Dog Rescue in Denver-Lessons Learned-Relating to Pets and Travel
What a great story about Pearl the black Labrador who was rescued in Denver! http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Dog-Rescue.html
Pearl was out on a walk with her owner when she slipped off her leash to chase a duck. The next thing her owner knew Pearl was going down on cracking ice. The lady was smart enough not to try and go in and get Pearl. She got an expert to do it for her-a fire fighter who knew what he was doing. In less than 10 minutes the dog was safely returned from the cold ice to its owner. Two significant parts to this story stand out.
First, everyone reading this story or viewing it on television had to feel so good that there was a happy ending. Especially all of us who LOVE our dogs; it is amazing how fast things can happen on a peaceful dog walk. Any one of use have experienced something startling and threatening when out with our pets on a simple walk. I so clearly remember walking my dogs last summer in the evening and suddenly dog darts out of nowhere and began to attack one of my little dogs-Soozie. It was awful. I am reasonably sure the dog wanted to kill my dog. Gratefully the pet sitter came running and literally pried the dog off of Soozie. Sooz was limp from the trauma but o.k. Thank goodness!
The second significant part to the story of Pearl’s rescue in the ice is the importance of Pearl’s owner letting someone who knows what they are doing – save the dogs life. Many times I get groans and grumbles from potential clients at the fees I charge to ship their pets. They think that it should not be that difficult and why would I charge to consult, book and assist in shipping their pets? Shipping pets to me is the same as planning travel for unaccompanied children. You cannot be too careful and past experience is so valuable. It is not uncommon for me to receive a phone call from a panicked traveler who is at the airport with their pet thinking everything regarding the pet’s travel is in order and it is not! Things from wrong size crate, unacceptable crate, incorrect documentation and health certificates, too cold outside for airline regulations, co-share airline connections that are incompatible….the list goes on. It’s pretty difficult to ‘fix’ situations when they have reached this point-actually it is almost impossible. Yes, the business of pet travel is an “imperfect science” but it certainly seems wise to me to at least hire someone who is an expert in the field.
Why take the risk of falling in the ice with your dog and both of you are in trouble?
November 9th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
just so you know, the dog did not slip out of her collar. the owner had her off leash.