Pit Bull Saves Man's Life, Dies a Hero

April 26, 2001 Belmont, North Carolina, USA

Good thing Gaston County, North Carolina doesn't have a ban on pit bulls, or this man wouldn't be alive this morning.

Steve Carpacca, 41, was asleep in his mobile home at 3:15am when his pit bull ran into the bedroom and started barking frantically.

The man awoke to a room filled with smoke and immediately ran outside.  When he realized that his dog had not followed him, he rushed back into the blazing trailer, armed with two 5-pound fire extinguishers, but the fire was already out of control.

Four fire departments responded to the call, and it took a total of 15 firefighters to douse the flames.  The dog never made it out; fire crews found the little hero's body in the hall just outside Mr. Carpacca's bedroom.

Mr. Carpacca was devastated at the loss of his dog.

"The dog saved his life, absolutely," said Chief Dicky Harris with the Community Volunteer Fire Department. "If the dog hadn't been in the house, [Mr. Carpacca] would have been overcome by smoke."

It is believed that the fire was caused by an electric heater in the kitchen.  Mr. Carpacca never heard any of the smoke detectors sound.

Now here's where you pretend not to notice, as I make a smooth segue into the topic of Dog Law and Legislation...

With the exception of Tuesday's miserable debacle (read Convicted Dog-Killer's Sentence: Read 'Lassie'), Gaston County, or perhaps North Carolina in general, has had an exceptional scorecard when it comes to dog law.

In fact, North Carolina made Earth headlines last year when Camden Superior Court became the first tribunal to prosecute and convict felony animal abusers for the torture and killing of a pig.  A great author once said that a pig is "just as loving and lovable as a dog—but less pretty.  I grant you that."

But that's not the point of this diversion.  In researching this story, I discovered a neat little trick for anyone living in (or curious about) the USA.  Try this, open up an internet browser, and type in the address:

where the first blank is the name of a county, and the second blank is a two-letter state abbreviation, for example:

http://www.co.gaston.nc.us

will take you to Gaston County, NC. 
Don't know the name of your county?

From there, click on a heading such as Ordinances or Legislation, or you may have to do a site search for the words dog or animal control.  But you'll find any shocking secret you ever wanted to know.  (Did you know that bull fights are illegal in Gaston?)

Anyway, your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to find some really weird or stupid dog law, and report back.  Good luck.

Don't worry, this site will not self-destruct.

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