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"Happiness is a warm
puppy."
— Charles Schultz
...Or in this case: "survival is
three warm puppies".
LISBON (Portugal) — Russia's Pravda news service reports that a five-year-old boy lost in the
"extremely inhospitable terrain" of the Portuguese mountains
was reunited with his family, thanks to three dogs.
The boy, Francisco Queiros, had been
vacationing with his family last Friday when he set out on a little walk
in the mountains accompanied by the three family dogs. When
evening set
in and he had not yet returned, the family became alarmed and called the
local police.
Search efforts became frantic as the
night drew on and a
severe storm blew in. The family, the police and rescue teams
continued without success, slowly beginning to fear the worst. The hunt
lasted for 12 hours through the night and into the following morning.
Then on Saturday, Francisco's uncle was
amazed to find the boy completely unharmed, warm and totally dry.
The three dogs had lain on top of him while he slept and protected him
from the rain and wind of the stormy night in the mountains.
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Rescuers
were equally shocked but not entirely surprised that the dogs had saved
the boy. Two of the three dogs are Catalan Shepherd dogs, bred to
herd and look after flocks of sheep. A spokesperson for the
Portuguese League of Animals explains, "Once a dog becomes part of
the family, it knows its place and loyally guards the children."
Perhaps
not far from the scene of this drama is a region of Portugal,
Sephardi, where the occidental branch of European Jews once
settled. Old Ladino texts impart the wisdom of this tribe in many
proverbs, such as: "The greater love is a mother's, then comes a
dog's, then a sweetheart's."
But
there is another Sephardic saying which may be just as appropriate: Quien con perros se acuesta con pulgas se
levanta.
(He that sleeps with dogs awakes
with fleas.)
Remember
to take a bath, Francisco.
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