Mouth-to-Snout Resuscitation Saves Dog

Tuesday, June 26, 2001 - UK

"A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out the years."

-Rupert Brooke

Whoa Boy, it wasn't that kind of kiss.  Granted, the 15-year-old dog was indeed a casualty of love and perhaps in need of a younger heart, but it was the "kiss-of-life" that brought this big boy back from the brink.

NEW LONGTON — But I suppose now we ought to begin from the beginning; it seems "Laddie" has had a nose for getting himself killed lately.  Just four months since his last death experience (in which he drowned in a canal and was revived by his guardian Tricia Parker), the dog keeled over again while on a walk at the New Longton playing field.

An incorrigible girl-chaser with a degenerative heart condition, Laddie tends to get rather worked up in the presence of the ladies despite his advanced years.  This time it was Meg, a 10-month-old lab mutt who sent the canine Casanova into cardiac arrest.

"My dog is under heart treatment from the vet," says Ms. Parker of Hey Ends.  "He is 15 but he thinks and acts like he's five.  He goes mad for girl dogs and that's what caused it."

She further explains, "He saw this other dog and he was off, but he collapsed before he got to her.  He has a leaky valve in his heart and he got that excited his heart stopped."

Lucky for Laddie, it was Paul Whalley, an ambulance-trained medic, who was walking the other dog Meg when the incident occurred, reports the Lancashire Evening Post.

Thinking fast, he utilized his life-saving skills and gave the dog mouth-to-mouth, with wonderful results.

Says Ms. Parker, "If it wasn't for this guy, that would have been it; he's my hero.  I wanted to thank him so much for what he did.  He brought him back to life."

The hero Mr. Whalley left no immediate comment for reporters.  It is our guess that he's still gargling with mouthwash.

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