Florida dog wins hero award for fighting poisonous snake
Florida dog wins hero award for fighting poisonous snake
Wednesday, May 5, 2004
�2004 Associated Press
URL: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/05/05/state2059EDT0192.DTL
(05-05) 17:59 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) —
A golden retriever from Florida has won the National Hero Dog award for attacking a poisonous coral snake that was lurking near his owners.
Seven-year-old Brutis, who lives on a 10-acre ranch in Hudson, Fla., arrived in Santa Monica Wednesday with his owner Fran Oreto to accept the honor.
“What an honor to bestow on my poor dog,” Oreto said from her hotel room.
The 22nd annual National Hero Dog award does not honor trained rescue dogs but “your basic family pet that unbeknownst to you has the ability to save your life,” said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles.
Oreto said she was picnicking with her grandchildren in September when Brutis snatched a 6-inch-long snake that was just five feet from them. Brutis suffered a bite and was taken to an animal emergency hospital, where he received antivenin more than three hours after the attack.
“It’s quite an amazing feat that he survived at all,” Oreto said. “He was a strong enough dog to pull through.”
He was treated in the intensive care unit for nearly a week, costing Oreto about $5,000 in medical expenses. Brutis now walks with a limp in his rear leg, she said, possibly due to the snake venom which degenerated his neurological system.
For his heroic act, Brutis was treated to his first airplane flight to Los Angeles. He got to sit in the plane with his owner instead of being stowed in cargo, and was staying at beachside hotel.
During the ceremony on Thursday, he’ll receive a plaque, a year’s supply of dog food and a bag full of treats.
The SPCA will also give a posthumous award to a dog named Shilo, who followed her companion, 11-year-old Sarah Irmen of Littlerock, Calif., when a kidnapper forced her into a car in June. When the kidnapper tried to get Sarah out of the car, Shilo bit him and the girl escaped.
Berstein said Shilo later died in an accident, but she didn’t know how the dog died. Shilo’s owners will receive a plaque and four tickets to a baseball game, she said.
“The award is a credit to their owners,” Bernstein said. “Any dog placed in a loving home can be a hero.”
The winners were selected from dozens of essays from pet owners nationwide describing their pet’s heroic acts. SPCA Los Angeles also constantly searches for news reports of heroic pet acts, Bernstein said.