I really hope Snickers has a happy ending after all he's been through.

From the Sydney Morning Herald.

Dog rescued after months at sea
April 19, 2008 - 1:07PM

Snickers the Sea Dog is barely more than a pup, but he's already an old salt.

The eight-month-old pooch spent three months adrift on a 15-metre boat and survived four months on tiny Fanning Island - 1609 kilometres south of Hawaii - where his owners left him after their sailing boat ran aground last December.

Now the cocker spaniel, who is in quarantine on Oahu after being rescued April 9 by Norwegian Cruise Line workers and a group of other people, will be flown to Los Angeles to meet a man who desperately wants to adopt him: retired Las Vegas resident Jack Joslin.

"I love animals," Joslin said today. "I had two dogs up until the middle of March. Then I had to have my border collie euthanised. The day they called saying the ashes were back was when I read the story (about Snickers). It occurred to me I could do something."

Hawaiian Airlines, moved by the dog's survival story, has given the go-ahead on flying the animal for free to the mainland, said Peter Forman, a Hawaii-based airlines historian who helped negotiate Snickers' transport.

Forman said he expects Snickers to arrive sometime in the next three days.

Snickers' ordeal began when his owners catamaran began experiencing mast problems after setting off from California, said Gina Baurile of the Hawaiian Humane Society.

The boat drifted to Fanning Island where it hit a reef and the dog's owners, Jerry and Darla Merrow, swam 200 metres to shore with Snickers and their parrot, Gulliver. They left the island soon after on a cargo vessel leaving their pets in the care of islanders, Baurile said.

Efforts to contact the Merrows have been unsuccessful.

Robby Coleman, who owns a sail boat off Fanning Island then started watching out for the dog and parrot on the island, Forman said.

"Robby put out the SOS and a lot of people got involved," Forman said.

After being contacted by Formans wife the Hawaiian Humane Society took the lead on Snickers rescue and organised for a ship to be sent out to Fanning Island to pick up the dog, said Norwegian Cruise Line spokeswoman Krislyn Hashimoto.

The dog landed in Honolulu on Wednesday, cleared customs and has been in quarantine since, awaiting transport to LA, Hashimoto said.

AP

Let's hope her owners come forward, or that her "finder" adopts her. Very lucky dog, being picked up by someone who works for the New York Times. Not every lost dog gets her picture in the paper.

From the New York Times.

Take Home Stray Dog? No! Maybe
By ROBIN FINN
Published: April 6, 2008
East Northport

WAITING FOR THE RIGHT HOMES John Dowling, left, with Pearl, and John Thompson with Angel. Phil Marino for The New York Times

IT was late afternoon on Easter, and no, this was not a cartoon apparition: wet, shivering and obviously not out for a holiday romp, the big, blond terrier, straight out of central casting for the Sandy role in “Annie,” materialized in the middle of the beach causeway. The holiday traffic, mercifully sparse, inched carefully by. Then we, driver and dog, made eye contact. She didn’t blink first. Nor did she skulk away. She stared. Hopefully.

There was no humane recourse except to stop the car, check her collars (she wore two, initially an auspicious sign) for tags and return her to her rightful owner. The disruption to the finder’s afternoon plans would be minor, and a good deed would be done: St. Francis would have loved it.

The trouble was, her collars bore no identification tags. Not a good sign. The traffic continued to inch by; everyone gawked, but no one screeched to a halt to claim her. That would turn out to be just the beginning of the finder’s wishful thinking. So into the car the foundling went. She instantly traded the backseat for the front, offered her paw and off we drove to the local police station, where, it seemed reasonably certain, someone might have phoned about an AWOL mutt.

But no one had. And sorry, she couldn’t stay at the police station until someone did: because of a previous biting incident, it was against the rules to let her inside. Would her finder take her home until the owners discovered her missing and phoned the station, which the two officers on duty felt confident would transpire by nightfall?

Tempting, but not realistic. The finder already had a shaggy blond foundling ensconced at home — by coincidence a pared-down adoptee version of this charming wayward mutt, but antisocial to the max.

The officer on patrol duty found a chain, secured the dog to a signpost and provided a bowl of water; then protocol took over. The Town of Huntington Animal Shelter and Adoption Center was notified, and John Dowling, a retired dog groomer who used to show collies and Bichons and now beautifies incarcerated strays, drove the foundling to the pound in the canine paddy wagon. He, too, seemed sure her owners would be in touch. “She’s a nice, big, friendly dog,” he said.

