Keeping People and Pets Safe in Chicago
The Humane Touch..Chicago Tribune
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Lexi: A search and rescue dog in Illinois and surrounding areas
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Paralyzed pit bull still gets around
Chicago Tribune, October 10, 2009
By all accounts, Red is a great dog. The 7-year-old pit bull knows more than a dozen commands — verbally and through hand signals. He is playful, smart, protective. And that last attribute almost got him killed.
Back in July, two gunmen attacked and robbed Red’s elderly owner in his West Side garage, beat him severely and tied him up. Then they burglarized the man’s home, where Red was. And they shot the dog. The attack is still under investigation, according to the Chicago Police Department.
“I guess Red was doing his job, defending his master’s property, and they shot him in the back, paralyzed him,” said the victim, a man in his 60s who asked that his name not be used.
Red ended up at Animal Care and Control; his owner ended up in the hospital. When he was released, he visited the recovering Red.
“I’d come in, hobbling with my swollen face and black eyes, and I’d kiss him and he’d kiss me, you know?”
Finally he had to make a choice: Take Red home or have him put down.
Because he lives on a second floor and has health issues, he couldn’t carry a paralyzed 50-pound dog up and down the stairs several times a day. So he decided to let Red go.
“The girl (at Animal Care and Control) and I both cried,” he said of the day he made the decision. “The staff there all got to know him and they liked him.”
But then, a PAWS Chicago representative, making one of the shelter’s daily runs to pull animals from the Animal Care and Control facility, was told about Red. The dog quickly won the hearts of the agency’s volunteers, who donated funds to purchase a cart to help him get around. And Saturday he’ll be in PAWS’ adoption center at 1997 N. Clybourn Ave., ready to be adopted.
“Red is obviously a very special dog,” says Rochelle Michalek, PAWS’ executive director. “He has the best disposition. He’s one of the best dogs you’ll ever see. The bullet severed his spine, but you’d never know it. He’s happy, he loves to play. He’s a big snuggler.”
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Chewy: Belleville Fire Department Arson Dog and handler Joe Garland, who is a firefighter in the department.
Chewy, a 17-month-old female black lab, is a certified arson dog specially trained to sniff out accelerants used to start fires. She is a member of the Belleville Fire Department Arson Investigation Task Force.
Chewy doesn’t shake hands, roll over or play fetch. “She’s got one job and that’s to find accelerants,” according to Fire Chief Scott Lanxon.
She showed off her skills at the Southwestern Illinois College fire science training center on Freeburg Avenue. Scott Garland, her handler, used an eyedropper to place just a few drops of a solution made of 50 percent evaporated gasoline around the facility. Chewy marked the spots in the front of the crowd of Mayor Mark Eckert, state Rep. Tom Holbrook, D-Belleville, and several representatives from State Farm Insurance.
The Belleville Fire Department was one of 10 awarded a dog earlier this year through a State Farm program. Before Chewy arrived May 8, the nearest arson dog was in Carbondale.
Chewy spent the past month adjusting to living with Garland, his wife and 18-month-old son, Ryan.
“Chewy is trained on a food-reward system,” he said. She eats several small meals, or about three cups worth of Purina Pro Plan dog food, daily — all from Garland’s hand and only after she has successfully completed a drill of sniffing out an accelerant.
“She has a very high food drive,” Garland said. “She will work for food all day long, as long as you’re willing to feed her. If you mention the word ‘work,’ she’s ready and rearing to go.”
Chewy goes to work with Garland during his shifts but is on-call 24 hours a day.
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Historic photo: President Abraham Lincoln’s dog – Fido
National Canine Research Council