Dog dials 911 & Saves Owner's LIfe
Steven M. Silverman
A dog's day had a very happy ending last week when a German shepherd in Arizona saved his owner's life – by calling 911.
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Buddy, who lives in Scottsdale with his master, Joe Stalnaker, got an emergency dispatcher on the phone when Stalnaker started having a seizure, police tell the Arizona Republic.
"Hello, this is 911. Hello ... Can you hear me? Is there somebody there you can give the phone to," says the dispatcher, Chris Trott, on the recorded 911 call that Buddy – heard barking and whimpering in the background – placed Wednesday.
Police, after tracking the call, arrived 20 minutes later, and Stalnaker spent two days in the hospital recovering from the seizure – his life saved thanks to Buddy.
"It's pretty incredible," said Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark. "Even the veteran dispatchers – they haven't heard of anything like this."
Stalnaker (who received a head injury a decade ago as a result of a military-exercise accident) has trained Buddy, now 18 months old, since adopting the pup at 8 weeks. Buddy came from the Michigan-based Paws with a Cause, an organization that trains assistance companions for people with disabilities.
"He's my world," Stalnaker told local TV station KTVK about Buddy. "He's my best friend, no question. He's always there, and I just hope I can be as good to him as he's been to me."
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