Just like the Mounties, Diablo always gets his man.

Diablo, the K-9 partner of New Hampshire State Trooper Gary Ingham, last night latched onto a Hampton man who authorities said fought two troopers as they tried to arrest him.

The dog chomped into Gregory Scott Gowen, 47, of Stone Gables Inn, who then broke free of two troopers. Police said Gowen dragged the K-9 — whose teeth were still dug firmly into him — into his car and tried to flee.

Ingham and Trooper First Class Christopher Vetter fought with Gowen as they tried to get him out of the vehicle. Eventually, three bystanders came to their aide and the troopers were able to handcuff and arrest Gowen.

Gowen was treated at the scene by Hampton Rescue and then taken to Exeter Hospital for treatment of dog bites. He was released and then taken to the Rockingham County jail.

State Police Sgt. Patrick Palmer, K-9 Unit Commander, said Diablo is a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois who just graduated in May from the K-9 patrol school.

“He learned well,” he laughed.

Gowen is being held on $10,000 cash bail and is to appear in Hampton District Court at noon today. Gowen is charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, and felony counts of reckless conduct and willful interference with a Police K-9.

According to police, the chase began in Gilford at the airport where an officer tried to pull Gowen over after seeing him drive too close to the runway.

Police said Gowen successfully eluded police in Gilford, Laconia and Alton. He will be facing additional charges in those towns.

Gisborne’s newest guide dog puppy has been born, with no shortage of appetite.

“Coastie” was brought into the world on July 10, immediately scurrying under his mother’s belly for a feed.

He is the first puppy to be born and raised with money collected by Gisborne Bayleys Real Estate.

The name may change as Coastie grows up but it is hoped the Gisborne link will stay, says real estate agent John Egan.

The firm raised $22,500 for Guide Dog Services, which is what it will cost to raise and train Coastie to become a New Zealand guide dog.

Bayleys will receive the first formal photo of Coastie when he reaches seven weeks, says Mr Egan.

Although his name reflects his financial heritage, at this stage it is not known where Coastie will eventually end up.

Like all New Zealand guide dog puppies, Coastie was born and bred at Auckland’s Guide Dog Services.

He will be raised there until he is seven weeks old, when he will leave to live with a walking family for up to 15 months, says Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB) head of regional funding Diane Armstrong.

This period in Coastie’s life will introduce him to socialising with different people, animals and situations, such as going to a cafe or into the workplace.

Coastie will return to Guide Dog Services for formal training after his time with the family, to learn things like waiting at traffic lights and safety while walking on roads.

“He will be taught things like doors, lefts, roads, but once he gets matched with his new owner things become more particular. He will be taught his owner’s regular destinations.”

The bond between guide dogs and their potential new owner is key when it comes to matching guide dogs and people. The dogs will spend many years being the seeing eyes for their owners.

However, not all make it to this stage.

About 30 percent of puppies are withdrawn from becoming guide dogs.

“Puppies are like kids — you will get 10 that will be fantastic and one that will say ‘nope, I’m just not doing it’,” says Ms Armstrong.

Each litter of Guide Dog Service puppies is born into an alphabetic naming system, which helps the service locate exactly where a guide dog is from.

Coastie was the sole puppy in his “litter”, requiring a name that started with C.

For now Coastie has a lot of sleeping, playing and feeding to get through before the hard work begins.

Mark Rinkel is spending his summer selling lemonade to raise money for his 9-year-old brother, who has Type I diabetes.

Jason Rinkel is in line for a service dog that would alert him or a family member if the boy’s sugar levels drop to an extremely low or high level.

“It is unpredictable,” said Marisa Rinkel, Jason’s mother. “At times when I think his blood sugar is going to be low, he’s high. And when I think it is going to be high, it’s low.”

The service dog can cost $16,000 to $25,000.

“We are not exactly buying the dog; we are helping to fight off some of that cost,” said Mark.

So Mark decided a lemonade stand was the perfect way to do it. And he’s not selling the powdered kind. It’s fresh-squeezed lemonade.

“At first [people] think, ‘Oh, it is just a lemonade stand,’” said Mark. “But then when we go over there, we find their softer side when we tell them why we are doing the lemonade stand and 90 percent of the time, they will donate.”

“It makes me cry. He is amazing,” said Marisa, through tears. “He built a Web site, he passed out fliers. He got a Petco manager to pass out his fliers to everybody. He has just been incredible, a very great big brother.”

The lemonade stand can be found in different locations throughout the metro area.

A woman hours away from death was saved by her pet dog when it woke her sleeping husband as she fell into a coma.

Nursery nurse Sandie Forbes, 53, owes her life to pet Molly after the early morning drama.

It was only the Jack Russell’s yapping which alerted Mrs Forbes’ husband that she was in danger - a yapping which saved her life.

Mrs Forbes, of Cypress Close, Shoreham, was out with her husband of 23 years, Michael, when she suddenly felt ill.

Little did she know she was suffering from a huge blood clot.

She said: “I was feeling very sick and had a bit of a headache. That’s all I know really because I can’t remember anything about it.
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“I’ve been told a doctor was called and said I had gastroenteritis, gave me an injection and left. I must have been completely out of it by then.”

She was told to get some rest by the GP and that she would feel better in an hour.

Camera technician Mr Forbes, 59, said: “To give her peace and quiet I went into another bedroom and left her sleeping. At about 1.30am our 18-month-old dog Molly started barking.

