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Toby the Labrador Toby suffered a punctured lung as he fought off the intruder A Labrador who fought to protect its owners from a knife-wielding burglar has been honoured for his bravery. Toby was stabbed four times in the chest and legs by the intruder but still managed to chase him out. The Morton family, from Barnoldswick in Lancashire, had been staying at Leconfield Barracks in East Yorkshire. They awoke to find their pet in a pool of blood. But the eight-month-old survived and has been awarded by the animal charity, PDSA. The armed burglar, who attacked Toby with three knives taken from the kitchen, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years for the offence. Toby suffered a punctured lung in the attack, in June 2007, as he fought to stop the offender going upstairs to the sleeping family. After succeeding in chasing the offender out of the building Toby then woke his owner, Jonathan Morton, by barking. Had it not been for Toby's determined barking and lunging at the intruder, Mr...

Russian scientists say that Moscow stray dogs became much smarter. The four legged oldest human’s friends demonstrate real smartness such as riding the Moscow metro every morning to get from their suburban places of living to the fat regions of Moscow center. Once they arrive to the downtown they demonstrate different new, previously unseen for the dog skills. Those skills can include “the hunt for shawarma” for example, the popular among Muscovites eastern cuisine dish. This hunt scene can be seen as this: Regular Moscow busy street with some small food kiosks. A middle-aged man buys himself a piece of hot fast food and walks aside chewing it without a rush. Then just in a second he jumps up frightened - some doggy has sneaked up on him and barked out loudly. His tasty snack falls out from his hands down to the ground and the dog gets it. Just ten minutes later, on the same place, the teen youngster loses his dinner in exactly the same manner. The mo...

When Jan Griffith's beloved dog, Sophie Tucker fell overboard from her family's yacht she feared her pet had drowned. But Sophie Tucker, a grey and black cattle dog, wasn't going to give up that easily. The determined pet swam six miles through ferocious shark-infested seas to an island, where she survived for more than four months by hunting wild goats for food. Sophie Sophie Tucker fell overboard in rough seas and swam through shark infested waters to safety The extraordinary story of the castaway hound emerged today when Miss Griffith was reunited with her beloved pet. 'I thought I'd never see her again, but she's proved to be a dog who can really look after herself,' said Miss Griffith. Sophie Tucker, named after the American vaudeville comedian, fell overboard from the family's yacht when they ran into bad weather off the Queensland coastal town of Mackay. Miss Griffith and her friends searched the area, putting their own lives at risk in the rough ...

Man's best friend serves as model for understanding human social behavior Chimpanzees share many of our genes, but dogs have lived with us for so long and undergone so much domestication that they are now serving as a model for understanding human social behavior, according to a new paper. Cooperation, attachment to people, understanding human verbal and non-verbal communications, and the ability to imitate are just a handful of the social behaviors we share with dogs. They might even think like us at times too, according to the paper, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Advances in the Study of Behavior. While there is no evidence to support that dogs and humans co-evolved their laundry list of shared behaviors over the past 10,000 to 20,000 years, the researchers believe adapting to the same living conditions during this period may have resulted in the similarities. Lead author Jozsef Topal explained to Discovery News "that shared environment has led to th...

Brown Recluse Spider He has been confined to a wheelchair for 20 years. Now a paraplegic man is walking again, and his doctors call it a miracle. CBS13 went to Manteca to find out how a spider bite helped get him back on his feet. "I closed my eyes and then I was spinning like a flying saucer," explains David Blancarte. A motorcycle accident almost killed David 21 years ago. At the time he might have wished he was dead. "I asked my doctor, 'Sir what happened? I can't feel my legs'," said David. Ever since, David's been relying on his wheelchair to get around. Then the spider bite. A Brown Recluse sent him to the hospital, then to rehab for eight months. "I'm here for a spider bite. I didn't know I would end up walking," says David. A nurse noticed Da...

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Guide dogs for the blind go everywhere with their human partners, but when their destination is a plane ride away, it's not always so easy. ...

More than 50 law enforcement officers pay respects to Ringo A grieving Jesse Ray Jordan, who became acquainted with K-9 Ringo at Anderson County High, is comforted by his father, Spartacus Jordan, during Friday's memorial service for the police dog. Ringo, the Anderson County Sheriff's Department K-9, died of kidney failure Feb. 20. Sherri Prewitt, with Samuel Franklin Florist, places a wreath atop the cruiser where K-9 Ringo CLINTON - During an elaborate memorial, Ringo the police dog received a final send-off Friday befitting canine aristocracy. A motorcade of 30 police cruisers rolled slowly beneath a giant American flag stretched between fire department ladder trucks. A floral arrangement spelling out the dog's name was put across the windshield of the cruiser in which the Belgian Malinois traveled with his human partner, Anderson County Deputy Rick Coley. Taps played so...

