Pit Bull Credited with Saving Life

[DryCreek]

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6499488&nav=0Ra7

Pit Bull Credited with Saving Life in Kokomo

http://wishtv.images.worldnow.com/images/6499488_BG1.jpg

Kadense, a 1 1/2-year-old pit bull (KT photo by Tim Bath)


By MIKE FLETCHER
Tribune staff writer

KOKOMO, Ind. - If it wasn't for the actions of Carroll McKoon's 1 1/2 year-old pit bull Kadense, McKoon's 70-year-old uncle, Bruce Price, might not be alive today.

Like most house dogs, Kadense often barks when she hears something unusual or someone outside.

But when she barked continuously, jumped at the door and started howling Tuesday morning, McKoon's 19-year-old son, Jason, knew something was amiss.

"She was flipping out," he said of the dog's actions, which McKoon believes saved her uncle's life.

"When we walked out, the whole side of the apartment was orange and the shed was on fire. My buddy called 911 and I went and pounded on my uncle's door," Jason said of the 2:20 a.m. blaze that damaged several structures behind the house at 523 W. Jefferson St.

Jason managed to get his uncle safely down the stairs of his apartment despite flames roaring nearby.

"It was about 10 yards away," Jason said of the blaze. "It reached all the way up to the tree."

The fire originated from a shed behind a vacant home at 527 W. Jefferson St., and spread to a garage behind the house and next door to the apartment and the outside of McKoon's house. A second shed and a garage also sustained damage in the fire.

Kokomo Fire and Arson Investigator Pat O'Neill said the blaze, along with a vacant house fire April 15 at 318 W. Jefferson St., are believed to have been intentionally set. The owner of the first home lives in Pennsylvania.

"The two fires are related," O'Neill said Wednesday.

No one was injured in either fire.

"It was destroyed," Carroll McKoon said of her uncle's apartment. "The water damage was unbelievable.

"One of the firefighters I talked to said if it wasn't for that dog, my uncle wouldn't have made it," she said Wednesday with Kadense by her side.

"She dearly loves Uncle Bruce. He brings her treats all the time."

Pike, a Vietnam War veteran, just moved into the apartment in September after moving from Germany where he had lived for the last 35 years.

According to McKoon, the Red Cross is currently paying for Pike to stay at the Comfort Inn while trying to find him another apartment.

McKoon said Kadense was close to Pike, as she is with most people.

"I hate it when I see the media doing bad stories about pit bulls. She's a sweetheart," she said.

"She loves everybody. They say a lot of bad things about pit bulls, here's one that did so good."

-- From WISH-TV newsgathering (http://www.kokomotribune.com/local/local_story_129235932.html)

[LegendsMami]

That made me :D !!!!!

[diva]

me too. :D Good girl, Kadense!

[kgip2k]

Glad to see some good news about these great dogs....

[DryCreek]

Update, firefighters had to come back.....

Pit bull saves man


May 12, 2007 03:30 AM EDT


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David MacAnally/Eyewitness News

Kokomo - "I just got it renovated," says Bruce Price as he stands outside his fire-damaged Kokomo rental home. He knows how much was lost and how much was saved.

"I'd either be over there in the mortuary or in the hospital right not because it was smoke everywhere," he said.

When a fire struck on Kokomo's Jefferson Street in the middle of the night, the 70-year-old was in bed. His great-nephew Jason McKoon was in the house next door watching a movie with friends.

But someone was awake and alert, an 18-month-old pit bull named Kadense.

"She was jumping at the door and kind of pushing her nose thru the screen, just pretty much trying to draw your attention to the back door as if to say, 'lets go outside." That's how Jason McKoon remembers it. Kadense wanted him to see the fire licking at the outside of Bruce Price's rental. They ran to the apartment to get Uncle Bruce up and out to safety.

"My nephew was pounding on the door out there, the dog had gone wild," says Bruce Price. "I just put up the blind and the flames were right in my face. So I got out just in time. She was a lifesaver really. She was."

Three hours later, with firefighters gone, the dog started barking again. "A lady was out there ( saying) it's burning, it's burning," says Price. The blaze had rekindled so firefighters had to come back.

Sgt. Bruce Price is a career Army veteran. He was badly wounded in a mortar attack in Vietnam. When he sees attacks on all pit bulls after recent biting incidents he is, "So disgusted with it. A bit bull is what you make it." It's how humans raise and treat them, he says.

"He brings her treats, plays games with her," says Price's niece Carol McKoon as her uncle hugs and collects kisses from his lifesaver. He tells Kadense "come on, you're a good old girl."

[pittychick]

Awesome!! What a good dog! :D

[Emily's Mama]

Me, being from Indiana, was very excited to hear about this story.

In less than a week there have been 5 dog attacks. 4 of which are supposedly "pit bulls." This story came out in the middle of it all. I was soo happy!