MAN’S LOVE FOR DOG

Hokitika Guardian, 5 November 1931, Page 8

MAN’S LOVE FOR DOG

AREOPLANE TO RESCUE,

PATHETIC END TO RACE. SAGACIOUS PET SAVES LIFE. SYDNEY, October 23. The lov e of a man for his dog, and the close companionship that develops between dog and man have been immortalised in song and- story. From Moree* in north-west New South Wales, comes a story illustrative of just what lengths a dog owner will go to in an endeavour to save the life oi his pal. Mr it. A. Reed, a Moree grazier, owned a pedigree Great Djane— a<n enormous animal weighing lOst. U was devoted to Mr Reed and his family. The dog was three years old, but was taken ill weeks ago, and all local remedies having failed to make any improvement in its condition, Mr Reed telephoned to -Mr V. E. H. Da vis, Randwick veterinary surgeon.

The need for attention was obviously very urgent, and some it was then too late for Mr Davis t > catch a tram to Moree, Mr Reed telephoned to Captain Follett, commercial air pilot, and chartered his ’plane to take the ‘ at" to Moree. They took off at 1.30 p.’.n. the same day and reached Morse at 5.45 p.m. They were met at the aerodrome by car, and rushed to the Max Hotel in the town, to which, the dog had been transferred from the Reed holding, which is some miles out. As they left the car, Reed met them with the information that they were five minutes too late. The dog had died. So keen are its owners to decide what killed their pet that they ordered Davis to make a post-mortem examintion. They have arranged a funeral for their pet, and will erect a headstone over hi;?- grave.

Apropos of the value of a devoted dotr is the story of Arthur Davis, of Inverell, who owes his life to the sagacity of his dog. But for its intel!i : geuce and assistance he must have hied to death in his lonely wood-cut-ter’s camp near Finerell this week. He was cutting timber on Mr B. \V, Wade’s property when the axe slipped and almost severed bis foot. The arteries were cut and blood flowed steadily from the wound. His nearest neighbour was four miles away, and Davis’ 'position was desperate. Though his camp was only half a mile, from the' spot, where the accident occurred, it %

took him more than five hours to crawl that distance. On the way he collapsed many times. His dog was tied up at the camp, an ( l Davis Scribbled a note and tied it to the dog’s collar. For hours the animal refused to leai'e him, but at last it darted off into the bush, and ran direct to his neighbour’s home. On the way it had to jump three 7ft wire fences, hut it reached tile place safely, and the neighbour, Mr Brown, found the note on its collar Within an hour he had Davis in his car and on the way to hospital, where he is recovering.