Heartwarming Story - A Family in Finland Found a Squirrel Lying on the Side of the Road: They Nursed Him Back to Health

There’s not much cuter than seeing a spry little squirrel in its environment – running, jumping, climbing, nibbling… everything about them is adorable.

But one family in Finland noticed a red squirrel in quite the opposite circumstances – it was seemingly lifeless on the side of a road. They were devastated, but then the wounded squirrel showed faint signs of life. It was just the beginning of a story that went from heartbreaking to heartwarming in a matter of seconds.

A family in Finland spotted this little guy seemingly lifeless on the side of a road in 2007. When they were moving him, he showed signs of life.

They immediately decided to try and nurse him back to health.

Unfortunately though, “We realized that his eye would never heal completely and he wouldn’t survive on his own,” says Priami, whose family adopted the squirrel.

The family took the squirrel in as one of their own.

They named him Arttu, “pretty much the Finnish version of ‘Arthur.’”

He loved to joke around: “He liked to have playful ‘fights’ with our hands (you know, like cats do) and he was smart enough not to bite too hard.”

Arttu quite the appetite: “We fed him nuts, fruits, berries and mushrooms.” (And pinecones!)

Arttu lived with the family from 2007 – 2013, when he passed of old age. They found him curled up in his ‘nest’ like he was sleeping.

“We fed other squirrels all the food we had stored for him before he died.”

It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that our pets have shorter lifespans than us. But however short, it looks like Arttu’s life was very happy. Now he probably has all the nuts he can handle in squirrel heaven.

  

Sako, a 4-Year-Old King Shepherd from Kanaka Bar, British Columbia, Fought off Coyotes to Save a Boy After a Car Accident

Sako, a 4-year-old king shepherd who fought off coyotes to save a boy after a car accident is getting the recognition he deserves.

Sako, was inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame on Monday for his efforts to protect Joseph Phillips-Garcia. The Toronto event, sponsored by Nestle Purina Petcare subsidiary Purina Canada, honored Canadian domestic animals whose actions have saved human lives.

  

In June 2014, Phillips-Garcia, then 16, went out with his aunt, cousin, friend and Sako for a day of fishing and wild potato picking, according to a Purina news release. On the way home, their car went off the road and down a steep hill more than 100 yards into the forest.

Phillips-Garcia and Sako, the only two survivors of the crash, were thrown from the vehicle. The teen blacked out and could barely move when he awoke.

“I tried moving in any possible way I could. I felt my head and I looked down at my hand, and it was just filled with blood,” Phillips-Garcia recalled in a video released by Purina. The teen said a bone was jutting out of his leg. Doctors would later determine he had a broken collar bone and a broken femur.

Sako, who had lived with Phillips-Garcia’s family since he was a puppy, did not leave the boy’s side, cuddling close to keep him warm through the night.

Constable Kris Clark of the Lake Country Royal Canadian Mounted Police notes in the video that maintaining body temperature is crucial for the survival of an injured person who may be in shock.

The dog’s assistance did not end there. Phillips-Garcia says Sako helped him drag himself to a creek to get water and even fought off coyotes.

“We were just falling asleep, and that’s when you hear the first couple of howls,” the teen said. “He got up as soon as he realized their scent was coming closer and closer, and then he just went in. You could hear them just fighting and the bushes rumbling around.”

The dog stayed with Phillips-Garcia until a search team found the pair 40 hours later.

“He saved my son’s life,” the boy’s mother, Fawn Adolph, says in the video. Clark agrees that Sako played a “huge role” in the teen's survival.

Sako received a medal for his valiant actions at Monday's ceremony, according to The Washington Post. He was joined by three other dogs -- Nettle, Bella and Badger -- also being honored for their lifesaving deeds. Over the past 47 years, 140 dogs, 27 cats and one horse have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, according to Canada News Wire.

Dog Eats 23 Live Rounds of .308 Caliber Ammunition, and Lives

Mountain Home, Ark. — A Belgian Malinois, named, Benno, has eaten several strange objects over the course of his four years.

His owner had to take him to the vet's office after he ate 23 live rounds of .308 caliber ammunition.

He had chewed them vigorously to the point of mangling the ammo, then swallowing each round. Benno eating something inappropriate is not unusual, according to his owner Larry "Sonny" Brassfield.

"You can baby-proof a house," Brassfield said, petting the happy, hyper dog.

"But I don't think it's possible to Benno-proof a house. Lord knows, we've tried and failed."

The proof of Brassfield's house not being Benno-proof came on the morning of April 22.

The night before, Brassfield was putting several hundreds of ammo into ammo cans. He did not have enough room for the last 200 or so rounds of ammo, so he left them in a bag by the bed.

