Jerk
2/3/2007, 11:00 AM
Stray dog rescues Georgia woman after wreck
ASSOCIATED PRESS
THOMASVILLE - A bruised and battered south Georgia woman credits a wayward German shepherd with rescuing her after her car careened down an embankment, tossing her through the rear window and leaving her sprawled, cut and bleeding on the vehicle's trunk.
Shannon Lorio, 36, said the dog, which has since been given the name Hero, pulled her by her collar off the trunk and dragged her about 50 yards through briars to the edge of a highway and let her lean against him so that she could stand up and flag a passing motorist.
Officials of the Thomasville-Thomas County Humane Society, which runs the local animal shelter - now Hero's temporary home - were so impressed with the victim's account they have arranged to have Hero evaluated for search and rescue work.
"He's my hero," Lorio said Friday during a tearful reunion with the dog.
The crash occurred on the night of Jan. 26. Lorio said she was not wearing a seat belt.
"I was bleeding from my face and my nose," she said. "All of a sudden, I felt a presence - a really huge presence. He was straddling me. I have watched too many horror movies about werewolves and vampires. I thought he was going to eat me."
Instead, the dog licked her face and locked his jaws on her shirt collar, she said. He dragged her off the car and kept pulling until she was near the edge of a highway, said Lorio, a trim, 136-pound woman.
She leaned on the dog while summoning help and then collapsed in a semiconscious state, Lorio said.
By the time authorities arrived, she said she heard someone mention the Humane Society. Lorio begged them not to take the dog there. "I didn't want him put to sleep," she said.
Kim Arrington, manager of the Thomasville-Thomas County Humane Society, said there's no danger of that.
Because of all the publicity the dog has received, at least 50 people have offered to adopt the 2-year-old shepherd, who weighs 65 to 70 pounds, she said.
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/16612571.htm
ASSOCIATED PRESS
THOMASVILLE - A bruised and battered south Georgia woman credits a wayward German shepherd with rescuing her after her car careened down an embankment, tossing her through the rear window and leaving her sprawled, cut and bleeding on the vehicle's trunk.
Shannon Lorio, 36, said the dog, which has since been given the name Hero, pulled her by her collar off the trunk and dragged her about 50 yards through briars to the edge of a highway and let her lean against him so that she could stand up and flag a passing motorist.
Officials of the Thomasville-Thomas County Humane Society, which runs the local animal shelter - now Hero's temporary home - were so impressed with the victim's account they have arranged to have Hero evaluated for search and rescue work.
"He's my hero," Lorio said Friday during a tearful reunion with the dog.
The crash occurred on the night of Jan. 26. Lorio said she was not wearing a seat belt.
"I was bleeding from my face and my nose," she said. "All of a sudden, I felt a presence - a really huge presence. He was straddling me. I have watched too many horror movies about werewolves and vampires. I thought he was going to eat me."
Instead, the dog licked her face and locked his jaws on her shirt collar, she said. He dragged her off the car and kept pulling until she was near the edge of a highway, said Lorio, a trim, 136-pound woman.
She leaned on the dog while summoning help and then collapsed in a semiconscious state, Lorio said.
By the time authorities arrived, she said she heard someone mention the Humane Society. Lorio begged them not to take the dog there. "I didn't want him put to sleep," she said.
Kim Arrington, manager of the Thomasville-Thomas County Humane Society, said there's no danger of that.
Because of all the publicity the dog has received, at least 50 people have offered to adopt the 2-year-old shepherd, who weighs 65 to 70 pounds, she said.
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/16612571.htm