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Vote for Woof !

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WHICH FDNY FIREDOG IS THE CUTEST OF THEM ALL?  You have the opportunity to pick your favorite and vote for it.  The New York Post is cooperating with the Silver Shield Foundation to select the top three firehouse canines to represent the city on an upcoming calendar that will be sold to benefit the charity.  The Silver Shield Foundation covers college tuition and other expenses for the children and families of tri-state-area public-safety officers killed in the line of duty.

The Post is encouraging its online visitors to vote for the pooch that they’d most like to see on the calendar.  The three who get the most votes from Post readers online will appear in the calendar with fire and police dogs from upstate, New Jersey and Connecticut, said Joe Debono, head of the nonprofit MBA Corps, which is helping Silver Shield with the project.

Lucy, Bronx Dispatch Center.

The Post goes on to tell us:

The pageant of doggies is as diverse as the city they serve. Yogi and Stewie are sleek Dalmatians, and Frank is a stocky bulldog who hogs the firehouse couch. Lucy is a gentle, golden-haired stray, while Milo and Yayo are a mischievous duo who eat off plates when nobody’s looking.
The pooches do try to earn their keep. Nikita and Lightning know how to stop, drop and roll — and demonstrate it for visiting schoolkids.

The three who get the most votes from Post readers online will appear in the calendar with fire and police dogs from upstate, New Jersey and Connecticut, said Joe Debono, head of the nonprofit MBA Corps, which is helping Silver Shield with the project.

CLICK HERE to go to the page that has the online ballot and links to all the contestants photos.

Alaskan Automatic Alarm Dog

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The following is a press release from the Alaska State Troopers agency:

CASWELL LAKES -– German shepherds were bred for intelligence to protect sheep flocks from predators. They are revered for their loyalty and renowned to be sensitive to people’s emotions. While a collie named Lassie may be best known as a dog hero for the saying “Lassie, go get help,” Buddy carried on the tradition set by German shepherds Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin when he went to get help after his owners’ Caswell Lakes property caught on fire on April 4, 2010.

Fire Dog Gets New Duties

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IN THESE DAYS OF INCREASED LABOR EFFICIENCIES, job descriptions are being enhanced to include new and additional jobs for everybody in the F&R departments.  And now it has even come down to giving the fire dog some extra responsibilities.

In Springfield, Massachusetts, a citizen has donated an 8-month-old dalmation puppy to the fire department and the pup has already begun rookie training as a fire prevention specialist.  Tiller (his new name) has been living at the home of Capt. Michael Richard, the SFD’s public education officer, for the past 3 weeks now and is undergoing training to be used by the department for work with schoolchildren and other public education presentations.

WWLP-TV Ch. 22 has this video report from Tuesday’s public introduction of Tiller to the community:

Nice Doggie….Down, Boy!

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A CASSELTON, NORTH DAKOTA, FARM FAMILY has what may be the world’s tallest and longest dog.  They’ll find out after they hear back from the Guinness Book of Records people later.

“Boomer” is a 3-yr.-old Landseer Newfoundland canine that stands 3 ft. at the shoulder and is 7 ft. long.  The 180-lb. pup startles drivers when he makes eye contact with them while standing next to their car.

The Associated Press filed this video report on Boomer:

Halligan Returns

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EASTERN DERRY VFD (PENNSYLVANIA) FIRE CHIEF Derrick Bollinger and a few of his FF’s were dispatched Friday to rescue a couple of dogs that had become stranded on a cliffside.  After one of the firefighters rappelled 20 ft. down to get them, and then brought them back to safety, they took the dogs to the local animal shelter for treatment and security.

While they were there, the director told Bollinger she had a dalmatian that would be an ideal mascot for the fire company.  When he took a look, it was only a moment before he realized the dog was orginally his own pet that he had to give away five years ago when he moved to a new house.  You know the rest of the story.

“Halligan” the dalmation is back home again.

The Night We Got The Dog Drunk

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A LASTING MEMORY FROM THE APOLLO 11 LANDING WAS WATCHING OUR DOG RECOVER FROM A CHAMPAGNE HANGOVER ON MONDAY JULY 21st.

My parents hosted a neighborhood moon landing party. TVs were playing in four different rooms and the house was jammed with their friends and neighbors. There was a huge buffet and a lot of champagne.

Neil Armstrong did not step on the moon until 10:56 PM (east coast time), four hours after the lunar module landed. The party went into high gear and continued for a couple of hours.

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My brother and I were working the party as indentured teenagers. As the relief of a successful walk on the moon filled the home, we decided to share the joy (and the champagne) with our dog, Brutus. He loved parties and enthusiastically lapped up the bubbly.

