"Even the tiniest
Poodle or Chihuahua is still a wolf at heart."
—Dorothy
Hinshaw
HELENA, MT — As the
Surbrugg family looks upon their 20-pound dog with
expressions of mixed gratitude, discomfiture and
discombobulation, they're probably all thinking the same
thing:
"Raleigh, why can't you
just chase rabbits like a normal dog?"
And of course, Raleigh
would probably like to reply:
"People, why can't you
just stay away from moose like normal humans?"
Today the Helena
Independent Record reported that a family may have been
saved from a moose attack by an ambitious miniature
Schnauzer near MacDonald Pass, Montana.
Kathy and Ed Surbrugg,
along with their kids Amy and Sam, had just finished picking
huckleberries on the mountainside trails last Sunday when
Kathy came face to face with a moose.
"It was within touching distance," she describes. "It
was crossing the trail behind me. I yelled out, 'It's a
moose, you guys!'"
"She was wanting to tear into me. It was the biggest
lesson I’ve had on how fast and how cruel they are. I know
she wasn’t out to get me, but she was startled, and I was
startled and she was big and mean."
When he heard the commotion, Ed raced to catch up while
Kathy ducked behind a tree and Amy, 13, and Sam, 10,
screamed and froze respectively. Then from underfoot came
the scruffy, little dart, barking and spooking the beast off
into the woods.
"I tried to call the dog back, but he just chased her,"
tells Sam. They heard an "awful yelp", after which the
moose was seen cutting across the trail further up. Moments
later, Raleigh limped out of the underbrush with a
belly-wound as though he'd been kicked. |
The family rushed the injured
dog to a veterinarian. Kathy reports, "They said he had
broken three ribs, and the only thing we can do is to let
them heal on their own. So he has to lay low for about six
to eight weeks."
"We keep calling him our miracle dog and are babying him
and taking care of him."
The part
of Raleigh is being played by Pepsi, below, a
five-year-old mini Schnauzer. Pepsi and other Schnauzers
are available for adoption from St. Louis Schnauzer Rescue
(USA).
The part
of the moose is being played by Bullmoose who likes
his home just the way it is.
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