Dog heroes come in all shapes and sizes. This story, from St Petersburg, Florida is just another example.
Mabeline was being walked by a teenage shelter volunteer when a sex offender assaulted the girl. Mabeline barked and scared the man away. He was later arrested.
Mabeline, the Rhodesian Ridgeback cross, who was adopted from Friends of Strays (photo: Fox News)
The Friends of Strays shelter was able to place Mabeline with a new owner, who only found out about Mabeline’s heroics after the dog came to live with her. This proves that it was Mabeline’s sweet nature that was her best asset – her courage was an added bonus!
Here’s the Fox 5 story of rescue dog ‘Red’ – one of the last surviving rescue dogs from the 9/11 attacks. Red has arthritis and degeneration in her back and has undergone stem cell therapy at a Virginia clinic.
This week, the world will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s maiden voyage and sinking in the North Atlantic. As with many moments in history, dogs were part of this event.
Dogs were among the passengers of the Titanic and the ship had dedicated kennel facilities. A dog show had been planned on board the ship for Monday 15th April. When the ship was sinking, it was reported that a passenger went to the kennels and released the dogs to save them from drowning in their cages.
According to (mixed) records, between 10 and 12 dogs were on board the ship. The Astors (perhaps the richest passengers on board) were traveling with their Airedale named Kitty. Each day a member of Titanic’s crew would exercise the dogs on deck.
The Astors with their dog
A photo (unattributed) reported to be staff of the Titanic taking dogs for a walk on deck.
Three dogs survived the sinking. There was a Pomeranian owned by Miss Margaret Hays of New York; the pair escaped in lifeboat Number 7. Elizabeth Rothschild escaped in lifeboat Number 6 with her Pomeranian. The other dog was Pekingese named Sun Yat Sen owned by Henry Sleeper; owner and dog escaped in lifeboat Number 3.
The Titanic Museum in Branson, Missouri has established the world’s first tribute to dogs of the Titanic. Mascots Molly and Carter greet guests each day from Wednesday to Sunday and show them the kennel facilities of the ship, along with stories of dogs aboard. This creative commercial for the exhibit is found on YouTube:
Not to be confused with actual history, a book by Marty Crisp for young adults tells the story of White Star: A Dog on The Titanic. In this fictional story, a 12-year old named Sam Harris is traveling from England to America. Sam volunteers to help out in the Titanic’s kennels and meets Star, an Irish Setter. The boy and dog live through the sinking.
Robert WilliamsDaniel, 27,
a banker traveling alone
1) French bulldog“Gamin de Pycombe”
Southampton
Philadelphia
Went down with the ship and was pulled aboard by a lifeboat
Daniel- yes; Bulldog- no, although it was seen in the water by R.N. Williams
Henry SleeperHarper, 48,a publishing scion traveling with his wife, Myra, 49, a manservant, and an Egyptian dragoman
2) Pekinese“Sun Yat Sen”
Cherbourg
New York City
D-33
Lifeboat 3 wife, servant and companion all escaped in LB3
Harper-yes; Pekinese-yes
Helen Bishop, 19,newlywed, honeymooning with Dickinson H. Bishop
3) small, unknownbreed“Frou Frou”
Cherbourg
Dowagiac, Michigan
B-49
Lifeboat 7
Bishop and her husband- yes; Frou Frou- no, left locked in cabin
Harry Anderson, 47,stockbroker, traveling alone
4) Chow
Southampton
New York City
E-12
Lifeboat 3
Anderson- yes; Chow- no
William ErnestCarter, 36,traveling with his wife, Lucile, 36, daughter, also Lucile, 14, and son, William the II, 11. Also traveling with a maid and manservant
5) and 6) twosmall dogs.One was a King Charles Spaniel and the other breed is unknown.
Southampton
Bryn Mawr, PA.
B-96 and B-98
Collapsible C; wife and children left the ship in Lifeboat 4; servants were both lost
All members of family- yes; dogs- no
Margaret Hays, 24,traveling alone
7) Pomeranian
Cherbourg
New York City
C-54
Lifeboat 7
Hays-yes; Pomeranian-yes
Col. John JacobAstor, 47,real estate tycoon traveling with his pregnant wife, Madeleine, 19, and a maid and a manservant
8) and 9)Airedale, “Kitty,”and a second dog,probablyalso an Airedale,per a report from survivor Edwiga Goldenberg
Cherbourg
New York City
C-62
Astor went down with the ship and was crushed by a falling funnelManservant was lost. Wife and maid survived on Lifeboat 4.
Astor- no; Airedales- no; wife- yes
William CrothersDulles, 39,attorney, traveling alone
10) unknownbreed,listed in channel crossing records simply as “dog.” Possibly a Pomeranian or a fox terrier
Cherbourg
Philadelphia
A-18
Went down with the ship
Dulles- no; dog- no
Ann Isham, 50,spinster expatriate who had been living in Paris with her sister for the previous nine years (Isham is a possible, not a verified, dog owner.)
11) Great Dane(could also have been a Saint Bernard or a Newfoundland)
Cherbourg
Paris and New York City
C-49
Refused to get in a lifeboat without her dog.
