Pit Bull Puppy Saved by Camera

Pit Bull Puppy Saved by Camera

Wednesday, July 18, 2001 - USA

Editor's note: We almost headlined this:

Futuristic Fire-Fighters Find Frightened Fido

...but cheesy alliteration too early in the morning puts Wags in a grumpy mood.

Scoop Senior Editor "Wags"
before his morning coffee

AUGUSTA, ME — A Pit Bull puppy possibly owes his life to a few firefighters and a camera, but not just any camera... a special camera. When the Augusta Fire Department got the call that a four-day-old puppy had become trapped somewhere under the floorboards of Lloyd Bowden's house on Orchard Street, firefighters never realized what a task—and an opportunity—rescuing this dog would turn out to be.

The puppy had apparently fallen into a space beneath the floor and made its way into an overhang; from there it was impossible to determine where under the house he had wandered, according the the Kennebec Journal yesterday.

Officer Joseph Burke first arrived and attempted to remove some floorboards to find the dog, but he was unsuccessful. "The dog was between a rock and a hard place," he said.

So firefighters John Bennett, Roger Audette and Donald Genest were called to the scene where they plugged in and juiced up their special weapon: a virtual reality-type, $25,000 (USD), thermal-imaging, [revolutionary, non-pollutionary...] camera.

This particular unit, one of 128 currently in use at fire departments across the USA, allows technicians to detect bodies, hotspots and fire sources that cannot be seen using normal optical detection methods. In this manner, firefighters can see through the blackest smoke or darkness or yes, through floorboards under which puppy dogs are hiding.

The little Pit was quickly found, and the rest of the rescue took about 45 minutes to get the tiny troublemaker back topside in good condition.

Said Officer Burke, "John (Bennett) saw the image on the thermal-imaging camera and found the critter. I was glad we could get that dog out. He could have died in there."

Now somebody needs to find out if they can loan that camera out to Durango, Colorado, where Talon the kitty-cat has spent the last 95 days trapped somewhere underground (from Monday's CatsInTheNews.com article).

Firefighter/paramedic John Bennet & Pit pup
(Photo: Andy Molloy / Kennebec Journal)

Editor's note: In the spirit of puppies and photography, The Scoop would like to present to you the following piece on

How to Photograph a Puppy

Remove film from box and load camera.
Remove film box from puppy's mouth and throw in trash.
Remove puppy from trash and brush coffee grounds from muzzle.
Choose a suitable background for photo.
Mount camera on tripod and focus.
Find puppy and take dirty sock from mouth.
Place puppy in pre-focused spot and return to camera.
Forget about spot and crawl after puppy on knees.
Focus with one hand and fend off puppy with other hand.
Get tissue and clean nose print from lens.
Take flash cube from puppy's mouth and throw in trash.
Put cat outside and put peroxide on the scratch on puppy's nose.
Put magazines back on coffee table.
Try to get puppy's attention by squeaking toy over your head.
Replace your glasses and check camera for damage.
Jump up in time to grab puppy by scruff of neck and say, "No, outside! No, outside!"
Call spouse to clean up mess.
Fix a drink.
Sit back in Lazy Boy with drink and resolve to teach puppy "sit" and "stay" the first thing in the morning.

(Source unknown)

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Related articles:
Maggie in Wonderland: Down the Rabbit Hole
(March 3, 2001)
Cat Gets Built Into Floor of New Home
(From CatsInTheNews.com September 29, 2001)
Cat Surviving 95 Days Trapped Underground
(From CatsInTheNews.com Juy 16, 2001)

www.DogsInTheNews.com	Volume II - Issue 1	July 2001