BRONX (WABC) -- Thursday morning was the center of an incredible display of canine loyalty that played out during rush hour on the Major Deegan Expressway.  http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=resources/traffic&id=6812473

A hero dog who lost his life trying to save a group of children from a Pit Bull attack has been awarded the top honour for pet bravery.

George the Jack Russell was given a posthumous PDSA Gold Medal, the animal equivalent of the George Cross, at a special ceremony in his home town.

He had been out for a walk with five local children, aged between three and 12 years old, when a pair of Pit Bull Terriers set upon them.

The 14-year-old dog sustained significant injuries as he shielded the youngsters from the attack. He later died from his wounds.

Hundreds of people, including the children he saved, turned out to honour George at the presentation in Manaia, New Zealand.

Governor-General Anand Satyanand handed over the award to George's owner, widower Alan Gay, on behalf of British veterinary charity PDSA.

The medal was hung around the neck of a statue of the brave dog, which has been erected in the town in his memory.

"There's no doubt that George was a small dog with a lion's share of courage," said PDSA director general Jan McLoughlin.

"Each account of his devotion to the five children on the day of the incident tells of a dog that was not afraid to face great fear in order to protect his friends.

"The children will never forget George's sacrifice and PDSA is proud to honour this exceptionally brave dog."

The PDSA Gold Medal is the highest honour for outstanding animal bravery and exceptional dedication.

 http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090211/twl-brave-dog-died-to-save-children-3fd0ae9.html

Incredible footage of a Chilean dog saving his friend on a dangerous and busy highway in Santiago, Chile, South America.
(UPDATED) Translation: "These images seen from the surveillance cameras show a very common situation with our overpopulated highways. It is normal for us to see dogs run over. In the video, we can see this dog fighting for his life because he was run over by the vehicle.
"What is very touching is to see the very heroic actions of this other dog who is trying to pull him to the side of the highway. We are going to keep seeing things like this until we find a solution to the dogs living on the streets."
It seems the truth of this story has been lost in the amount of press its received, due to this it has now been unconfirmed on the dog surviving.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXXaRECHHT4 

As it was to be expected Turkey's press has finally picked up on the appalling situation created by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's and the Head of the Veterinary Department, Arif Irfan Eker.

This weekend two of the leading newspapers in Turkey, Milliyet and Hurriyet have exposed the issue in their pages.

This fight will continue in the Administrative Court as well as in the Mass Media. Sooner or later the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality will come to realize that it is much easier, cost-effective and certainly better for PR purposes to manage Neuter and Return in a humane and professional way, and counting with our collaboration and supervision that leaving the whole responsibility of this crucial project under the control of companies and individuals of dubious repute.

The moment there is a firm commitment on the part of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality to make this project work in strict accordance with the Law, and guided by Humane Principles, we, EHDKD, as well as our friends of the Society for the Protection of Stray Animals, will be there to lend them a helping hand towards its successful completion.

Until then the fight will continue both in the Court as well as the public forum of national and international Media. It is up to Arif Eker and ultimately up to Kadir Topbas, the Major of Istanbul to decide which route to follow: a new way guided by humanity, legality and joint cooperation OR its current inhumane, illegal and dismissive behavior that is ending with the lifes of thousands of animals in an appalling display of animal cruelty and total disregard of both Law and public opinion.

http://ehdkd.blogspot.com/

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The St Bernard was battered and bruised, its wounds infested with maggots. It is about three-feet-long with a jet black fur coat. The owner has not been tracked down so far.

The dog was first spotted by Kamal Ghosh, a resident of the area and a dog trainer himself, at around 11 pm last Monday, near Narayantala on VIP Road. “The leash was held by a person who was inebriated. On questioning him, I found out that he worked as a construction labourer and had acquired the dog from someone in Girsish Park. He wanted to get rid of it,” said Ghosh.

Another resident of Baguihati Road, Subhabrata Mitra, spotted the creature wandering around on Sunday evening.

