Six freight trains delayed to save dog stuck in mud Canada "It meant holding up six freight trains for nearly an hour on one of the province's most important railway corridors, but at the end of it, Carmel, the golden labrador, was safe..." [Vancouver Sun]

Animal Aid still available for 9-11 victims CA "After terrorist attacks, AnimalAid, established to help animal victims in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylania, helped pay for emergency veterinary care, temporary boarding arrangements and supplies for the Search and Rescue dogs who were working at the World Trade Center site. Assistance through the AnimalAid program is still available through Dec. 31, 2002 or until donations run out. To apply for assistance under the AnimalAid program, call UAN's disaster line at 800-440-3277. An application, guidelines for the program and stories and photos of AnimalAid recipients are available at United Animal Nations or contact UAN, P.O. Box 188890, Sacramento, Calif. 95818, email: info@ uan.org." [usnewswire.com]

Dog sets Michigan kitchen on fire MI "A Grand Rapids Michigan Fire Department investigator trying to find out what sparked a $5,000 kitchen fire has come up with a beastly suspicion: the doggie did it." Brooke, a chocolate Lab retriever, outsmarted her owners by jumping up to reach a trash can stored out of her reach (on a counter) and accidentally turning the old stove's switch on... [Boston Globe Online]

Stanley, the dog with nine lives OR Ann Schroeder, out for an idyllic walk with her dogs, accidentally happened on two hungry coyotes. "Her pal Stanley, an old black terrier- dachshund mix, sniffed at roadside grass a few paces ahead. Then Stanley yipped. The lab froze.  Schroeder shrieked. Two pairs of coyote eyes stared back from the grass. Beneath one pair was the black, limp body of Stanley dangling from its jaws. And before she could yell drop the dog, the coyotes were gone..."

She was certain that Stanley had met his end as a coyote's snack... but Stanley was made of sterner stuff. After all, Stanley, in his 16-year-old life,  has been run over by a Toyota pickup, shot clean through with an air rifle, nearly mauled to death by a German shepherd (who cracked his spine), and survived cancer.  Somehow Stanley survived and she found him trotting on his way home to her... "with fang marks on the top of his head, a hole in his throat and eyes as big as buckets..."  [Medford Mail Tribune]