A man and his dog were reunited on Friday night after Sam the golden retriever jumped in for a swim in the Merrimack River in New Hampshire and was swept away.
While Sam struggled, his owner, Steve Soba, said he worried and onlookers called for the dog to stay afloat. Soba said he took his dog off the leash for a moment at Arms Park, and Sam ran down some steps and got swept away by the strong, cold current.
People watched helplessly from above the river as the 6-year-old golden retriever could only tread water. He had no way out because of the steep walls that surround the park.
Some people leaned over the railing to shout words of encouragement, and Soba, of Hooksett, guided Sam from above.
Manchester firefighters arrived to help, trying to lead Sam to a small patch of land. Sam followed the voices of Soba and other rescuers, doggy paddling down river.
Firefighter Joel Monroe rappelled down the wall and dove in to get the dog. A rescue boat arrived to carry Sam back to shore and return him to the arms of his owner.
“(Sam) was excited. He started barking,” Monroe said.
“He was glad to be back on land. So, yeah, it went well. Thank goodness for the Manchester Fire Department,” Soba said.
“They reacted so quick, calmed me down. He’s awesome. They’re awesome. I know they say they’re doing their job, but they saved two lives tonight: the dog’s and mine.”
A family dog started a fire inside a Minnesota home by urinating.
The pug climbed on top of a pile of items and relieved itself on an electrical outlet last week.
The Chaska Fire Department said it quickly extinguished the fire.
Investigators determined that the pug, had caused the fire after the strong scent of urine was found emanating from the outlet.
Initially, it appeared unlikely that the pug would be able to lift its leg high enough to hit the outlet.
On closer inspection revealed that the pug likely climbed atop items that were on the floor, the department said.
It is not known how much damage the house sustained.
There was also no word as to the health of the pug.
An alligator leapt out of the water and hit a man in the arm while he and his girlfriend’s dog were in a kayak on Triplet Lake in Casselberry, Florida.
Thomas Swiader was fishing in the lake last Wednesday when the alligator rammed his kayak, knocking the Yorkie named Buffy into the water. He caught the incident on his helmet camera.
“I had a line out at the time. I was just sitting’ there relaxing,” said Swiader.
“It happened so fast, I didn’t know what happened. It hit me so hard; it whacked me in the arm. My arm was throbbing. I’m surprised I didn’t go in the water,” said Swiader.
Swiader was able to grab Buffy’s leash and pull her back into the boat.
“I looked over and she was swimming in the water, so just immediately I grabbed the leash, pulled her back to me and threw her in the kayak and at that time she was pretty frightened,” he said.
Buffy was not injured. Swiader said he won’t forget what happened, and kayaking won’t be the same from now on.
“It definitely worries me because it happened and you can’t take that back. But I’m sure I’ll be back out there eventually,” he said.
Swiader said he called Florida Fish and Wildlife about the incident.
Florida Fish and Wildlife said the incident may have been caused due to mating season, but Swiader said he believes the gator was after Buffy.
A woman taking her dog for a walk through a Kent field was left shocked when a wallaby bounded towards her.
Alex Pooley caught the cheeky creature on camera as she walked her dog Shackleton down a farm track in Pluckley.
The 29-year-old said: “We were in a field near the train station and I saw what I thought was a giant hare, but then it moved and started hopping.
“I was a bit surprised to say the least and the dog was off the lead at the time and he went off to investigate. They ran around for a couple of minutes and then he came back and I put him on the lead. Then I saw it hopping down the path towards us. It seemed pretty friendly and quite intrigued because it came right up to us.”
Grabbing her mobile phone, teacher Alex managed to film the animal before it once again hopped off.
Wallabies are generally found in Australia though have been spotted in the UK including areas of Devon and East Sussex.
Most dogs sit quietly when tied to railings while they’re waiting for their owners, but this dog from Yueyang, Hunan province in southern China, decided to pass the time in other ways.
Park Ting, 38, spotted the trapped animal trying to wriggle through the gates and soon realised it was stuck fast.
“It had got its hips stuck going forward, so then it tried to go backwards through another gap but that just made it worse. By the time I got to it, the poor thing couldn’t move an inch,” said Park.
Locals gradually managed to inch the dog backwards and forwards until he was free. “He looked a bit sorry for himself but was fine otherwise,” added Park.
A bad dog has had his death sentence commuted instead to life in prison.
Chief, a wolf-dog hybrid, who was ordered destroyed for aggressive behavior, will instead become a guard dog at Louisiana’s maximum security prison.
District Judge James Best on Tuesday signed an order turning over Chief to the state prison system, which plans to put the dog to work at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Best had ordered euthanasia for Chief last month after his neighbors in Pointe Coupee Parish testified that the dog would frequently escape from his owners’ property and terrorize them.
Deputy Warden Bruce Dodd said that they had read about the dog and decided that he could have a productive life guarding the perimeter of the 18,000-acre prison farm at Angola.