I am sure many people were late to work that Monday morning. We were tasked with cleaning up the house and the dog’s vomit.

Paley Center for Media Apollo 11: 40 years later … My how the technology has changed!

Apollo 11 moon landing As It Happened with Walter Chronkite/CBS (youtube 9:45 minutes)

NASA Apollo 11 mission page

Another Task For Fire Dog

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FD’s ARE ALWAYS USING DOGS TO ASSIST.  Originally the dalmations were used to protect the horses and watch the stations.  Today we use dogs to sniff out accelerants and track down arsonists.

But in Nigeria, a new need has arisen.  Who else but a dog is best suited to sniff out a human being disguised as a goat?  Police needed one last month when an armed robber attempted to elude capture by transormation.

The Week reports:

Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of armed robbery. A group of citizens were on an anti-crime patrol in the capital city of Lagos when they found a pair of armed “hoodlums” trying to steal a Mazda 323. The vigilantes say they chased the men, but one escaped and the other used black magic to turn himself into a goat.

“We cannot confirm the story,” said a police spokesman, adding that the goat will be held, but not prosecuted, until “it can be proved scientifically that a human being turned into a goat.”

Reuters has the full STORY HERE.

Just imagine, if your fire marshal had a dog that could detect magic goats and tigers, he could patrol the bystanders at your next 4-banger and maybe even nab the magical evil-doer.

Firegeezer adds:  Don’t be too hasty in questioning their scientific skills over there.  Remember that these are the people who have successfully convinced thousands  of Americans to contribute millions of dollars to help out their deposed royal family, including most recently a generous $2.5 million disbursement from the Utah State Treasury (HERE).

A Different Kind Of Arson Dog

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WHEN YOU HERE THE TERM “ARSON DOG” you usually think of those sleek Laborador retrievers who sniff around the fire scene trying to detect an accelerant or other suspicious chemical.  But the Alabama Forestry Commission is training a bloodhound who will be sniffing out the arsonist himself.

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Hello, Blaze
(Tuscaloosa News / Lopez photo)

Blaze is a 6-month-old puppy who just started training in December and has another eight months to go before he begins assisting investigators in tracking down fire-setters.  Over the past three years approx. 42% of all Alabama wildfires have been arsons, and they are hoping that not only will Blaze help in making more arrests, but that he will also act as a deterrent if the bad guys know that they can be tracked.

Brett Bralley writing for the Tuscaloosa News reports:

Once investigators determine the point of origin of a fire, they will bring Blaze to the site. Blaze will pick up a scent from a piece of physical evidence, such as a footprint, a tire track, clothing or a piece of trash.

The scent might be days old and covered over with several other scents, but Blaze should be able to track the scent for a few miles. Already, he can already track scents for about 500 yards while still in training.

Lamkin said even if an arsonist is driving on a highway, as long as a window is open or his scent is released through a vent in the car, Blaze should be able to pick up the scent.

“What he can trail off of is dead skin cells,” Lamkin said.

The funding for the purchase of the bloodhound and its training, food and care came from donations made by several volunteer fire organizations, a peace officers association and a Creek Indian tribe.

Read the full story of this up-and-coming crime fighter HERE.

Hat tip to Chief G. W.

Loyal Pet Follows Ambulance

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IT WAS ON NEW YEAR’S EVE that the little tan puppy showed up at the ER entrance to Beverly Hospital in Montebello, California.  She was first noticed as she was circling around a parked ambulance in the loading dock.

The next day the hospital staff would watch the cute little pooch peek into the doors as people would come and go, as if she was watching for someone that she just knew was in there. 

beverly-a-sgvt

San Gabriel Valley News

It didn’t take long for them to guess that the dog had probably followed an ambulance that was perhaps carrying her owner to the emergency department.  But they couldn’t find out who she belonged to, despite making inquiries through the hospital and checking with everybody who had arrived by ambulance during that approx. time frame.

During “down times” she would sleep on the seat of the golf cart that the security guards use to patrol the parking lot and sometimes she would even ride along or follow behind while they did their rounds.

beverly-b-sgvt

SGVN

Nicknamed “Beverly” by the staff, she was fed and watered by the hospital workers who adopted her temporarily.  After a week of futile searching for the actual owner, Beverly’s time was up as a hospital mascot.  One of the employees took her home with the hope that she’d be just as loyal to her new owners as she was to the previous one.

The Whittier Daily News has the complete STORY (well worth reading).

It's Not A Sheep Dog

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IT’S A SHEEP GUARD DOG.  THERE IS A DIFFERENCE, it turns out.

