Pit bull defends elderly owner during attack by naked man in NH

By Kimberly Bookman

MANCHESTER, N.H. (WHDH) - A Manchester man is being held in preventative detention after police found him standing naked next to the bloodied body of another man early Sunday morning.

Donald Pierce, 55, faces multiple charges after police say he assaulted two people, including an 86-year-old man, and injured a pit bull.

Manchester police responded to Pine Avenue on July 7 at 1 a.m. following report of a domestic incident.

“Arriving officers heard someone yelling for help in the rear of 38 Pine Ave and located two men,” police said in a statement. “One was lying on a porch covered in blood and the other standing next to him, completely naked.”

According to officials, the naked man, later identified as Pierce, “started yelling at police, making threats, and charging at officers.” Multiple taser deployments and several officers were necessary to successfully subdue the suspect.

Later, authorities learned that Pierce had earlier in the day been involved in a physical altercation with a woman at a nearby home.

“Afterwards he encountered an 86-year-old man who was letting his dog out,” police said in a statement. “Pierce assaulted the man, hitting him with his fists and a chair. He also injured the man’s dog. The victim was taken to a local hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.”

The 86-year-old man, who identified himself as Ned Tarmey, said his dog Kane barked to warn him as Pierce came into the house.

“[Pierce] basically came out of the dark … he was screaming nonsense, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ or whatever and literally started attacking him — completely unprovoked, no reason,” said Chad Ardizzoni, a relative of Tarmey.

Tarmey’s family said Kane attacked Pierce, protecting Tarmey from him.

“He bit him, latched on, held him down,” Ardizzoni said.

Ron Clement, Tarmey’s neighbor, said police officers used a taser on the dog to get him to release his grip on Pierce. The taser mark is visible through Kane’s fur.

“You saved my life. Yes, you did,” Tarmey could be seen on video telling his dog in the hospital room.

Tarmey is recovering from a brain bleed, a broken arm, broken bones in his face, and a broken collarbone. It was later determined that Pierce and Tarmey did not know each other.

Pierce was charged with first degree assault, second degree assault – domestic violence, felony criminal threatening, felony criminal mischief, four counts simple assault, criminal trespass, indecent exposure, misdemeanor criminal mischief, cruelty to animals, and resisting arrest.

Pierce is being held pending a July 16 probable cause hearing.

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Pit bull defends elderly owner during attack by naked man in NH

Clever pet dog Minnie saves elderly owner with mighty move | 7 News Australia

EXCLUSIVE: A two-year-old Chihuahua cross named Minnie is being hailed a hero after saving the life of her elderly owner. When the Kingston great-grandmother was struggling to breathe, the clever canine pressed her medic alert button, calling paramedics.

Source:
Clever pet dog Minnie saves elderly owner with mighty move | 7 News Australia

A man who fell from his wheelchair into a lake was saved from drowning by his little beagle

by Tod Perry

via Port St. Lucie Police Department/Facebook

Harry Smith was saved by his dog Sarah Jane.

Eighty-one-year-old Harry Smith—who uses an electric wheelchair—was walking his beloved 9-year-old beagle mix, Sarah Jane, near a lake in Port St. Lucie, Florida when the pleasant jaunt took a turn for the worse.

Smith says that the left wheel of the chair “grabbed and spun me” and he wound up rolling down a grass embankment into the water. Smith can’t swim, could barely keep his head above the water and without immediate help would have drowned.

Sarah Jane began to bark loudly, capturing the attention of Edward Suhling, 58, who was working on a trailer with Aby “Jacob” Chacko, 49. "Sensing his owner was in trouble, his dog began to bark loudly which alerted two bystanders across the street," the Port St. Lucie police department wrote in a Facebook post.

At first, Suhling thought that the dog was being attacked by an alligator, then he saw Smith’s head poking out of the water. Suhling and Chacko ran over to the pond, flagging down a police officer along the way.

Harry was out walking his dog, Sarah Jane, when his wheel got caught in the mulch, turning him around and down into the pond.

Neighbors heard Sarah Jane barking and Harry yelling “HELP!” @PSLPolice were flagged down.

They all helped him out, saving his life. @CBS12 pic.twitter.com/0s8fygh5zx

— Andrew Lofholm (@AndrewLofholm) February 4, 2022

“As soon as I got here I saw the wheelchair and the dog and I recognized that's Harry and I know he can't walk,” Chacko said. Smith was in terror fighting for his life in the pond. “My legs don't work,” he said. “I can't push.”

“The dog was splashing in the water,” Suhling said. “So we both ran over here and I jumped in the water, and my buddy grabbed his arms and I grabbed his legs and we got him up on shore.”

After Smith was safely out of the water, the police officer administered medical attention and he was cleared to go home. Unfortunately, his wheelchair didn’t work, so the officer pushed him back to his home.

The Port St. Lucie Police Department later called the Suhlih, Chacko, and Sarah Jane heroes on its Facebook page. "We are thankful for Mr. Smith’s dog and the two bystanders that helped save his life!" the police department wrote on Facebook. "And as the saying remains true…A man’s best friend is his dog."

"She's such a good dog,” Smith later said about Sarah Jane. “Everybody in this neighborhood loves her, they all look out for her." After the pair made it home safely, Smith was sure to give his dog a treat. "I love her, always have, always will,” he said.

While the dog’s heroics are pretty amazing, there are a couple of reasons why Sarah Jane knew that Smith was in danger and sprang into action. A lot of dogs have a strong fear of water. Not all of them love it like labradors. If Sarah Jane was afraid of the water, she would have sensed her guardian was in serious danger.

Secondly, a study from Arizona State University in 2020 tested whether dogs will help if they thought their owner was in trouble. For the study, owners called out to the dog while appearing to be trapped inside a box. In most instances, the dogs attempted to free their owners after hearing them cry for help.

The story of Sarah Jane and her guardian Harry Smith proves, once again, that we just don’t deserve dogs.

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A man who fell from his wheelchair into a lake was saved from drowning by his little beagle