Tag: fatalities
Tornado victim found with dog in her arms
Of the 151 tornado-related fatalities in Joplin, Missouri, that had been confirmed as of Friday, one was a woman who was trying to save her dog.
Johnna Hale, one of 59 victims profiled in the Kansas City Star Saturday, was prepared when the tornadoes struck on May 22. She’d phoned her daughter, stocked up on water and taken her border collie mix, Star, into the bathroom.
They were both in the tub when Star darted out of the bathroom, and out of the house.
Hale ran after her.
Apparently she caught Star and ran into a nearby building for shelter, where her daughter would hear from her, by cell phone, one last time.
She was found nine days later in the rubble of the building, with Star in her arms.
Daughter Miranda Hale told the newspaper that her mother was devoted to animals.
Things were looking up for Johnna Hale, her daughter said. She’d recently received a promotion at work. She’d redecorated her apartment, and seemed happy as her 50th birthday approached (June 15). She’d planned to treat herself to an expensive haircut, and she’d just bought Star a gate to keep her confined on the patio.
“My mom loved animals. She grew up on horses, we always had a cat or a dog around,” Hale told the newspaper. “We always joked about how our animals were better fed than we were. She had a border collie mix named Star, she was about 6-8 years old. I remember when she got her as a puppy and was really excited, she had adopted an older dog that just passed away, and was feeling sad from that.
“Star always slept with Mom, even if I went to visit, she had a full sized bed that the three of us, plus a cat, tried to fit on.
“When they had finally found my mom, they said that Star was in her arms.”
Posted by jwoestendiek June 14th, 2011 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, border collie, chasing, disasters, dog, dogs, fatalities, johnna hale, joplin, kansas city star, missouri, mix, pets, profiles, rescuing, saving, star, tornadoes, victim
Comments: 6
Bullet-proof logic: Vests protect police dogs
Of the 139 police dogs killed by guns in the line of duty in the last 40 years, 29 of those deaths were – euphemism alert! — due to “friendly fire.”
That’s according to statistics compiled by the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association, and cited in a Baltimore Sun article yesterday.
The figures weren’t broken down into how many of those ”friendly fire” deaths were a result of dogs being caught up in the middle of a gunfight, as opposed to cases of mistaken identity — like the one that led to a Baltimore police dog being shot by an officer he jumped on during a pursuit this week.
But either way, even without adding in the number of injuries, the figures show society could be doing a better job of protecting its police dogs.
On top of the nationwide toll of friendly-fire deaths, and far more common, are police dogs being killed by suspects — as has happened 110 times (with guns) and 25 times (with knives).
So there are really two issues here. One, as evidenced by the case of Baltimore police dog Blade, is whether all police dogs should be distinctly marked as such, by virtue of a vest, collar or other means.
The other, larger one is whether police dogs (and the dogs of the FBI) should be outfitted — like their human counterparts — in bullet-proof vests, something that hasn’t been a priority with municipal officials in Baltimore and lots of other financially-strapped cities.
Posted by jwoestendiek November 12th, 2009 under Muttsblog.
Tags: association, baltimore, blade, bullet-proof, bulletproof, campaign, canine, collars, deaths, drive, fatalities, friendly fire, identification, identify, K-9, killed, officers, police dogs, shootings, shot, statistics, suspects, vest, vests
Comments: 2