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Free Lance-Star photo

A sheep farmer in Culpeper County, Virginia, is handling the problem of predators such as coyotes by bringing in an Italian dog breed that is largely unknown in America.  After consultation with a guard dog authority, the Campbell family has placed two Maremma’s on their 1,000-acre farm.

This unusual breed does not herd sheep, such as a border collie does, but it guards and protects the herd.  The dogs actually live with the sheep, wandering with them in the pastures and staying  with them day and night.

Firegeezer finds this to be a very interesting story about an unusual animal and I thought you would enjoy reading this REPORT.

A Call For Search & Rescue Teams

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ONE OF OUR REGULAR READERS, TIBOR PAL, IN HUNGARY is a member of a volunteer search and rescue team.  He has written asking for some help.  First I will quote from his initial email to us:

My name is Tibor Pál, and I am writing to you from the University of Pécs, Faculty of Business and Economics, in Hungary.

I am a graduate, in Master of Science in Applied management, and I am writing my thesis about a Special Search and Rescue Team in Hungary, which I am a member of. I had looked at your webpage, and I found it really interesting, and thought, that you might be able to help me with some information concerning this business.

What I am mainly researching, is the financing of such teams abroad (that is both in other European countries, as well as th US) and I would like to implement some changes in our team, by generating some sponsors.

After exchanging a couple of emails, he has written a brief description of his S & R team.  I believe what he is looking for are examples of funding similar teams here in North America and also perhaps open a dialogue that will help his organization get better.  Here is his description:

“BARANYA” SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM (BSME)

Our team is a charity-based organisation whose primary aim is to find and rescue people from disaster-struck areas and offer them professional help be it of medical nature, underwater and land search or getting the injured to a safer place using mountaineering techniques. We also find it very important to popularise search and rescue techniques and to inform as wide an audience about the nature of our work as possible.

The team was founded in 2004 and have significantly improved both as far as membership and the individual preparedness of members are concerned. For now we offer our assistance in the following areas:

  • medical care
  • underwater search and rescue
  • mountaineering and alpine techniques
  • trained search dogs

We have experienced doctors, divers, mountaineers and well-qualified dog-trainers who do not only excel in their individual fields but also do a fine job in the management of the team. All our members are volunteers who devote their own free time and energy – and in most cases their financial resources, too – to team efforts.

In 2005 our medical team assisted in the post-tsunami efforts in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, 2 doctors and 1 ICU assistant gave medical help, altogether 5 times. We were the only foreign search and rescue team to give medical and underwater assistance in Zrenjanin (Serbia) where a bus crashed into the river.

We were called for in Hungary – mostly in our home region – several times and as a result of all these incidents managed to set a good reputation for the team with the authorities.

We co-operate with the Police and the Emergency Management Unit as well.

Our team is a member of the Charity Organisations Association in Hungary (KARISZ) who coordinate volunteer search and rescue teams nationwide. They inform us about emergency situations and also offer their help if need be – this might mean lending specially trained volunteers or equipment.

Contacts:

+36 30 2239583 – Dr. Sári, Ferenc – chair

+36 20 2650227 – (Ms) Szabó, Kinga – secretary

Postal address: 7633 Pécs, Esztergár L. u. 1/C 4/2 Hungary

Account no. (Hungary): 50800111-11119803

 

E-mail:  info@bsme.hu

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If there are any Geezereaders out there who are affiliated with a similar team, or if you know someone who is, please send a note off to Tibor.  International and cultural exchanges can really be rewarding.  And let me know how you get along.  Thanks. 

Iowa man arrested for church arson

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IN BURLINGTON IOWA A MAN WAS ARRESTED on multiple burglary charges and is being held in connection with a major church arson that happened on April 29.

WHBF Channel 4 has good video here.

Wanna buy a poodle?

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IN JAPAN SHEEP ARE SO RARE THAT MANY PEOPLE have no idea what a lamb looks like.  Enter the entreprenuer who bought a flock of sheep and sold them as “fashion poodles” at half the price a poodle normally costs.  People started getting curious when their “dog” wouldn’t bark.

Does Fido want a beer?

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EVERYBODY KNOWS HOW DOGS LOVE to lap up spilt beer….or even a bit of brew in their water dish.  Well, the good times are a’coming, Fido.  Dog Star Brewing Co. is now running off batches just for doggies.  Happy Tail Ale is a non-alcoholic beer enhanced with natural beef flavorings.  Who says times are tough?

LAFD’s famed “wonder dog” dies

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THE LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT’S RENOWNED SEARCH DOG “BELLA” died last week at age 14.  She was a rare canine in that she was certified in three search categories:  wilderness search, disaster rescue and cadaver recovery.  click the link for the complete story.