MA State Trooper saves Dog Trapped From Tornado - Page 1

MONSON —  A state trooper saved a puppy that had been trapped for three days under the roof of a home that had been destroyed by last week's tornado.

On Saturday, Trooper Brian Pearl, who works out of the state police barracks in Sturbridge, was on patrol in Monson. He turned onto Stewart Avenue, one of the town's hardest hit areas, and saw a woman waving him down.

“She said, ‘We found a dog hiding or trapped under a collapsed roof,' ” Trooper Pearl said in a release from the state police today. “You could hear the dog barking but you couldn't see it. He was way, way, way under there.”

Trooper Pearl retrieved an animal pole he keeps in his cruiser — a long pole with a loop at the end used to capture reluctant animals — and climbed into and under the rubble on his hands and knees toward the sounds. There, under the remnants of a home at 20 Stewart Ave. that had collapsed Wednesday evening, he saw the dog.

Three times Trooper Pearl got the pole's loop near the dog, and three times the dog slipped out of it, according to the state police press release.

Finally, on the fourth try, he snagged the dog and pulled it to him and then out of the rubble to safety. It was a dark brown puppy, a Sharpei-Chow mix, weighing about 25 pounds. The puppy was hungry and tired, but not hurt.

A few minutes later, after word of the rescue spread, a couple pulled up to the scene. They had a dog with them, but had been missing their other dog since the storms. They lived on a nearby street, and told Trooper Pearl they had fled to their basement when the storm hit. But one of their dogs, their 6-month-old Sharpei-Chow mix named Shadow, did not make it to safety and was sucked out of the house by the tornado.

Audrey Carabetta told Trooper Pearl that she and her family searched everywhere for Shadow and posted pictures online, all with negative results. The family thought he had died.

At the scene a few minutes later, the Carabetta family — and their other dog — were overjoyed to be reunited with their lost friend.

“It was very gratifying,” Trooper Pearl said.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20110605/NEWS/110609825/1116

Great story! This is what its all about!
amy