When police park at HQ, regular rules do not apply (Boston.com) Illegal parking in a handicapped spot is no trifling matter. Boston issues 11,000 tickets a year, each of which carries a $120 fine and often a $93 towing charge. And it is not uncommon for passersby to loudly rebuke able-bodied drivers who use parking spots reserved for the disabled. But violators who use the 11 handicapped-designated spaces in front of Boston Police headquarters are immune from any sanction at all - or even a sidelong glance from the scores of police officers who enter and leave the building every day, according to Globe observations over the past two months. One repeat scofflaw: the driver of a Toyota Corolla registered to Irene Landry, the city's supervisor of Parking Enforcement, who oversees the 194 parking enforcement officers who write 1.3 million tickets a year. When a Globe reporter called Landry's office on Feb. 10 to ask about the Toyota, Landry was stunned. "I will investigate,...

Thomas Brent Mowrey and his service dog, Lady, were denied service at a Baton Rouge Waffle A disabled man who uses a dog for assistance was denied service at a Baton Rouge restaurant last month and said ignorance of federal disability rights law was probably the reason. Thomas Brent Mowrey, a former Arizona resident who has lived with his wife in an RV in Baton Rouge for two months now, said he was denied service Jan. 26 at the Waffle House on Siegen Lane near Interstate 10. Mowrey said a cook and the restaurant’s manager both said he had to leave because he had a dog with him. Mowrey, who said he is deaf in his left ear, uses a service dog to assist him. Mowrey provided documentation showing his dog, Lady, is certified as a service dog. Staff members at the Waffle House, however, told Mowrey that state health laws prohibit dogs from going inside restaurants, he said. “My dog has been on airplanes, inside Wal-Mart, CC’s (Community Coffee) and I’ve never had a problem,” Mowrey said Tues...

Entering their freshman year at Oscar Smith High School, Adam and Wessley Amick did most everything together. If Adam dropped a pencil, Wessley picked it up for him. Whenever Adam's wheelchair moved through the crowded school hallways, Wessley always lumbered right behind him keeping an eye out. And when a class got rowdy, Wessley stood up to get between Adam and the noise. Adam, 17, has moderate cerebral palsy. Wessley served as Adam's service dog, accompanying the boy through middle school and nearly four years at Oscar Smith High. Wessley died Jan. 21. He had lymphoma. The flat-coated retriever left behind a young man who is much more independent than when the two first met. "Wessley helped Adam gain his confidence," said Terry Langdon, the guidance secretary at Oscar Smith. "Adam and Wessley weren't just a dog and a boy. It was just amazing the bond that these two had." The bond began when Adam was 10. He and his parents, Kevin and Tammi, went to For...

A police drugs sniffer dog has died of a rare nose cancer after years sniffing cocaine during his work. Springer spaniel Max, aged nine, may have caught the disease because of the effect of cocaine and other drugs he was taught to detect. Police Inspector Anne Higgins, the dog's owner, fears the training may have led to the disease which led to him being put down last week. Max worked as a drugs dog with the Avon and Somerset police but lived with Insp Higgins, who is based at Tiverton police station in Devon. She said: "It is ironic the wonderful organ that made him successful in his work has been his demise. "It may or may not have been connected with what he used to do. Up until a couple of weeks ago he seemed fine and was doing well but it was an aggressive tumour. "It was very hard to have him put down but we had to do it. "I took him to the police station which he usually loved and was his favourite place but he did not show any reaction to being there and...

A parrot that learned to mimic his owner's voice is using the skill to issue orders to her other pets. BArney the African Grey Parrot: Parrot mimics owner's voice to boss around her other pets Margaret Sullivan: 'Barney's a really bossy parrot. He even chats back at me and swears when I'm talking sometimes ? he's so cheeky' Barney, an African Grey Parrot, calls Margaret Sullivan's three dogs – Harry, Tilly and Bluey – by name. The bird, 10, squawks out orders like "come here" and even offers praise to his favourites such as "good dog". Mrs Sullivan, 65, who lives in Tredworth, Gloucestershire, with partner Ken Kersey, 62, admitted that Barney has a "very high opinion of himself". She said: "Barney's a really bossy parrot. He even chats back at me and swears when I'm talking sometimes – he's so cheeky. "He's always tried to learn how to speak in my voice but he has got better and better at it ever si...