"Wednesday morning I woke up early, and my wife told me that Benno had thrown up," Brassfield said. "She said there was ammo in the vomit. I looked at the round and I thought, 'Oh my God, he got into the ammo.'"

Brassfield had no idea exactly how much ammo he had eaten, but was about to find out.

"We decided to watch him for a while," said Brassfield. "He ate like he normally does, no problem. Then about 15-20 minutes later, he threw up again and three more rounds came out. At that point, I knew I had to take him to the vet."

"We took him to the vet's, they took X-rays and counted 15 rounds. By the outlines, I counted at least 17 rounds.” Said, Brassfield.

"This is something they certainly did not cover in school. I've had dogs eat things before, mostly stuffed toys. Once I had one swallow a hearing aid but I think this takes the cake." said Dr. Sexton.

The vet asked was the ammo was made of lead and zinc, the two metals used in ammo manufacturing, can quickly be toxic for dogs. Brassfield told the vet, the ammo was made from brass and copper.

The vet operated on Benno and the procedure lasted approximately two hours. She removed 16 live, highly chewed rounds and one shell from the dog's stomach.

"It was an adventure. If you think of the stomach as a balloon, where I made my incision, all the heavy metal went to the bottom," said the vet. "I had to scoop it all up and bring it up to the location of my incision."

Once she removed the ammo from the dog, the vet had him X-rayed again, just to be sure she got all the ammo. Two X-rays were needed to cover the digestive track of the large dog. That's when the vet saw two more rounds in the dog's esophagus.

The vet made the decision not to open Benno up again to remove the last two rounds. The surgery itself went fine and Benno is expected to make a full recovery.

The vet said, "Since the ammo is not toxic, I decided not to go back in. I decided we'd give it a week to see if he would vomit them up or pass them."  

Five days later, Benno passed one round, and eight days later he passed the final round.

"I won't be leaving ammunition laying around anymore, I can tell you that," Brassfield said. "But really, you're never going to stop him. It's just a question of what he's going to eat next."

Here is a list of items Benno has eaten, much to the exasperation and displeasure of his human friends:

Stuffed animals

Rubber Toys

Coins

8-by-8-inch square pieces of cloth

Styrofoam peanuts

Cheese wrappers

Rocks

Paper

Wax paper

Aluminum foil

Shirts

Socks

Underwear

Bra

Tennis shoes

Rope

Nylon straps

Weed eater string

Gasoline-soaked lawn mower air filter

Blankets

Marbles

Plastic bag

Quilt batting

Sewing straight pins

Plastic soda bottle

Magnets

Bottle lids swallowed whole

Television remote

Loaf of bread (wrapper included)

Broken glass

Chicken legs (swallowed whole)

Nylon hairbrush

LEGOs

Travel size bottle of lotion

Baseboards

Drywall (just randomly ate a piece of wall). 

Florida Residents: Beware! The Recent Rains in Southwest Florida Are Bringing Out Toxic Bufo Toads That Put Your Dog as Risk

Florida residents: beware! The recent rains in southwest Florida are bringing out the toxic Bufo toads. Also known as Cane Toads, Giant Toads, and Marine Toads, the populations of these invasive amphibians are growing and putting your pets at risk.

Dogs are especially susceptible to Bufo toads because the toad’s mating call attracts curious dogs.

Bufo toads secrete a milky white toxic substance from their shoulders as a defense mechanism, and a single lick can be very dangerous. If untreated, pets will always die.

Some of the symptoms of Bufo toad poisoning includes seizures, profuse salivation, and lack of coordination. If you suspect your pet mouthed, licked or ingested a toad, rinse the mouth out immediately and get your pet to its veterinarian right away.

To help protect your pet, it’s recommended you collect water and food dishes that remain outside. These toads are so fatal that dogs can be poisoned by drinking or eating out of containers the toads have sat in.

The toads, which have grayish brown, warty skin, are not native to Florida, but were introduced to eat cane beetles. They became established in Florida in an accidental release of about 100 specimens in Miami in 1955 and further release by pet dealers in the 1960s, according to the University of Florida Wildlife Extension.

If pet owners suspect an animal has bitten a Bufo toad, rinse its mouth and paws with water and seek veterinary help immediately. Use caution, however, so the pet does not aspirate the water with toxins, Gicking said.

Pet owners should also be careful about being bitten by animals who become unruly while intoxicated by the toxin, he said. Pet owners should wash their own hands after rendering aid and be careful not to get the toxin in their own eyes or mouth.

Gicking suggests vigilance is the best course of action to prevent toad poisoning.

“Don't just leave dogs out in the yard unsupervised, especially people who live near water sources,” he said. “Leash walks during a high incident times are best.