Missouri dog wins hero award for saving farmer

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. --A border collie and golden retriever mix from Missouri has won the National Hero Dog award for alerting her owner that her husband was pinned underneath a tractor. Eight-year-old Shannon, who lives on an 80-acre farm in Washington, Mo., accepted the 23rd annual National Hero Dog award Friday with her owners Ted and Peggy Mandry.

The award does not honor trained rescue dogs but "a companion animal that's well-treated and has bonded with the family, so they somehow know what to do and step up to the plate when there's trouble," said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. Shannon caught media attention last June when firefighters credited her for saving Ted Mandry's life.

Mandry was unloading debris about a quarter-mile from his house when a parked tractor popped out of gear, rolled down a ravine and toppled into a 10-foot deep gully. The tractor's front end loader trapped Mandry's right leg. "I was calling for help and whistling for two hours, but no one knew where I was," he said. Peggy Mandry, who thought her husband was out mowing hay, stepped out for a while and Shannon was locked inside the house.

When she returned, Shannon was howling and scratching at the door. "The dog became more persistent, as if she was having an attack of diarrhea," Peggy Mandry, 65, recalled. When she was let out, Shannon bolted from the door, dragging Peggy Mandry through the pasture and into the wood.

"I was bleeding, I began to get weaker. I reached a point where there was either going to be a minor miracle or this was it for me," said Ted Mandry, 65. "At that point, my wife and my dog came to the edge of the gully." Peggy Mandry rushed to call 911, and a rescue team arrived and spent another hour to free her husband's leg. When he was taken to a hospital, Mandry said he "ended up having an above-the-knee amputation," adding that he now wears a prosthetic leg and is still able to drive a tractor but no longer performs heavy-duty work.

For her heroic act, Shannon was treated to an airplane flight to Los Angeles (she got to sit in the cabin instead of being stowed in cargo) and a stay at a beachside hotel. She also received a plaque from the SPCA, a year's supply of dog food and a "goodie bag" filled with treats.
"She's loving the attention," Mandry said. "How do you get a dog back in a farm after getting the star treatment in Los Angeles?"

The winners were selected from dozens of essays from pet owners nationwide describing their pets' heroic acts. SPCA Los Angeles also constantly searches for news reports of heroic pet acts, Bernstein said.