A Canine Guardian Angel

If you have a car crash and you are alone and injured, the best you can hope for is that someone sees the accident and reports it to emergency services, who will then come to rescue you.

Mother of five, Shannon Lorio was even luckier, in spite of her injuries. Her car "careered down an embankment, tossing her through the rear window and leaving her sprawled, cut and bleeding, on the boot", which is pretty bad.

But, out of nowhere, appeared a stray German Shepherd (Alsatian), who dragged her through the undergrowth to the main road. Incredibly, "he let Miss Lorio, 36, lean against him so she could stand up and flag down a passing motorist".

Miss Lorio is now recovering from the accident with more than 20 metal staples in her arm and she now walks with a limp.

So what of the canine guardian angel?

Well, newly-named "Hero" is now living at an animal shelter run by the Thomasville-Thomas County Humane Society, where they have arranged to have him evaluated for search and rescue work.

Shannon Lorio and Hero were reunited at the weekend. "That dog is always going to have a special place in my heart," she said,
"If he ever needs anything, I'll be there."

Of course, the happy ending scenario would involve Hero moving in with Shannon. I had hoped that once she made a full recovery she may want to give Hero a home. But Shannon already has six dogs and, as she explains, "If I did adopt him, he'd be treated like the king he is."

But maybe this is no bad thing; I think Hero has other work to do and must fulfil his mission in life. Apparently, his previous owners signed him over to the shelter because he kept wandering off. Well, now we know why!

On Monday, Hero will move in with Heidy Drawdy, who works with search and rescue.

"Right off the bat, he showed signs of having natural talent," Ms. Drawdy said. "We'd like to see if we can give him a job because obviously he's meant for something special."

Anyway, Hero, we salute you. You are, as our American friends like to say, AWESOME.

Woof Woof

PS if you want to check out a photo of supermutt, Hero, check out: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/pets/stories/DN-herodog_03nat.ART.State.Edition1.297d8e0.html