From around the world

Part V

A paddler extraordinaire

By their nature, oil rigs are usually situated far from land, so it is very unusual to find anything or anyone swimming under a rig. This story involves a rig 220 kilometres (135 miles) off the coast of Thailand, so imagine the consternation when something was spotted swimming under the drilling platform. Let’s be honest here: swimming was a slight exaggeration; doggy paddling would be more accurate. Unbelievably, one small brown dog was attempting to find a surface to cling to. Even one large wave would have been enough to dislodge the dog, so speed was a priority, but such was the precarious nature!

It took some time to rescue the desperate dog. Finally, a noose was lowered and dropped over the dog’s head. The wet, shivering animal was hauled up. He was dried, fed, and watered and, within 24 hours, showed no adverse reaction to the experience.

The only puzzle was where the intrepid paddling pooch came from. There had been no sightings of boats near the rig, but the only logical explanation was that he must have fallen overboard from a vessel of some sort. The dog stayed on the rig for a couple of days before being transferred to a passing ship and housed by an animal shelter.

The fearless adventurer was identified as an Aspin. For anyone unfamiliar with this type of dog, it is basically a street dog from the Philippines. It is not recognised as a breed by any of the major kennel clubs as there is no breed standard, and they come in various shapes, sizes, and colours. However, they are very popular as they make excellent family pets.

The unknown dog was named Boonrod, and it was reported that the oil rig worker who spotted him has given him a permanent home where he has settled in extremely well.

Daisy and Mowgli from Cornwall mine rescue

Trapped

Cornwall, England, is a part of the world that I know well, having lived there for 20 years. Anyone who resides in this spectacular part of the country will know that two issues cannot be ignored. The county is surrounded by water, and everyone needs to be aware of the awesome power of the sea, which claims lives every year. Also, the county is riddled with old mine shafts. Tin mining, in particular, is a huge part of the history of Cornwall, and fans of the TV series Poldark will be aware of this history even if they have never visited this unique county.

One of the residents of this place was Michelle Rose, who lived happily with Daisy the Springer Spaniel and her two feline pals, Mowgli and Baloo. Obviously, Michelle was a fan of Jungle Book. One day, Mowgli disappeared and was gone for 6 days, and Michelle, deeply saddened by the disappearance of her pet, was coming to terms with her loss. On the day in question, whilst out on a walk, Daisy became extremely agitated, which Michelle would describe as “going ballistic.” Daisy eventually managed to force Michelle to approach a disused mine shaft. Michelle called the RSPCA and the Fire Brigade, but as this was evening and darkness was descending, matters had to wait until the next morning.

The following day, experts went down the 100-foot-deep mine shaft and were somewhat surprised to find Mowgli at the bottom without a mark on her.

It is reported that both Balloo and Daisy were delighted to see their pal return safe and sound, and Mowgli, having been rescued and missing for nearly a week, ate a hearty breakfast.

Barking Mad

When Hitler came to power, he became somewhat obsessed with myths and legends where Britain was concerned. Three major pieces of nonsense were examined as a possible way to ensure the defeat of his closest enemy. The first consisted of Apes, the second Ravens and the third Dogs.

There is a legend that says if the apes leave Gibraltar, the island will cease to be British. Despite plans to invade the island, they never materialised, mainly because getting to Gibraltar by land entailed crossing Spain, which was neutral or invading by sea, which required ships and troops. The benefits were not considered to be worth the effort, and Gibraltar continues to be British

Legend says that if the Ravens desert the Tower of London, the Crown will fall, so plans were discussed to get rid of the Ravens. These also never materialised as nobody could work out how to remove the Ravens, who continue to reside in the Tower, and the Royal family still remains despite the recent demise of the late Queen Elizabeth.

It should be pointed out that some of the tame Ravens have had to be replaced over the years for “behaviour unbecoming.”

A Prime example is Raven George, who was dismissed and relocated to Wales for attacking television aerials!!

If these two rather odd plots were not enough, The dog plot was bizarre in the extreme.

Most of us are under the impression that animal behaviourists are a fairly new phenomenon, but back in the 1920s, in Germany, there was a group of behavioural scientists who actually believed that there was a strong possibility that dogs were almost as intelligent as humans, but we had failed to capitalise on this knowledge. This led to a rather bizarre series of assumptions that dogs would serve in the military and would serve as concentration camp guards. For this purpose, the Animal Talking School was set up, and “highly intelligent dogs” were recruited. The reported results were outstanding. The dogs could spell and count, plus were able to communicate in the German language, and one of them even asked to serve in the army as he hated the French! Needless to say, when asked to demonstrate these incredible achievements of the canine pupils, every excuse from “it’s too cold” to “memory loss” exposed the utter futility of this failed exercise.

When the news of this nonsense became known, the British sense of humour led to headlines including “Heel Hitler,” “Wooffen SS”, and “Furred Reich.”