [a rescue from death row] woke me the night my woodstove backdrafted smoke into the house.
Being that I was already unconscious, she gave up solely barking to waken me and resorted to barking *and* pouncing upon my chest with extreme vigor.
I opened my eyes to the total darkness of a smoke-filled room and switching on the light revealed the other dogs on their sofa, gagging and choking.
I got myself onto the floor and opened all the doors to the 10-below-zero night and the smoke poured out.
I came back in and shut the vents on the stove and got the dogs outside where we all huddled together until we were able to breathe again.
We all went back in and spent the night under a single comforter and then next day I went to town and bought electric baseboard heaters.
For the second time in her life, Minny [God rest her soul] acted totally contrary to "Ibizan nature" and saved my life.
[the first time, she uncharactersitically, savagely leapt upon my ex who was attempting to strangle me to death]
Never, ever think your dog wouldn't come through when it has to.
They'll always surprise you....:)
And that's the logical way to think. I know my wimpy but also alarm-challenged pseudo-German Shepherd probably wouldn't do a darn thing in any situation! (I still love her though. :D)
I wouldn't bet on it, but who knows what instincts the dog has. It is a herding type dog, she might try to drag my carcass out of the building.
Or nip your heels mercilessly until you finally ran out, yourself....;D
Probably just sit and whine me into action.
LOL!
Whatever works.....:))
Rollo was a regular Greyfriars Bobby! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby
Ok, I'll let you get away with that one. :o)
Thanks...meanwhile, I'll just keepin giggling [and wondering] at your user-name....;D
They're everywhere;
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/5755/oldshep.html
[we are not worthy]....:]
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