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Haatchi, a three-legged Anatolian shepherd, will be honored today by the International Fund for Animal Welfare for helping a 7-year-old boy with a genetic disorder face the world.

Owen Howkins, who has a condition known as Schwartz-Jampel, which causes his muscles to be permanently tense, was withdrawn and afraid to leave his house until his family adopted Haatchi, according to his parents.

Now both he and Haatchi are blazing new trails.

Haatchi is receiving an Animal of the Year Award today from the IFAW in a ceremony hosted at the House of Lords. The award is being presented by Queen guitarist Brian May.

Haatchi lost a rear leg after being hit by a train. He recovered and was later adopted by Colleen Drummond, her fiancé Will Howkins and his seven-year-old son Owen, who live in Hampshire.

“Before his arrival, Owen didn’t like going out — he was practically agoraphobic,” said Drummond. “When he first started school, he became more aware of being different, and he became even more withdrawn.”

But Haatchi, in addition to being a steadfast friend, brought Owen out of his shell, and seeing Haatchi cope with three legs has led the boy to feel differently about his own condition.

Seeing the change led Owen’s parents to get Haatchi qualified as a therapy dog. Now just over a year old, he’s scheduled to make regular visits to amputee soldiers rehabilitating from injuries suffered in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as sick children in hospitals and hospices.

Other IFAW award winners this year include former Olympian Fiona Oakes, from Essex, who runs a sanctuary for 400 rescued animals, veterinarian Vikki Fowler, who rescues and rehabilitates neglected horses, and Julie Hinks, who cares for and rehomes tortoises, many of which are rescued after being smuggled into the UK illegally.

Meet Britain’s first Staffordshire bull terrier police dog.

Kos, rescued from an RSPCA shelter 18 months ago, is trained to detect drugs, currency and firearms.

On his first day on the job, with the Avon and Somerset Police, Kos found  a lump of heroin in a car.

The 2-1/2-half-year-old dog was being cared for at the RSPCA’s West Hatch Animal Rescue Centre near Taunton before he was taken on by police, according to SWNS.com

“What is nice for ourselves and the RSPCA is Staffordshire Terriers get such a bad name but this dog is so lovely with people and other dogs,” said his handler, Lee Webb, with whom Kos lives. “There are other dogs out there that have potential we could use and it is a shame that people do not give them a chance sometimes.”

Webb says Kos seems as pleased with the arrangement as police are: “Kos was very excitable on his first day on the job – he absolutely loves it.”

Poisoned and buried alive, a Jack Russell terrier was unearthed in France by a man who saw the ground moving and ran to get a shovel.

Firefighters rushed the dog — named Ethan — to an animal hospital, where he is recovering, according to the Associated Press.

Sabrina Zamora, president of an animal association in Charleville-Mezieres,  125 miles northeast of Paris, said the dog was dug up by a pedestrian who noticed the ground wiggling along a lakeside pedestrian path.

Veterinarian Philippe Michon said when firemen brought the terrier to his office “he  was completely cold, he was barely breathing.”

Michon used hot water bottles to warm up Ethan’s body and hydrated him with intravenous fluids. Within 24 hours, he was back on his feet. The vet said convulsions from being poisoned may have been what led to his grave being noticed.

Ethan was identified through a microchip that also revealed he’d been buried alive on his  third birthday.

His owner told police he had given the dog away earlier, but police are continuing their investigation.

(Photo: Sabrina Zamora, president of an animal protection association, holds Ethan at Ligue Interet a la  Societe et de l’Animal; Associated Press)