A few years later, while Alex and his mother were driving, they happened upon an injured pit bull running in the middle of the street. Naturally, Alex had to help

“I was pulling off the side of the road when I hear Alex’s car door open,” his mother, Valinda Cortez of Canton, North Carolina, told The Dodo.  “Before I could stop him, he was out in the middle of the road with this dog.”

Completely disregarding his own personal safety, Alex grabbed up the injured pup and got the dog into the car.

“He picked up this bloody baby and brought him to the car,” she said.  “We got him all healed up and now he lives a wonderful spoiled life.”

Now, Alex is 16.  Recently, he became a part of a vastly different kind of rescue than what he was used to.  It was the kind of rescue that be highly emotional, and can push people to their breaking point.

“He’s helped before in animal shelters and homeless shelters but this time was different,” said Valinda.

Alex had a day off from school, so he decided to go do some work with his mother that day.  She’s a volunteer with many other people that are parts of various animal rescue organizations.  They’ve all come together, and are working at a warehouse that’s been turned into a makeshift shelter for animals that were a part of a terrible hoarding case.

There were more than 140 animals taken from the property in question.  They were in various states of poor health, almost all of them had never known life outside of a cage, and many of them were small Chihuahuas and dachshunds.

“Most of them had only had little or no human contact,” said Valinda.  “They were so scared. They would tremble and cower if we tried to pet them.”

That’s where Alex first met Trouble.  Trouble was a bundle of fear at first, but for whatever reason, Alex was drawn straight to him cage.  He did spend a bit of time walking around and talking to the other dogs, but as his mother explains it, Trouble was, “The One.”

“He held him, played with him and, probably for the first time in this dog’s life, he felt loved,” said Valinda.  “He fell asleep while Alex was holding him.”

His mother’s heart was overflowing with joy.  Her 16-year-old son is just a big softy when it comes to the animals, but what’s even more, he seemed to know that this particular dog was really in need of some love and attention.

“My wonderful 16-year-old son has a giant soft spot in his heart for the animals that are ‘less desirable,’” she said.  “He has asked me several times this evening about Trouble.  After he gets home from school tomorrow, we’re going back to the temporary warehouse where the remainder of the dogs are.  I hope Trouble got adopted, but if not, I’m sure we will be bringing him home, if only as a foster.”

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The project is run through the Arizona Humane Society (AHS), and was started in part thanks to a $50,000 donation from PetSmart Charities. They just wanted to make sure than families with dogs called into work for the military can rest easy knowing that their dog is well cared for, and has a safe place to be.

The program operates free of charge for enlisted service men and women. AHS found a foster family for Layla, the Locke family’s four-year-old pit bull. She was taken in by Larry and Janet LeBlanc from Surprise, Arizona. They fostered her the entire time that her human dad, Master Sergeant Doug Locke was deployed to South Korea.

Larry and Janet took care of Layla as if she was one of their own. It may have been a bit difficult to say good by to the dog they cared for the past 15 months, but they were happy to know that Layla would be going back to her rightful family, and that they were able to give back to a serviceman’s family.

“I think our faces tell [the story],” said Janet in the video. “But we’re not sorry that we did it. Not at all. It’s just a different bond. And you know, we’ll have a bond with them for the rest of our lives now.”

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Italian firefighters have taken video of the rescue of the very lucky dog, and have posted it to various social media sites across the internet.  As one could imagine, the video quickly went viral.  After the damage the area has suffered from the 6.6-magnitude is quite a lot, so good news like this is just what’s needed there right now.

So far, estimates show that at least 15,000 are left homeless.  No one was killed or seriously injured, however the beautiful and historic Basilica of St. Benedict was lost.  The building was built in the 14^th century, and is considered a total loss.  Homes, buildings, and stores can all be rebuilt, and even though the loss of the historical sites is tragic, lives are still being saved, and many brave men, women and dogs are out there working hard to make a difference.

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No one is really sure exactly what had happened to Koby to put him in the predicament he was in when he was rescued.  It’s assumed that he was very badly beaten and neglected by his former humans, before they simply dumped him off somewhere to starve to death.  However that’s all in the past now, and his foster mom says he has not stopped smiling since the day he was rescued.

Even though his past isn’t fully understood, the shape that he was found in definitely allowed some pretty educated guesses into what things were like for him.  Regardless, of the horrors in his early life, you’d never know he was abused by the way he acts today.

Thanks to the love and care of medical professionals and his new foster mom, Koby is all smiles today.  In fact his whole attitude towards life.  His foster mom was so impressed by how happy and playful Koby is, that it was decided that he would become a full member of her family.

