Japanese police on Thursday heaped praise on a Labrador Retriever who found an elderly man who fallen over in freezing conditions at night, the second time the dog was credited with saving a life.
The three-year-old black Lab, named ‘Dor, suddenly started barking when she was taking a walk with her owner, Koichi Wada, in the western city of Iwade one evening last month, a police officer said.
”The dog led Mr Wada to a nearby irrigation ditch, where an elderly man was lying face up,” the officer said.
The ditch was 1m deep and the 86-year-old man had been soaked in water up to his ears.
”Since it was cold and already dark, the man would have frozen to death if she [the dog] had not smelled something and told it to her owner,” he said.
The elderly man soon had even more luck. Wada stopped a passing car and found that a doctor was behind the wheel.
The doctor drove the man to his clinic, where he was treated for minor wounds in the head and hands.
Iwade police on Wednesday gave a certificate of gratitude to Wada for saving the man’s life.
”The certificate went to the owner as there is no precedent for a dog getting a certificate,” the officer said.
It wasn’t the first time that ‘Dor saved a human life, according to police.
She started barking at a car parked under a bridge last year, prompting Wada to check on it. Wada called police, who brought to safety a middle-aged man who was about to commit suicide. — Sapa-AFP