Stranger Than Fiction: South Carolina Firefighters Rescue a Dog Stuck Up a Tree

Since when do dogs climb trees? One catlike Dachshund was stuck for hours, and he's not talking about how he got there!

As the old bit of journalism wisdom goes: If a dog bites a man, it's not news, but if a man bites a dog, it is. In a similar vein, if a cat gets stuck in a tree, we're not going to write about it, but if a dog gets stuck in a tree, it's hard to resist.

Especially a cute little long-haired Dachshund.

Especially one who gets stuck in a tree in a cemetery at night.

Cappy and crew shortly after his rescue (Photo: Beaufort Gazette) Little Cappy's owner was frantic most of the night after she realized at 6 p.m. that Cappy was nowhere to be found. She searched everywhere, got friends involved, put out a call for help on Facebook. One of her friends saw her plea on Facebook around midnight, and felt terrible for Cappy's owner, Mimi Austin.

"I have four dogs of my own, and I wouldn't have been able to sleep if that was me," Kim Bonturi said in an article in the Beaufort Gazette. She grabbed her friend, a flashlight, and her golden retriever, and they eventually ended up at the Beaufort National Cemetery, near Austin's and Cappy's house.

As they explored, they started hearing barking. Austin, who was on the porch of her house, heard the familiar woofs and came running to join them. They checked and checked the brush and just couldn't find the little fella. I love this next line from the Beaufort Gazette article.

"The women started getting frustrated with searching in the dark, when two Beaufort police officers stopped by to see what three women, a dog and a car were doing in the rear of the cemetery."

That would be a little odd to see at around 1 a.m. The officers shined their powerful flashlights all about and finally located Cappy, who was sitting on a limb of a big oak, about 12 feet off the ground.

Their 8-foot ladder was no help, even with an officer's outstretched arms, so they called in the firefighters, who got their ladder right beside the dog. Before a firefighter plucked him out of the tree, Cappy covered his face with kisses. He must have been very grateful for the rescue.

How Cappy got up there is anyone's guess. One comment in the Gazette said that the only way he could get up there on his own would be to sit on an acorn and wait for it to grow. LOL! Chances are that didn't happen. What do you think? Could he have run up a big oak on his own if he got a really good running start? Could it have been some weird Twilight-Zone-like cemetery situation, where he kind of got beamed into the tree by a ghost? (What was the name of that episode with the cemetery? Night Call, right? Gives me shivers!) Or do you just think some creep put him up there?

The poor dog was so thirsty when he got down that he guzzled a big bowl of water. From now on, we hope Cappy keeps all four paws firmly planted on the ground. Well, maybe three. He can do a little rear-leg tree salute next time he passes by the oak that held him captive for so long.

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Doggy Facts or Doggy Fiction? You Be the Judge

Dogsters, here’s a little something that will help your brain make the transition from Sunday to Monday. Can you sniff out the fact from the fiction in the stories below? Each has been investigated by Snopes.com. Take your best guess about which ones are true, which ones are false, and which ones may not yet have definite answers. We give a relevant Snopes link for each story so you can check your answers against the experts’.

Here’s some interesting etymology from TakeOurWord.com, 1999:

The modern name ["hot dog"] didn’t arise until a popular cartoonist named T.A. “Tad” Dorgan drew a picture of a dachshund in an elongated bun in the early 1900s and the term caught on in a big way.

Yea or nay? Go to this Snopes page to check it out.

Is this the face of a killer? (Photo: Doggies.com)

From an article in the Europa Times, October, 1993:

“We will not have him put down. Lucky is basically a damn good guide dog,” Ernst Gerber, a dog trainer from Wuppertal told reporters. “He just needs a little brush-up on some elementary skills, that’s all.”

Gerber admitted to the press conference that Lucky, a German shepherd guide-dog for the blind, had so far been responsible for the deaths of all four of his previous owners. “I admit it’s not an impressive record on paper. He led his first owner in front of a bus, and the second off the end of a pier. He actually pushed his third owner off a railway platform just as the Cologne to Frankfurt express was approaching and he walked his fourth owner into heavy traffic, before abandoning him and running away to safety. But, apart from epileptic fits, he has a lovely temperament. And guide dogs are difficult to train these days.”

Asked if Lucky’s fifth owner would be told about his previous record, Gerber replied: “No. It would make them nervous, and would make Lucky nervous. And when Lucky gets nervous he’s liable to do something silly.”

Could this possibly be true? Find the answer on this Snopes page.

Word has it that a few clear plastic bottles filled halfway with water and laid on their sides will prevent pooches from pooping on your lawn.

True, false, or undetermined? Take a peek here.

Ow!!! What do you think, Dogsters? Are these real photos of a dog who got on the wrong side of a porcupine?

Were you sharp enough to guess correctly? Make a point of heading over to Snopes to see.

How did you do, Dogsters?

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