austindogandcat.com

austindogandcat.com

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Austin fire fighters rescue dog stuck in elevator shaft at construction site

from: Austin Fire Department Facebook page: 





This past Saturday morning, Engine 31 responded to a construction site where a dog had become stuck in an elevator shaft. A woman reported that a pack of dogs had chased her in there and she had jumped to safety but one of the dogs had gotten stuck. Firefighter Josh Wallace put on his bunker pants with gloves and a helmet, and dropped a ladder down into the hole. Firefighter Wallace made contact with the dog and used a piece of webbing to make a leash; he then climbed out with the dog in his arms. The dog didn’t have any tags, so the crew contacted the Austin Police Department who then called Animal Control. Once they arrived, the dog’s microchip was scanned—she lived just a few blocks away and Animal Control took her home. A happy ending and a testament to the importance of having your pet microchipped!

Kudos to Austin Firefighters for rescuing cat



from: Austin Fire Department's Facebook page

October 12 ·  · Taken at University Baptist Church, 2107 San Antonio
It was a puuuuuurrrrrr-fect rescue! About 5:30 p.m. yesterday, a concerned citizen walked up to Station 2 and reported that there was a cat stuck in a drain at the University Baptist Church located at 2107 San Antonio. The Engine 2/A shift crew—Lt. Matt Heck, Fire Specialist Dave Skowron, Firefighter John Wier, and Firefighter Adam Aguirre—drove up to the church where they found the small black cat wedged in a very narrow concrete drainage system. The cat could not move forward and was unable (and unwilling) to walk backward and get turned around in the narrow pipe. After almost two hours trying to get the cat out, and with the permission of the church, the decision was made to cut the concrete. Rescue 14’s Capt. Matt Rush, Fire Specialist Brein Brown, Firefighter Jason Rodriguez, and Firefighter Jacob Whittington joined in and, utilizing a concrete saw and firefighters’ ingenuity, the cat was rescued unharmed. The ingenious part was how the crews were able to pull apart the pavers to access the concrete, place a protective curtain between the area they were cutting and the cat, and then make a cut that was just big enough to remove the cat but at the same time minimize the damage to the drainage pipe. The cat had no collar or identification so Lt. Heck who, along with his wife, Leah often care for stray cats, had Leah meet him at the scene with a cat carrier. The vet techs at Austin Vet Care @ Central Park (special thanks to them!) that checked out the kitty after hearing the story started calling the female cat, "Piper." Piper, now her official name, won the heart of Lt. Heck and his wife, and so will be joining their family permanently!

After the rescue, the firefighters diligently restored the area around the drainage pipe. Great job Engine 2 and Rescue 14!!

Nurse Pham's dog is fine


This Oct. 13, 2014, photo released via Twitter by the City of Dallas Public Information Managing Director Sana Syed shows Bentley in Dallas, the one-year-old King Charles Spaniel belonging to Nina Pham, the nurse who contracted Ebola.
 AP PHOTO/COURTESY OF SANA SYED/PIO, CITY OF DALLAS


DALLAS - Officials say the year-old King Charles Spaniel belonging to the Dallas nurse hospitalized with Ebola has been given comfortable bedding, toys and other items to entertain him while he stays at a decommissioned naval air base.
City spokeswoman Sana Syed said Tuesday that Bentley is staying in the former residence of the executive officer at the decommissioned Hensley Field, which is owned by the city. Bentley was moved Monday from nurse Nina Pham's apartmentto his new home, where he'll be monitored.
The nurse watched pictures and video of Bentley being moved into quarantine. Her family says Pham was happy to learn "Bentley" is doing fine.


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Ebola patient Nina Pham, in a photo from her Facebook page
 NINA PHAM VIA FACEBOOK

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings says city officials vowed to do everything in their power to care for Pham's beloved pet.
There was an uproar in Spain after Madrid authorities euthanized a dog named Excalibur that belonged to a nursing assistant sickened by the Ebola virus. She remains hospitalized. Authorities were concerned the dog might be harboring the virus.
Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at least one major study indicated dogs could spread Ebola.
"Researchers tested dogs during the 2001-02 Ebola outbreak in Gabon after seeing some of them eating infected dead animals," Frieden said. "Of the 337 dogs from various towns and villages, 9 to 25 percent showed antibodies to Ebola, a sign they were infected or exposed to the virus."
The risk that dogs might spread Ebola is very small in the U.S. or other places where dogs aren't near corpses or eating infected animals, said Sharon Curtis Granskog, a spokeswoman for the American Veterinary Medical Association.


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Bentley, the dog of Nina Pham, the Dallas nurse with Ebola, is seen in a kennel after being placed in isolation.

© 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Not local but notable: touching photos of dogs waiting for their master to return home


from: sfgate.com

A dog peeks out from under a gate at the Cirillo family home in Hamilton, Ontario near flowers and flags that have been left on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. Canadians are mourning the loss of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, the army reservist who was shot dead as he stood guard before the Tomb of the Unknown soldier. Flags were flown at half-staff to honor Cirillo, a 24-year-old a reservist from Hamilton, Ontario, whose shooting on Wednesday began an attack that ended with a lone gunman storming into Parliament and opening fire before being shot dead himself. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Peter Power)