A teen who felt cheated after fundraising to help his brother starts a charity. By Felisa Cardona The Denver Post Image via Wikipedia Mark Rinkel, 13, of Aurora started Red Alert Dogs for Diabetics to train canines such as Lucy, the puppy he is holding, to be service dogs. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post ) By selling his secret recipe of regular and sugar-free lemonade, 13-year-old Mark Rinkel raised enough money to get a service dog to help his little brother Jason cope with Type 1 diabetes. But Mark says the dog he worked so hard to get did not detect serious changes in his brother's blood sugar, as was promised, and the dog also bit Jason's hand when he tried to pet him. "It turned out to be a scam," said the boys' mother, Marisa Rinkel. "After he bit my son, we gave him back." The story of Mark's lemonade stand was featured in summer 2007 on ABC's "Good Morning America" and CNN, helping him raise $17,000, more than the $6,000 needed ...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife The number of backlogged disability claims at the Social Security Administration (SSA) more than doubled over the past decade, with those pending at the hearing level reaching 760,800 as of October 2008, according to an agency spokesman. The spike in applicants from an aging baby boomer generation, staff cuts, and management problems all contributed to a cumbersome operation; individual cases took an average of more than 500 days to process in 2007. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of people pursuing disability claims have been forced to wait as long as three years, with some going into bankruptcy, losing their homes, or even dying while waiting for a result. As far back as 2001, the chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board acknowledged that “unless there’s fundamental change, we will soon see disruptions of service. The Social Security agency lacks the ability to handle existing workloads, and those workloads are bound to i...

Killed: The gang stabbed the woman's Yorkshire Terrier to death before turning on her A disabled woman was slashed repeatedly with a knife after confronting a gang who had stabbed her dog to death in her garden. The mother-of-three, who has not been named, discovered the mutilated body of her Yorkshire terrier Willow lying in a pool of blood outside her door. Seconds later she was confronted by four men who threatened her, forced her back into the house, in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, and then attacked her with a knife. The 38-year-old suffered 'numerous' cuts to her body and had to be treated in hospital. Police have arrested a 13-year-old boy on suspicion of carrying out the assault, which took place at around 2pm on Sunday. The woman, who has a disability which means she is unable to walk without crutches, is now staying at a relative's home with her three children, a girl aged 14 and boys 10 and nine. Police said she was still deeply shocked by the attack. Detective ...

Mail carrier Scott Arnold stops by Larry Fleck's home in McLean and pets Fleck's dog, Carmen Ohio II. Arnold brings all the dogs along his route presents each year. Mail carrier Scott Arnold stops by Larry Fleck's home in McLean and pets Fleck's dog, Carmen Ohio II. Arnold brings all the dogs along his route presents each year. In addition to bringing the dogs along his route presents, mail carrier Scott Arnold gives owners of dogs that have died letters written in the voice of their departed pets, from the comforts of an imaginary place he calls North Pole Kennels. In addition to bringing the dogs along his route presents, mail carrier Scott Arnold gives owners of dogs that have died letters written in the voice of their departed pets, from the comforts of an imaginary place he calls North Pole Kennels. In the troubled and toothy history of canine-mail carrier relations, the northwest corner of Zip code 22101 is something of an anomaly. There, dogs do not erupt in an a...

Woman buried in snow for 3 days found alive (CNN) -- No one expected to find Donna Molnar alive. Ace, who found Molnar buried alive in 3 feet of snow, will soon be enjoying a T-bone steak as a reward. Searchers had combed the brutal backcountry of rural Ontario for the housewife from the city of Hamilton, who had left her home three days earlier in the middle of a blizzard to grocery shop. Alongside his search-and-rescue dog Ace, Ray Lau on Monday tramped through the thick, ice-covered brush of a farmer's field, not far from where Molnar's van had been found a day earlier. He kept thinking: Negative-20 winds? This is a search for a body. "Then, oh, all of a sudden, Ace bolted off," said Lau. "He stooped and looked down at the snow and just barked, barked, barked." Lau rushed to his Dutch shepherd's side. "There she was, there was Donna, her face was almost totally covered except for one eye staring back at me!" he said. "That was, 'Wow...

Blind man's guide dog barred from restaurant for offending Muslims A blind man has been turned away from a fashionable Indian restaurant because his guide dog offended Muslim staff. Alun Elder-Brown was barred from bringing his guide dog, Finn, into Kirthon Restaurant Alun Elder-Brown, a recruitment executive, said he was left feeling "like a piece of dirt" after being barred from bringing the animal into Kirthon Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on religious grounds. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association said the decision was illegal under the Disability Discrimination Act and Mr Elder-Brown, 51, is now considering suing the establishment in The Pantiles. It follows a series of successful prosecutions of Muslim taxi drivers who refused to carry guide dogs in their cars because they considered them unclean on religious grounds. Mr Elder-Brown was taking his girlfriend out to celebrate her birthday with her five year-old daughter last week when he was told he would h...

Investigation ties pet chain to puppy mills Many Petland store dogs bred in poor conditions, Humane Society finds After an eight-month investigation, the Humane Society of the United States accused Petland, the national pet store chain, of selling dogs bred under appalling conditions at puppy mills around the country. The animal protection group made the charges at a news conference in Washington Thursday. The investigation involved 21 Petland stores and dozens of breeders and brokers. The Petland stores are being supplied by large-scale puppy mills, although customers are routinely informed that the dogs come only from good breeders, the Humane Society said. "They are buying from puppy mills where these dogs are not treated like pets," Michael Markarian, an executive vice president with the Humane Society, told a news conference. "They're treated like a cash crop, where mother dogs live in wire cages, sometimes stacked on top of each other in filthy, dirty, cramped...