Puppy Frozen to Train Rail is Rescued

Sometimes life offers mysteries that help us believe that a special force guides our hands and our lives, and this is a story that illustrates that point.

Gary is a track inspector in Alabama who rides a "rail truck" that clears tracks of debris. In early January, during a rare frigid-cold snap, he and the dispatcher made a last-minute decision to reverse his route to better serve an incoming train—a decision that saved a puppy's life.

He set out on the new route and made good time. Suddenly his truck jerked and shuddered as if it had run over something. As a track inspector, it is his job to investigate all debris on the tracks, so he stopped and looked behind the truck. Amazingly, there was nothing behind him! It was odd.

As Gary turned forward, out of the corner of his eye he noticed a little hump of fur on top of one rail. What is it? He got out of the truck. To his immense surprise, the hump of fur had eyes that swiveled to watch him approaching. It was alive! It was a puppy. Gary pulled out his cell phone and took this photo (used with permission).

Gary reached down to pick it up, but immediately realized that the poor shivering puppy was frozen fast to the rail. He pulled out his pocketknife and carefully cut the puppy's fur along its legs and belly, freeing it. He wrapped up the little thing and then sent the photo to his wife, Lois. He got in his truck with the puppy and completed his route. Shortly thereafter, the expected train came through.

Lois immediately posted the puppy's picture on her Facebook page, along with a brief account, which was picked up by friends and a weather blogger widely read in the state. Soon offers for adoption showed up on Lois's page, and little "Track" found his forever home very soon.

But it could have easily been a very different story. If Gary had taken the original route, the puppy would have been killed by the train with Gary nowhere nearby. Or if Gary had not experienced that odd shuddering jerk just a few feet away from the helpless puppy, he probably would have run it over without even knowing it was there. Is this just coincidence, or something more?

—Gary and Lois in Alabama

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Dog Saves 10-Year-Old Boy until

Rescue by Fire Dept.

Merle is a 65-pound Golden Retriever from Evansville, Indiana. One day when she was out with her pet buddy Sam, she fell through the ice while chasing a stick. Terrified that his dog was in trouble, 10-year-old Glenn "Sam" Henderson tried to save her. But, he fell in as well. A neighbor heard his cries for help, luckily, and called the Perry Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Witnesses credit Merle with saving Sam's life. "We've never had anything quite like this. The whole time it looked like the dog was behind him, nudging him, keeping him up and pushing him toward the ice," said Goeff L. Rupe, medical officer for the fire department. "Once we got Sam into the boat, the only thing he said was, 'Get my dog.'"

Unhurt despite this ice plunge, Merle swan to the shore, and waited on the bank while Sam was rowed to safety. She continued pacing nervously waiting outside of the ambulance while Sam was stripped, dried off, and wrapped in a blanket. Sam had to be rushed to Deaconess Hospital so he could be treated for his hypothermia. Sam and Merle were reunited at home. "We'll have to find a nice steak bone for Merle," said Sam's father. As for Sam, Mr. Henderson said, "He can have whatever he wants to eat today but, much to his dislike, he's got some homework to do."

This story was written by Peter C. Jones and Lisa MacDonal, in "Hero Dogs: 100 True Stories of Daring Deeds" as reproduced in www.landofpuregold.com.

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The Dutch Horse Rescue

In November 2006, a ferocious storm stranded a herd of more than 100 horses on a tiny knoll in Marrum, the Netherlands. The animals were up to their knees in water, and by the third day they’d been stuck there, 18 of the horses had slipped off the small piece of dry land and drowned. It seemed likely that the rest of the herd would die as well—until rescuers launched a remarkable effort to save the horses, traveling in boats and on horseback to guide the stranded horses through the water-covered fields to safety. Watch the incredible video of the rescue effort here.

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SAM I AM

Because of old age, we had just lost two more of the many animals that we had saved from abusive situations. I was not in the mood to take on any more animals, mainly because of the high veterinary costs that we had incurred throughout the years. A process we began almost ten years ago; one that that has caused us many hardships.

As the wife and I were driving near the airport, all at once she turned into the Glynn County Animal Shelter and came to a stop.

"What are we doing here?" I asked her.

"I'm not sure," she replied.

I watched as she opened her door and began walking toward the fenced building.

"Going to come in with me?"

"I'm not going in there," I almost screamed.

I sat watching, as she disappeared into large white building.

There was just something about dog pounds that I hated. Maybe it was being locked in a cage. Maybe it was the sounds of the animals wanting to be rescued and loved. Feelings that I had know very well as an abused little boy.

"Roger," yelled Judy, several minutes later.

When I turned around I saw her standing in a small fenced area, a midsized black and tan dog jumping all over her. I got out of the truck and walked over to the fence.

"Isn't he beautiful?" she asked.

I just shook my head and began walking back to the truck.

"Will you please come in here," she hollered.

I stopped, turned around, and began walking toward the main building. Once inside I was led down a long hallway, dogs barking everywhere. It was almost deafening. As I walked along I tried not to look at the hundreds of animals screaming and barking at me.

As I enter the small fenced viewing area where Judy was waiting, the dog began to jump on me. When I ran my hand down his back I noticed a large scar. I asked the attendant what had caused the injury. She told me that he had been beaten with a metal coat hanger. Looking down at my legs I looked at the many scars that I had received, as a child, while living in a Jacksonville, Florida orphanage. I too had been beaten many times with such an instrument. I felt my neck begin to swell and my throat began to tighten. Very quickly I began walking toward the main entrance to get out of the building as quickly as possible.

"HIS NAME IS SAM AND HE IS GOING TO BE PUT DOWN TOMORROW!" yelled Judy.

"We just can't afford to save any more animals," I whispered.

Unable to speak I walked to the truck, closed and locked the door and I wiped my burning red eyes.

As Sam lies on the bed, between my wife and me tonight, for some reason he begins to lick the scars on my leg. In the faint light of the television, I reach over and I begin to pat him on his large scar and I whisper to myself, "Yes, I am Sam."

True stories from “The Life and Times of Roger Dean Kiser, author, child advocate.
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