Wandering dog helps woman in accident

February 3, 2007

THOMASVILLE, Georgia - A south Georgia woman bloodied in a car wreck
says she owes her life to a German shepherd who - thankfully -
wouldn't stay in his yard.

Shannon Lorio said that after her car careened down an embankment, the
wayward dog found her, battered, on the vehicle's trunk and dragged
her by her shirt collar 50 yards through briars to a highway and let
her lean against him so she could flag a passing motorist. His new
name: Hero.

"That dog is always going to have a special place in my heart," Lorio
said yesterday.

Hero's previous owners have signed him over to the Thomasville-Thomas
County Humane Society since the January 26 accident because he kept
wandering off. He won't be in the shelter long: At least 50 people
have offered to adopt him, and a dog trainer has agreed to see if he
has the right stuff for search-and-rescue work.