But the owners weren’t in touch on Easter night, nor did they call Monday morning (only her finder did), nor did they reach out anytime over the ensuing week.

“Even I’m starting to give up hope,” Mr. Dowling said one afternoon when her finder, who developed a guilty crush on this pooch, paid her daily visit to the pound armed with affection, the dog’s first preference, and large Milk-Bones, her second.

Mr. Dowling, a bit of a soft touch, could not be tapped as a potential adopter. He has four dogs at home, the town limit: “A big, smelly bloodhound and a Doberman puppy, both difficult to place, so I adopted them, and then I inherited a papillon and a Chihuahua from a friend who died. A full house.”

On March 31, Inmate No. 102, unofficially renamed Pearl by her finder, officially became the unclaimed property of the town and, pending the completion of temperament testing, available for adoption. Her finder’s name and number are at the top of the list of Pearl’s potential adopters, just in case — perish the thought — no other dog lover claims her.

The Huntington Animal Shelter is not a no-kill shelter: last year it took in 530 dogs and euthanized 71, roughly half of them old or sick animals surrendered by their owners, the other half unwanted. Enough said.

The shelter, which has concrete runs for 60 dogs but no indoor kennels, is currently occupied by 24 dogs, about 15 of which are ready for adoption (www.petfinder.org, ZIP code 11731). Charlie, a homely brown pit bull with an earnest attitude, is not the oldest dog in the place; that’s probably Angel the Chihuahua, who, unlike Charlie, has a Beware of Dog sign on her cage. But he claims seniority: he’s been waiting for a home since last June, slightly longer than Angel.

“I hold onto my dogs,” said John Thompson, the shelter’s supervisor, who has two dogs, three cats and a rabbit (he found it in the road near his home in Patchogue). “I’m not going to put down a dog I believe is a good dog. Sometimes I’ll ask myself, ‘Am I doing the right thing by keeping this dog so long?’, but I truly believe there is somebody out there who will adopt that dog eventually.”

That’s how he wound up with Dakota, a coon hound, and Rebel, a beagle; both were surrendered (the phrase “dumped at the shelter” is dismissed by shelter employees as politically/compassionately incorrect) by frustrated owners who deemed them overly aggressive. So was tiny Angel, who sleeps on a pink throw rug. She’s a biter who has developed a tolerance for Mr. Thompson and Mr. Dowling but terrorizes the rest of the staff.

“I say there’s someone for every dog,” Mr. Thompson said, “but I’m starting to think I’m going to have to take Angel home.”

Inmate No. 102 and her fellow travelers deserve the same.

E-mail: theisland@nytimes.com

What a great program! Pairing teens with dogs who need help so they can be adopted. Terrific idea and many cheers to the woman responsible, Gayle Hutchens.

By the way, Oprah Winfrey is mentioned in this story. She will be doing a show next week on "the hidden underworld" of puppymills. It will be interesting to see how she tackles the issue and what kind of people she has on the show. Will it be factual or all emotion? Maybe she will do something to help dogs, too. Please check listings to see when the show will air in your area. Her web site says it's scheduled to air Friday, April 4.

Saving dogs, shaping kids
Gayle Hutchens, founder of Paws and Think, is Jefferson Award winner
By Dan McFeely
Posted: March 29, 2008

Inspired by an Oprah Winfrey show and faced with the need to change her career, Gayle Hutchens found the perfect mix in troubled kids and doomed dogs.

Through her 7-year-old Paws and Think program, Hutchens has improved the lives of more than 200 kids while saving more than 2,000 dogs from a date with euthanasia.

On Friday, Hutchens was honored by The Indianapolis Star with a Jefferson Award for outstanding community service. The Northside resident was one of five finalists for the honor and will travel in June to Washington, D.C., for a shot at a national Jefferson Award.

"I feel humbled," Hutchens said. "This really belongs to the many friends, family members, volunteers and board members who have believed in and supported this work . . . not just me."

After a 10-year hiatus, the local Jefferson Awards were revived this year by The Star and Eli Lilly. The national program was founded in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service to give national recognition for outstanding community and public service.

The other finalists for the award are Jerri Barnes, Noblesville, Riverview Hospital's Touch of Love program; Tracey Snapp, Brownsburg, Share the Spirit Food Drive; Kevin Tyra, Indianapolis, Ozanam Legal Clinic; and Milly Wozny, Indianapolis, Smiles Unlimited Universal Clown Ministry.

Each finalist was nominated by someone in the community. The Star accepted the nominations and named the winner on Friday.

