Can a dog be a pain? These people think so.
BAD DOG: Bear, a Newfoundland
WHAT HE DID: Glen Shaw, a trash collector in New Hampshire occasionally brought Bear along on his route. On December 20, 2001, Shaw got out of his 10-wheeled compactor truck to load some garbage into the back and Bear somehow released the hand brake. As the truck began to roll downhill, Shaw ran after it but it was no use. The runaway truck plunged into the Souhegan River, and Shaw plunged in behind it to rescue the dog. Good news: the dog survived. Bad news: it took a hazardous waste crew more than two hours to clean up the mess.
BAD DOG: Jake, a three-month-old Rottweilier
WHAT HE DID: The Dodson family of Norman, Oklahoma, went out and left Jake in the same place they always left him: the utility room. They returned hours later to find Jake…and a smoking pile of rubble where their home used to be. Evidently Jake had flipped the gas line switch, filling the room with natural gas and when the hot water heater kicked on, the gas exploded. Jake was hurled clear of the explosion…and escaped unharmed.
BAD DOG: a boxer
WHAT HE DID: Muammer Guney, 46, of Denizli, Turkey, had a heart attack while he was walking his dog in the park. The animal stood guard over his fallen master, barking and keeping would-be helpers at bay. By the time relatives arrived on the scene to pull the dog away, it was too late; doctors pronounced Guney dead.
BAD DOG: Stinky, a six-year-old mongrel
WHAT HE DID: In December of 2000 Stinky and his master, Kelly Russell, were out hunting near their New Zealand home. Russell set down his rifle for a moment and Stinky jumped on it. The gun went off, hitting Russell in the foot. At the Waikato hospital, doctors were unable to save his foot. Russell was also fined $500 for hunting illegally in an exotic forest.
No ump-dump rule: In pro baseball, you can’t replace an umpire unless he’s injured or sick.