Brittney and Scott Seymour
May 27, 2009: GRAND RAPIDS – Brittany the bull dog lived long enough to alert her owner to a fire in their Grand Rapids house.
But Tuesday, three days after the fire, dog owner Scott Seymore put his pet to sleep.
9-year-old Brittney had cancer and he says she was suffering. He had to put her out of her misery.
“It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” says Seymore.
Seymore says he almost made the difficult decision sooner but a vet developed a pain relief plan to prolong her life. That’s why Brittany was alive when the fire started early Saturday in the house Seymore rented on Seventh Avenue in Grand Rapids.
“She started barking and she wouldn’t stop,” he says. “That was unusual. She doesn’t bark. The basement was full of smoke. I grabbed my dog and a couple of things and got out quick.”
Within a few minutes, flames were shooting through roof above Seymore’s bedroom.
“The smoke detectors didn’t go off. What if she wasn’t there?” wonders Seymore. “This might have a totally different ending.”
After the stress of the fire Seymore says Brittney’s condition worsened. After she knew he was safe, he says it seems like she knew it was okay to surrender to the disease.
“Like she was looking out for me,” he says. “She hung on for a little extra time.
Seymour realized the only way left to demonstrate his love and appreciation for the dog, Brittney, was to end her suffering. She had an advanced blood-borne cancer.
Brittney stopped eating Monday, and the bloating in her stomach increased. The dog’s misery prompted Seymour’s decision.
It teaches you something– pay attention to your dogs, treat them well and they will return the favor someday when you might need it.”
May 25, 2009: GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man’s decision not to end his terminally ill bulldog’s life has ended up saving his own.
Scott Seymour said his dog, Brittney, awakened him with her barking early Saturday in time for both of them to escape from his burning house in Grand Rapids.
The fire came two weeks after a veterinarian discovered the 9-year-old American bulldog had several cancerous tumors.
The vet said the dog might not survive surgery, and Seymour ruled out chemotherapy, believing it would be too hard on Brittney.
Seymour said he could have had Brittney put down, but instead decided to give her medication to blunt her pain until death comes naturally, probably within a few weeks.
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Dog Saves Kittens
August 2008: Napoleon, an obedient and well-behaved two year old white English Bulldog, abruptly left his master’s side and raced out across a road and into a nearby lake.
At first, Napoleon’s owner was angry when he ran off.
Alexandra Breuer thought her bulldog had pulled a bag of rubbish out of the water – but then she heard meows coming from inside.
There were six kittens in the bag Napoleon had retrieved. Sadly two of them died. The other four are doing well.
Thanks to Napoleon.
National Canine Research Council