Paws and Think pairs at-risk teens with dogs that are slated to be killed at local animal shelters. Over the course of a few months, the kids work with Hutchens to learn about animal behavior, then take on the task of training the dogs so they are better suited for adoption.

Meanwhile, without knowing it, teens experience a dramatic change through the responsibility for care and the loving bond they form with their dogs.

J.J. Kress, a 15-year-old middle school student, developed that kind of relationship with Alex, a dog he met first through Hutchens' program and which the family eventually adopted. J.J. has several learning disabilities and has trouble socially, according to his mother, Therese Kress of the Northside.
"This program has been extremely helpful," she said. "J.J. has become more outgoing. He understands what it's like to have a best friend and how to keep a best friend. He has learned responsibility in a big way."

Hutchens, 60, said she was inspired to begin Paws and Think after watching an Oprah Winfrey show that featured a similar program in California. In the summer of 2000, with her husband diagnosed with a serious illness and a need to change her career in nursing, Hutchens spent several weeks in Santa Rosa, Calif., interning with Dr. Bonnie Bergin, who developed the "service dog" concept in the mid-1970s and now runs the nationally acclaimed Assistance Dog Institute.

Hutchens, an Alabama native and mother of four who has a master's degree in nursing, put together the idea of a local program in 2000 and incorporated it as a nonprofit in 2001.

Today, the multifaceted program has worked wonders:

The Youth Canine program has helped more than 2,000 kids and spared the lives of more than 200 dogs.

She has placed 16 dogs with adults and children with special needs or disabilities through her Service Dog program.

Volunteers visit more than 1,000 children and adults every year through the Animal Assisted Activity/Therapy Program at a number of locations, including Brooke's Place for grieving young people, library reading programs, rehabilitation centers, Joy's House Adult Day Care and The Children's Museum.

"It's amazing. . . . It's bigger than me," she said. "We structure the programs for outcomes, but it's the connection that the kids and the dogs make that makes the programs work."

Hutchens recalls one particularly troublesome youth she encountered at the local Pacers Academy, a teen known as a leader among the rough kids.

"He was disruptive and aggressive, and his actions had resulted in several disciplinary actions," she recalled. "He vowed he would not participate with the dogs, but he just couldn't help himself. When he didn't think anyone was looking, he reached over to pet the dog."

Soon, he was on the floor petting the dog.

"He was one of our best trainers," Hutchens said. "And outside of the classroom, his grades improved because he started coming to school. He became more of a team player with his peers and his teachers and he became more communicative."

Call Star reporter Dan McFeely at 317-444-6253.

Wonderful post in the reader blog section of the Seattle Post Intelligencer about a story from the book Angel Dogs: Divine Messengers of Love. It involves saving a rescue dog and giving him the training to be an adoptable pet. Plus, as is happening in many places now, the people who did the training were prison inmates. What makes this story so interesting is that in a discussion about the book and the program the inmates began to talk about the spiritual side of working with dogs. They talked about whether dogs go to heaven, how the dogs had changed their lives through their unconditional love, and how learning to love and respect an animal had made them into better human beings. It's pretty neat.

As the post asks, I'll ask you: do you know people who have been transformed by their love for an animal or by a dog's unconditional love? Maybe it's you?

Do you think dogs go to heaven? Do they have souls? Are they like us? Interesting questions.

Training Dogs Gives Purpose to Prison Inmates

An uplifting story in our book, ANGEL DOGS: Divine Messengers of Love, took place at the Lee County Corrections Facility in Fort Meyers, Florida. A deaf inmate named Jay wrote the story about his first experience with training the dog Hershey.

This little dog was destined for euthanization at a local animal shelter. Chosen to participate in the new program at the prison where Jay and other inmates would train the dogs to be excellent pets, Hershey's life was spared. After he graduated from the program, Hershey found a good, new home. Jay found a new purpose in life and was soon released.

This program is unique because it is designed to give second chances to dogs who are trained to be highly adoptable and to prisoners who needed to discover that they could be successful at a project. The program is now being copied at facilities across the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and in Singapore.

Allen visited the jail while he was working in Florida. He wanted to thank the Cell Dog Program Administrator, Captain Tom Weaver, the guards, inmates, and dogs for their excellent program. After Allen made a short presentation during a sit-down "roundtable" discussion, several inmates talked about their work with the dogs and surprisingly, their own writing projects.

The inmates and guards spoke about how much of a difference the dogs had made at the jail. Since this dog-training program began, and the dogs started sharing living space with the prisoners, everything had become calmer and less stressful. The fighting among inmates was reduced to nearly no incidents. The guards said that the inmates who participate in the cell dog program are not returning to jail after their release in the large percentages that the rest of the jail population do.