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Trooper Swisher was on US 24 in Wabash County when he noticed that cars on the road ahead of him seemed to be swerving to avoid hitting something in the road.  When he got closer to where this was happening, he noticed that people were doing everything they could to avoid hitting a dog that was loose, and weaving through traffic.

That’s when Swisher let out a couple of blasts of his cruiser’s air horn.  This startled the dog a bit, but got her to move onto the median and away from traffic.  Trooper Swisher then drove onto the median, opened up his door, and the dog jumped in.

It turns out that the dog had escaped from a nearby kennel.  Her name was Sadie, and thankfully, she had valid identification tags, with her vet listed on them.  This allowed Sadie to be safely returned to her humans, without the usually insane amount of extra work of finding out who they are in the first place.

Trooper Swisher said that he was just happy that nothing bad happened to the dog, and that no one else was injured in the process.  Way to go Trooper Swisher!  You’re a true hero!

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https://youtu.be/TcGOxEjlXvw

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A Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy and a few good Samaritans stopped what could have been a tragedy on Arizona’s busy I-10 freeway.  A dog was loose in traffic, weaving in and out of cars trying to escape.  They managed to get the dog off of the road and to safety before anything bad happened.

A sheriff’s deputy was responding to what he thought was a traffic accident.  Cars and trucks were backing up big time on the I-10, congesting traffic. Upon his arrival, he came across several people out of their cars trying to corral a large, brown dog running through traffic.

The officer stopped any more traffic from passing through the area, and the others helping got the dog into a car, and away from harm.  Many people on the road were trying their best to hold back oncoming traffic, a risky move on such a busy stretch of road.

No one, including the dog, was injured in the incident.  The dog was taken away to a local animal shelter, where he underwent a medical exam to ensure his health.  After it was determined the dog was physically unharmed, the hunt for his family is on.

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He works with an anti-poaching force in Kruger National Park.  Over the past four years, he and his team are responsible for the arrests and prosecution of over 115 people.  The already severely endangered animal has a real protector in Killer.

A charity out of the UK called the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) founded in 1917 by Maria Dickin has called Killer “truly remarkable” for his efforts.  They have awarded Killer with a gold medal in recognition of his service, and is considered an international hero.

According to numbers published by animal conservation groups notating the surviving number of particular rhino species, the situation for the giant beasts of Africa is grim.  Many believe that in as little as ten years, they may be completely extinct, all because of erroneous beliefs surrounding their horns.  Many cultures use it for medicinal purposes, and also as an aphrodisiac.  We won’t get into too many of the gory details involved in the harvesting of the horns from the rhinos, but regardless what modern science say about the horn being made of the same thing fingernails are made of.

K9 Killer and his handler Amos Mzimba, fly into areas where poaching is known to be extreme.  While in the air, the team looks for the tell-tale signs poachers are around.  Once the area is properly scouted, they will land, and Killer goes to work.  He is about the best tracking dog one could ask for.

Mzimba said, “It is an honor to have Killer by my side. It means a lot that he has been recognized for his skills.”

Mzimba has another, more personal reason for his affection for the dog.  Killer once saved him while in an active firefight with a poacher, so their bond runs much deeper that what’s on the surface of things.

“Thanks to him, we are arresting more poachers, but there is a lot more to be done if we are to save the rhino from extinction,” he said.

The gold medal was awarded to K9 Killer by actor Ricky Gervais.  Gervais is a very active and outspoken animal rights activist, so who would be more appropriate to bestow the honor?

I a video from YouTube, Gervais said, “He helped capture dozens of poachers in the last year alone, thanks to his amazing courage and dedication.”

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“He saved not only my life, but there were weapons in that van that night that could have been turned on us and there could have been an IED in there,” said Reimer.  “There was an IED in that same van two days later which saved some other people’s lives.”

Reimer, a Minnesota native, now lives in Colorado.  He hasn’t seen Howard since his tour of duty closed out in 2013.  He was searching for Howard, and found that he had been made a part of someone else’s family.

Reimer claims that Howard’s new family cares very little for him.  Reimer says that the dog is constantly tethered to a tree in the yard, and shows almost no interaction with him.  He believes that this is now way to be treating a dog that is an American hero.  Reimer also suffers from PTSD, and thinks having Howard will make things easier.

“I dream about the times that me and Howard had together, the rough times and good times,” said Reimer.  “It’s just… Just tough knowing your best friend is out there tied to a tree and not being taken care of to the best their ability.”

Deon Fuller, Howard’s new human dad says that Reimer’s claims are untrue.  Fuller is a Hoke County Sheriff’s Deputy, and says he Loves Howard very much, and gives him only the best of treatment.

“As of right now I’m saying Howard is my dog and he is home with myself and my family,” Fuller said.

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