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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Rescuers Save Dog Stuck on Icy Reservoir for Days

Gibson managed to evade rescue attempts for days while stuck on the icy reservoir (Photo: Animal Rescue League of Boston)

A cold, scared, hungry sheltie mix spent several days on a frozen Cambridge, Mass., reservoir before rescuers were finally able to pluck her from the ice.

Gibson, 4, evaded rescuers for days while trotting around the pond, which is two miles around. She even fled from her owner.

“The dog kind of reverted to a semiwild, self-preservation state,’’ Brian O’Connor, manager of the Animal Rescue League of Boston, told the Boston Globe. “They’re not like people. You can’t rationalize with them and tell them you’re there to rescue them.’’

Rescuers finally netter her, but only after a struggle that ended up with one rescuer — who had chased her down in a four-wheel vehicle — getting bitten.

Gibson was dehydrated and had lost weight, but is now doing OK, and resting comfortably back at home.

I think all Jake would need if this happened to him would be the lure of a piece of cake, and he’d be off the pond in a heartbeat. What would it take for your dogs, Dogsters?

Dog rescued from frozen pond: MyFoxBOSTON.com

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German Shepherd Rescued After Getting Head Stuck in Cinderblock Wall

Look at these photos and imagine being this 8-month-old German Shepherd. Poooooor puppy! He really got himself into a pickle yesterday when he stuck his head through a hole in an 18-inch thick retaining wall on his owner’s property near Palm Springs. That does not look comfortable at all!

Animal control rescuers, who aren’t sure what drove Rebel to want to see what was on the other side of the wall, first made sure his breathing was OK and unrestricted, according to Southwest Riverside News Network. Then they started pulling from one side, pushing from the other.

“He let us know if we were pushing too hard, but he kept working right along with us. He helped us a lot. You could see his hind legs stiffen to assist in the direction we were going. He knew we were trying to save him,” said Riverside County Animal Services Sgt. James Huffman.

In about a half hour, Rebel was free, with only minor injuries. Animal control officials will be talking to the property owner about covering the hole with chicken wire so Rebel doesn’t end up looking like a mounted moose head again.

(Photos: Southwest Riverside News Network)

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