Dogwood, Dog Hero?

[dogwoodmaple 349]

Until last week, Maple Dogwood had never been to Halifax's famous Peggy's Cove Lighthouse.  And had he not traveled there on what turned out to be a random chance, there would have been a canine disaster the likes of which Halifax has ever seen.

 

"It all started when I just started Googling local sites to see in and around Halifax. I'd never been to this wonderful city before being drafted here and wanted to make sure I visited all of the must-see places.  On that list was none other than Peggy's Cove and the famous lighthouse so I knew I had to check it out.  I packed a lunch and planned on having a picnic there and it was actually going quite well at first.  I was enjoying the weather, the views, and the delicious charcuterie board I packed myself when all of the sudden I heard an enormous crash," Dogwood explained.

 

That crash, as it turned out, was a bus from the Halifax Humane Society on the way to the large dog park not too far from the lighthouse.  One of the tires on the bus exploded, which sent the bus careening off the road and straight towards the cliffs that the lighthouse overlooked.  The crash itself knocked the bus driver unconscious and trapped not only the four volunteers from the humane society in their seats, but also put into peril some 19 dogs that were on the bus as well, on the way to the dog park for a day out. 

 

Upon seeing this, Maple sprang into action and raced over towards the bus immediately set on rendering aid to any and all he could.  When he got to the bus itself, he found the unconscious driver but was able free him from the airbags and steering wheel before dragging him out of the bus.

 

"After that, I saw the other volunteers who didn't seem to be banged up too badly.  I didn't have to do much to free them since by the time I got there they had wiggled themselves free and managed to grab a dog in each arm to take them to safety.  The problem was the weight of the bus.  All of the dogs were trapped at the back of the bus which was the part of the vehicle that was hovering over the cliffs and water.  There were still 11 dogs back there and I had to somehow get them all to the front without moving too much weight to the back, if that makes sense," Dogwood said.

 

"Luckily, my lunch is the real thing that saved the day.  I still had some meat from my charcuterie board in my overcoat and was very appetizing to seven of the dogs who quickly came running. I was able to grab them and gently toss them a few feet to safety.  Three of the remaining four I was able to wrangle with some coaxing, but one remained as the bus continued to teeter over the edge - a quite-terrified chihuahua who wanted nothing to do with me.  I thew some cheese at it to no avail, even tried to slowly approach it but I got nothing but barks and growls.  I was running out of time and knew I had to act fast, so I simply leapt for the dog and prayed it didn't viciously maul me.  Fortunately, I was able to grab the small ferocious animal as two of the volunteers held each others and my arm to extend the length.  They pulled us back out just before the bus itself fell over the cliff and was consumed by the waters of the cove," Dogwood explained.

 

To celebrate his courage, the city was planning on building a statue of Dogwood at the dog park, but Maple insisted they did not.  Instead, he donated $1 million to the Halifax Humane Society who invested a considerable amount in the dog park as well as waiving all adoption fees for the next 12 months on all of their dogs.

[UghSike 198]

That's pretty smart to carry charcuterie meat in your coat pocket. You just never know when something like that will come in handy. This was an interesting read without any cliffhangers minus the dangling bus. I like the approach of this. It doesn't always have to be a story about hockey, or an interview type of situation. These stories appeal to me. And the sense of urgency to save the dogs and the volunteers was climactic! 

I give this gem an 8/10

[dylanjj37 238]

Is Dogwood a dog?