The Virginian-Pilot
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VIRGINIA BEACH
Ollie, a 2-year-old shelter rescue, is getting to be pretty good friends with the city's emergency responders.
In the past four months, police and firefighters have rescued her twice - once in February after a serious car crash and again last month after she wedged herself in a cement pipe.
Her owners think that, like cats, she must have been blessed with nine lives.
"She's definitely got a guardian angel on her side," owner Chantal Dennison said.
The border collie-coonhound mix joined the Dennison family on Jan. 29 from a shelter in North Carolina.
Five days later, on Feb. 3, Ollie was in the back of Dennison's 2005 Ford Excursion when Dennison lost control, swerved off the road and crashed into a bank of trees. Dennison was pinned inside the vehicle with a dislocated hip and multiple other injuries.
A police officer arrived and pulled Ollie from the back of the sport utility vehicle. Other than being a little shaken up, the dog was uninjured, Dennison said, but it took firefighters more than an hour to cut her from the crumpled steel.
Dennison is scheduled to appear in court July 15 on DUI charges related to the crash.
Last month, Ollie found herself in need of saving once more.
Dennison's mother, who lives next door to the family's Pungo home, came home from work May 20 to find Ollie stuck.
Somehow the 35-pound dog had managed to wedge herself inside a 10-inch-diameter concrete pipe. Dennison guesses she was chasing a rabbit or a frog.
Ollie had crawled about half way through the 80-foot culvert before getting stuck in the mud and debris.
Dennison grabbed a shovel and began digging but needed help.
An Animal Control officer, with the assistance of about 15 friends and neighbors, tried breaking open the pipe with a sledgehammer. When that didn't work, the officer called in the big guns - firefighters armed with concrete-cutting saws.
Dennison said she was shocked when the fire squad pulled up, still wearing dress uniforms.
"They were at a banquet, and they stopped what they were doing and came out. They were amazing," she said. "I was absolutely amazed they would come out for a dog."
A short while later, they'd cut Ollie free.
"I can't even understand how she got in there," said Animal Control Supervisor Steve Snyder. But "the dog was fine, just very muddy."
Master Firefighter Mike Brown said incidents like Ollie's aren't that rare. There's no charge for the nonemergency response, said Battalion Chief Tim Riley, a spokesman for the fire department.
"Pets are very important to our citizens," he said.
Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com
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mjcc1987
Sorry to ring your chimes. I was just trying to say it wasn't necessary for the world to know her shameful business. What if it were you? Yes, it was a very stupid thing to do, but, would you want everyone to know about it if it were you? Somehow I don't think so. Anyway, I really don't think she will be drinking and driving again. We are too quick to judge others before thinking how we would feel if we were the one's in their shoes. Yes, she could have killed someone and thankfully to God, she didn't. But, does her dirty laundry have to be aired in front of everyone? Besides,the story was about a dog that was saved from inside a wrecked car and, then, from inside a pipe. Seems like that should have been the end of it. Again, sorry to offend.
I wouldn't have let anyone
I wouldn't have let anyone do a story on me like this knowing I was a reason my dog had to be rescued becasue I broke the law one of the times. That was just dumb IMO. Of course they would find out and report it. It's controversal and people would talk and make comments. She had to of thought this would come out but then again, apparently she doesn't think all the time.
Reporter - Kathy Adams
I must respectfully disagree with you in reference to reporting every little detail of a story. You COULD have just said the the lady had to appear in court on such and such date for charges relating to the accident. It is really non of our business that those charges included DUI. We just don't "need to know" that information. However, the story itself was really great. Our emergency service personnel don't get enough recognition for the good that they do for their communities these days.
Being an avid dog lover made this story even more interesting for me.
Keep up the great human interest stories. We don't get enough of them in this era of troubled times in our country.
I would say everyone that
I would say everyone that was on the road was lucky that it was a bank of trees she hit and not another vehicle, it could have been anyone of us that was hit instead of the trees. Thankfully the dog was not harmed.
What?
I must respectfully disagree with you in reference to reporting every little detail of a story. You COULD have just said the the lady had to appear in court on such and such date for charges relating to the accident. It is really non of our business that those charges included DUI. We just don't "need to know" that information.
-----------------------------------------
You think a DUI is not worth reporting? You think an accident caused by an impaired/drunk driver is not worth a mention? The reason for two recues and thus the purpose of the story would be lost if not mentioned that the first accident was caused the owner (who was driving drunk) and endangered herself, her dog, and possibly others.
The dog wouldn't have even
The dog wouldn't have even needed that "life" in the first accident if she hadn't been drinking and wrecked her car. It's a good thing her children weren't in the vehicle with her when she wrecked it because she had been drinking. The story wouldn't be the same. If it took them an hour to cut her out of the vehicle how long would it have took them to cut her children out? I'm sure she never does this and this was her "first" time driving drunk!
Are all of you people
Are all of you people kidding me. This is America and you are innocent until Proven guilty. Dont convict someone of anything that you have not done yourself. I drive those roads every day and see cars in the ditches everyday.I guess they have all been drinking. Read the story its about the Firemen and Police who are out there helping people. FOR LITTLE PAY! Thank you to all the public servants who serve these idiots who want to convict someone before they are tried. I am so sure that you have never done anything in your life that is wrong. Some people need to look in the mirror and say they have never done anything wrong or have been accused of doing something wrong.There is one word for them LAIR.
What a great story
So many bad things make the news, especially now that the world is so small. It's nice to read about people doing something so good, especially for a dog that that obviously has already gone through so much.
dissemination of info
"Dennison is scheduled to appear in court July 15 on DUI charges related to the crash"
Wouldn't want to leave out that little tidbit in a story about Dennison's dog. Did she know you were going to print that ? Probably not. You got a newspaper to sell.
DUI charge
This is Kathy Adams, the reporter who wrote this story. In reply to your comment, yes, Chantal Dennison was aware that I would be including the information about the DUI charge in my story. As a journalist, it is my job to tell the whole story, not just the nice parts. Thank you for your feedback.