A NICE, WARM AND FUZZY STORY

by Bob Walsh

Last week there was a situation along a hiking trail in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area.  It was hot and a group of hikers encountered a man and his dog.  One of the hikers happened to be a pediatric nurse.  The dog was in very poor shape, suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion.  The owner had already poured a full jug of water onto and into the dog and the group that came across them all donated all of their water but the dog was still in dire shape.

They called the park rangers and supervising ranger Kris Salapek found them.  He picked the dog up across his shoulders and neck and carried the dog (looks like about a 100# German Shepherd) about half-way down the trail to a stream, then laid the dog down in the stream and poured water over him.  

After the dog perked up somewhat the ranger again picked him up and carried him the rest of the way down the trail to the parking lot, total distance about 2 miles, total carrying time about one hour.  

By the time they got the dog back down to the parking lot he could lift his head.  The owner took the dog directly to the vet.  The pooch is doing fine and is likely to make a full recovery.