Isham- no; dog-no. A woman was spotted by passengers on the German liner “Bremen” two days after the sinking, floating in her lifejacket with her arms wrapped around a large dog.
Elizabeth BarrettRothschild, 54,wife of leather magnate Martin Rothschild, traveling with her husband
12) Pomeranian
Cherbourg
New York City
Lifeboat 6
Rothschild- yes; Pomeranian-yes Mrs. Rothschild and her dog were on the same boat as the famously unsinkable Molly Brown. Martin Rothschild went down with the ship.
FICTIONAL Sam Harris, 12,returning to the U.S. after three years of boarding school in England.
Irish setter,”White Star,” owned by J. Bruce Ismay, president of the White Star Line and also a passenger on the Titanic.
Southampton for Sam; Queenstown, Ireland for the dog
Lancaster, PA.
B-47
Lifeboat 4
Sam- yes; Star- yes. Boy and dog were rescued from the water right after Lifeboat 4 was lowered.
News broke this week that Megan Leavey, a former corporal with the US Marines, has won her fight to be reunited with her ex-partner Rex. Rex, her comrade-in-arms in Iraq, is a bomb-sniffing dog who is retiring at the age of 11.
Leavey originally asked to adopt Rex five years ago and was refused.
Both Megan and Rex were injured in 2006 when a bomb exploded in Ramadi. Corporal Leavey was awarded a Purple Heart and subsequently discharged in 2007. After her request to adopt Rex was declined, she followed the dog and his progress from afar. When it became clear that Rex was to be retired from duty and likely to be put down, Leavey lobbied again for her chance to take care of Rex.
These photos, courtesy of Megan Leavey, show the pair together.
This week, actress Betty White celebrated her 90th birthday. It’s quite a milestone. She’s received a lot of attention over the years and not just for her acting. Ms White has a long history of animal advocacy work and many charities have benefited from her support.
The Seeing Eye, Inc., an organisation founded in 1929, has named a puppy after Betty. Based in Morristown, New Jersey, the Seeing Eye is the oldest existing guide dog school in the world and it has trademarked the term “seeing eye” so that only dogs from its school can be called seeing eye dogs. That’s why guide dog puppies here in New Zealand are called guide dogs whereas folks from the United States often call them seeing eye dogs.
Betty, the Seeing Eye dog named after actress Betty White
Ms White first recorded a radio public service announcement for The Seeing Eye in the 1980s in which she helped remind everyone about the requirement to allow guide dogs access to public transport. You can listen to that announcement here.
In 1987, the American Veterinary Medical Association gave Betty its Humane Award for charity work for animals. Ms White has a bronze plaque at the Los Angeles Zoo (near the gorilla exhibit) which also honours her work for animals. In 2010, she was even granted the title of honorary forest ranger by the US Forest Service!
Happy birthday Betty! And may Betty the Seeing Eye Dog have a long career!
Kathleen Crisley, specialist in dog massage, rehabilitation and nutrition/food therapy, The Balanced Dog, Christchurch, New Zealand
Along a stretch of about 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California is the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Stars are embedded in the pavement to honor achievements in the entertainment industry and are a major tourist attraction for anyone visiting Hollywood.
Three members of the Walk of Fame are canines: Rin Tin Tin, Lassie and Strongheart (a canine star of silent films).
Strongheart was a German Shepherd that was born in 1917 and lived until 1929. He starred in a number of films including White Fang and was sadly injured on a movie set when he was burned by a studio light. The burn became tumorous and was responsible for his death.
Strongheart, an early canine star in Hollywood
Rin Tin Tin, another German Shepherd, is probably more well known. The first Rin Tin Tin was born in 1918 and featured in 26 films for Warner Brothers studios. There have been many successors to the first Rin Tin Tin and the dog has featured in comic books and other memorabilia. You can learn lots more by visiting his official web site.
Most dog lovers will know about Lassie, a Collie dog who starred in Lassie Come Home in 1943. The film was based on a novel that was published several years earlier. Lassie was played by a dog named Pal. Lassie went on to feature in a television programme, comic books, animated films, radio and other children’s books. Like Rin Tin Tin, there have been a number of Lassies over the years. Lassie also has an official web site.
Lassie on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
If you are visiting California, why not honour the dog stars of Hollywood by visiting them on the Walk of Fame?
His name was Conrad Lewis and he died on 9 February 2011 from a sniper’s bullet.
On 1 December, his family welcomed a special dog out of quarantine – Peg. Peg, (short for Pegasus), was a stray adopted by Paratrooper Lewis only weeks before his death.
The American Kennel Club has marked the importance of working dogs by naming the top 5 detection jobs which are performed by dogs. These jobs are:
Bed bug sniffing (best performed by breeds such as Beagles, Labrador Retrievers and Belgian Malinois)
Search and rescue – tracking missing persons, disaster rescue, etc. (many mixed breeds perform well in this category – just ask the NZ USAR team!) Also performed by Bloodhounds, Labrador and Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds
Explosives detection (the AKC says that Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds and Vizsla do well in this category)
Cancer detection (Labrador Retrievers – again!)
Allergy alert dogs (Poodles, Portuguese Water Dog and Golden Retrievers seem suited to this work)
DoggyMom.com 