This morning, both Ghosh and Mitra again found the dog loitering around near the Baguihati area. They followed it to a godown. The dog is weak and wounded, only managing an occasional whimper. According to Ghosh, it appears to be well-trained, responding to commands like “sit” and “stop”.

The dog has been handed over to Mother’s Heart, an animal rescue centre located in Behala, where it will undergo treatment. “They need around Rs 1,500 for its treatment, but we have manged to raise only Rs 500. We hope to collect the remaining amount soon,” said Mitra.

There are only about half-a-dozen St. Bernards in Kolkata. Much loved for its gentle nature, the St Bernard’s popularity soared after it featured as the dog “Beethoven” in the film by the same name.

“It is an expensive breed and would cost anything between Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000,” said Ghosh.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=206632

Michaela  on this amazing info

Those beutiful animals desevre evey free minute of time to be spend on them !

Romania, Bucharest Circus: Tigers adopted by Stela, a female stray dog

Two tiger whelps were adopted by a female stray dog living in the acrobats' yard, at the Bucharest Circus. Although only 3 days old, the tigers acommodated themselves immediately to their new mum and their 8 small brothers (the stray's puppies). The foster mother was named Stela by the Circus employees (The Star). She accepted her role of foster mother without making any difference between her puppies and the two tigers, and she never lets them out of site. 

"Their real mother could not nurse them, and we were lucky with Stela, otherwise we are not sure that they would have had any chance for survival", declared the ballet master, Stela's personal caretaker.

A pack of stray street dogs saved a 15 year old girl from being raped in Romania.

As reported by the romanian newspaper "National" on Thursday, the girl was on her way home in the north-romanian town Sighetul Marmatiei, when a 20 year old man grabbed her and dragged her some 500 meters to an uninhabited area.

But the girl was able to escape when a pack of of dogs attacked him. On the next day, Police arrested the man.

7-year-old "Mowgli" is reunited with his mother after years in the wild

BRASOV (Romania) — It does seem like a chapter straight out of Kipling's The Jungle Book, so hospital staff had every right to give the boy the nickname of the book's hero "Mowgli."

The Telegraph reported on Sunday that a real-life Mowgli who lived in Romanian forests with wild dogs is returning to family life after having been found by a shepherd, barely alive, naked and huddled in a cardboard box. The seven-year-old boy had forgotten how to speak after approximately three years of living in the wilderness.

Doctors say it would have been almost impossible for him to have survived alone in the region which, in the wintertime, is known to drop to temperatures below freezing. They believe that he was looked after by wild dogs in the Transylvanian forests.

After a television broadcast broke the news to the Romanian people in February, a woman came forward to claim the child. Lina Caldarar, 20, told authorities that she had fled from her husband's home three years ago after the man had beat her. She believes that the boy, Traian Caldarar, ran away soon afterward for the same reason. Ms. Caldarar says, "I never stopped thinking about him, but there was nothing I could do. I hoped he had perhaps been adopted by another family."

Adopted he was, by a family of wild dogs, apparently. For the first few days in the presence of humans, he exhibited canine qualities and would growl if bothered while eating his food. Now two months later, the "man cub" is slowly adapting to his human world, living in the remote village of Vistea de Jos with his mother, her parents and her three brothers and three sisters.

The boy's progress, both mental and physical, has been encouraging.  But there are still a great many things he must re-learn before he can integrate safely.  

"Someone needs to keep an eye on him at all times because it's easy for him to get hurt," says his mother.  He's "like an untrained puppy."

Ms. Caldarar has already had one heart-stopping moment since being reunited with her son when he ran in front of a car to chase a cat.

May 10, 2001 Romania

An abandoned baby was found in the street, miraculously still alive and unharmed in a small Romanian village.  The baby's apparent rescuers were a group of street dogs, who dispersed without comment.

Villagers reported hearing a baby crying and dog noises all through the night before, but at the time it was extremely cold, and the snow discouraged people from venturing outside to investigate the disturbance.

In the morning they found a naked baby, born several days earlier, huddled closely amid the pack of stray dogs who had kept the infant warm throughout the night.

The baby was alive and without a single scratch.