Several inmates commented on the unconditional love and trust each dog showed toward the handler/trainers. A few said this was the first time they had received such devotion and love from another creature.

The captain held up ANGEL DOGS and said, "Remember Jay?" He reminded the men that Jay Williams was a contributing author to the book and had written about the dog Hershey, a graduate of the prison's first Cell Dog training. Captain Weaver then passed the book around and said he had ordered twenty of the books to give to the inmates.

The word "angel" seemed to prompt the men to think about spiritual lessons they had learned from the dogs. Several started talking about believing that dogs go to heaven and how much their viewpoints have changed due to their experiences with the program and the dogs.

We wanted to share this profoundly moving experience with all of you to emphasize the point that learning to love and respect animals truly makes a person, even an inmate living in jail, into a better human being.

Do you know someone, even yourself, who has transformed into a better human being through experiencing the unconditional love of a dog?

From my own town! We had a rescue drama here earlier this week when a Labrador mix was discovered perched on a mountain ledge. Practically all of the town's rescue services responded to save the dog who has now been named "Cliff," in honor of his rescue from his high perch. No one knows where he came from or how long he'd been on that cliff edge, but he's a very lucky dog that someone noticed him and called out the rescue teams. Now he has a chance to start over with a good life. I'm sure he'll be quickly adopted.

From the Greeneville Sun

Trapped Dog Rescued From A Perilous Cliff

Cliff: Rescued Dog Gets New Name at Humane Society.

Labrador On Ledge
At Mountain Top
Was Glad To See
The Rescue Squad

By BILL JONES
Staff Writer

Volunteers from the Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad and the South Greene Volunteer Fire Department on Wednesday night rescued a dog that had been trapped on a cliff off the Asheville Highway near the North Carolina state line.

Jon Waddell, the Rescue Squad's captain, said he was contacted about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday by the Greeneville-Greene County Humane Society and asked for the squad's help in rescuing the medium-sized black dog from a ledge some 30 feet up a shale cliff just off the Asheville Highway near the Mountain Top Tavern.

"They said the dog had been stuck up there since Monday, and maybe longer," Waddell said. "Nobody knew who the dog belonged to."

Amy Bowman, manager of the Humane Society's shelter off Hal Henard Road, said her organization had been contacted by the owners of the Mountain Top Tavern after they noticed that the dog was trapped near their business.

Bowman said she and Dr. Bobbie Hodges, the Humane Society's veterinarian went to the scene to assess the situation late Wednesday afternoon and subsequently called the Rescue Squad for help.

Rescue Squad Capt. Waddell said he subsequently contacted Greene County 911, which sent out a call for Rescue Squad volunteers.

He noted that he and five other GE&RS volunteers went to the scene, not knowing exactly what to expect. As a result, he said, they took with them a rescue trailer filled with rescue equipment.

By the time the volunteers reached the scene some 13 miles south of Greeneville, darkness had fallen, further complicating the rescue effort, Waddell said.

"After we saw what we had, we called the South Greene Volunteer Fire Department for help," Waddell said.

He noted that more than a half-dozen SGVFD firefighters responded to the scene along with one fire engine.

Waddell said Rescue Squad volunteers and firefighters decided to position a ladder taken from the fire truck at the foot of the cliff and rig a harness and hoist system from trees at the top of the cliff to attempt to reach the trapped dog.

After donning a safety harness attached to a rope secured at the top of the cliff, Waddell said he climbed the ladder and lured the trapped dog as close as possible with "treats" before securing it with a borrowed capture pole.

The dog, he said, did not struggle during the rescue.

"He was ready to come down," Waddell said of the dog.

The Humane Society's Bowman said she watched as Waddell, who was supported by a safety harness from above and guided by a volunteer firefighter carried the dog down the ladder to safety.

After being rescued, the dog was taken by the Greeneville-Greene County Humane Society's Bowman and Dr. Hodges to the Humane Society's shelter to be examined and cared for, Waddell said.

Bowman said the dog has been given the name, "Cliff," in consideration of where he came.

Bowman said that Dr. Hodges examined Cliff on Wednesday night and found him to be in generally good health despite his ordeal.

Cliff, she said, is Labrador retriever mix who is thought to be about a year old and weighs about 40 pounds.

"He was really hungry," she said. "And last night he acted as though he thought the metal cage we put him in was the best place in the world."