Would you believe it? If it hadn't been for the troopers dash cam, we'd probably have had our doubts he was telling the truth or exagerating things a little. BBC News - Buddy the dog hailed as a hero Whatever next?
I saw this on the news. Amazing. There are still people in this world who believe that animals are stupid and they use that ignorant approach to justify their horrific treatment of these intelligent and caring sentient beings.
Too true. Anyone who has owned a dog or horse (or other pet) is often convinced that they almost know what you're saying etc. If this dog had been just a dumb animal, then surely it would have just run off or barked at the fire, but to run off such a distance to get help does show they're certainly not dumb animals.
Way to go, Buddy! I've "owned" a dog for only about a year, and I'm still gaining an appreciation for her intelligence. Most of the time, neither of us even need words, but she knows a surprising number - 'squirrel' is her favourite. If only she had opposable thumbs, I could teach her to do income taxes.
A few years back, the Fargo Forum (the big newspaper in Fargo, North Dakota) had a story about a dog that fetched help when its owner twisted her ankle in a park in winter. The hero dog saved its owner from possible severe complications due to the cold. There was only one thing wrong with the newspaper story: It was total bullshit. The dog owner was a friend of mine. When she hurt her ankle the dog just went off playing. Someone happened to see the dog, and happened to see my friend lying on the ground (an unusual behavior for a healthy person in North Dakota in winter). The person who found her thought it would be nice to make up a hero-dog story for the newspaper. Animals are intelligent, and have feelings. They suffer when you maltreat them and when you haul them off to be murdered for their skin and flesh. But the sorts of hero-animal stories that make it into the press are seldom true. The dog in the story may have actually fetched help. Fetching is something dogs do on a regular basis. But more often a close study will reveal that these stories are more fiction than fact.