“She woke me and I thought, ‘What now?’ “Then I could here Sandie breathing which was very shallow and crackling. Her eyes were open but she wasn’t responding so I dialled 999.”

Paramedics rushed to the scene and after being whisked to Worthing Hospital she was diagnosed with having a massive bleed to her brain and suffered two seizures.

It was there doctors said Mrs Forbes was unlikely to survive and she was then transferred to Hurstwood Neurological Centre in Haywards Heath for emergency surgery on her brain.

Mr Forbes said: “She received fantastic care. You can criticise the NHS as much as you like but when the wheel falls off they are brilliant.”

Three days later Mrs Forbes awoke with no recollection of what had happened in the April 26 drama and was greeted by a familiar face. Nurses asked her who was at the window, to which she mouthed: “Molly”.

She said: “After coming around I remember Mick waving through the window of the hospital with the dog.

“Molly definitely saved my life. If it wasn’t for her I don’t know what I would have done.

“She’s quite an intelligent dog, sits on my lap and always follows me around and she loves Mick because he takes her for long walks.”

Mrs Forbes was transferred back to Worthing Hospital and after making a speedy recovery was back home within three weeks.

Mr Forbes said:”Molly saved my wife’s life and now she is thoroughly spoilt living off chicken, ham and steak.

“Had it not been for our dog, then I am sure that my wife may never have recovered. Thank God for animal instincts.”

Missouri State Water Patrolman Ryan Zeller’s partner can really cause a reaction when they are out and about patrolling.

At about 65 pounds and two-and-a-half feet tall, Timmy has been patrolling area waters with Zeller since April and is only one of two water patrol dogs in the state. The other dog is at Lake of the Ozarks.

“This is a new step for the water patrol to take,” Zeller said as a child approached and was warmly welcomed by the friendly three-year old Belgian Malinois. “He has been a great help.”

Timmy is a dual-purpose dog, helping with narcotics detection as well as handler protection and area and article searches and was purchased through donations from the public.

“That kind of made us feel the community is very supportive of the water patrol,” Zeller said.

So far, Timmy has helped with five cases of narcotics and will help other area law enforcement when needed.

“If nothing else, he might deter,” Zeller said.

Just having Timmy with him gives him a greater since of security when patrolling the waters.

“The ability to hear a lot better, the smell, it is just one of those things. The bond that we have and knowing how protective of me he is, you never know what can happen. If something bad does happen, I know he is there.”

And, Timmy is always there, living with Zeller when off duty and going out each day on patrol with him. Each month they do 20 hours of maintenance training to keep Timmy at his best.

“He is just another family member,” the patrolman said.

Having the canine around isn’t just for security, though.

“It’s a great thing to have for the kids,” Zeller said. “Just to have a positive interaction with the public. The word is getting out, he is very sociable.”

A sleeping 12-year-old girl who was home alone fled a burning flat and then ran back in to save her cat.

A smoke alarm woke her after a car battery caught fire in the kitchen.

Kingston and Surbiton fire crews were called to the flat at Bramley House, Crescent Road, Kingston on Wednesday, August 1 at 1.18pm.

After safely evacuating the flat, the girl went back to retrieve her cat before a neighbour called the fire brigade.

She was taken to Kingston Hospital but later released.

The kitchen was totally destroyed and there was smoke damage to a bedroom and the bathroom.
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Crew manager Brennan Healey, of Kingston fire station, said: “Because the girl was sleeping the smoke alarm was crucial - she is only here now because of it.”

People who are allergic to cats may not have to get rid of their pets to find relief, if the findings of a new study hold up.

Tolerance to cats can be built up in allergic kids by placing increasing doses of standardised cat dander extract under the tongue, according to Spanish researchers.

In the medical journal Allergy, Dr Emilio Alvarez-Cuesta, of Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, and colleagues note that a first line step for people with cat allergy is to remove cats from the home. However, this is often rejected or is not entirely effective, leaving immunotherapy as the only treatment.

Immunotherapy is based on the idea that the immune system can “learn” to tolerate allergy triggers if it is exposed to gradually increasing amounts of the offending allergen, starting with tiny amounts that don’t cause an allergic reaction.

In sublingual immunotherapy, or SLIT, the allergen is placed under the tongue, where it is absorbed into the system.

To see whether SLIT using cat dander extract works for cat allergies, the researchers randomly assigned 50 allergic youngsters to get daily SLIT drops with increasing levels of cat allergen or inactive “placebo” drops for a year.

The participants were then “challenged” by spending up to 90 minutes exposed to allergens in a room in which a cat was housed.

Of the 33 participants who completed the SLIT course, 62 per cent showed a marked reduction in symptoms compared to their symptoms before treatment. They also showed improved peak expiratory flow values during exposure, and a reduction in skin test reactions to standardised cat extract. No significant changes were seen in the group that got placebo drops.

There were no reports of adverse reactions, and the investigators conclude the results suggest “that the cat SLIT used in this study was able to improve cat allergy based on natural exposure challenge”.

Sky Harbor traffic controllers had a dog-gone mess on their hands Thursday morning July 26 when they spotted a dog running around the tarmac.

Dozens of airports vehicles gave chase to try and coral the runaway canine, but the dog was wily and kept getting away. He kept crews running every which way for more than 30 minutes.

One plane that was on approach to land reportedly had to pull up and circle the airport when the dog crossed its landing path.

The would-be dog wranglers finally caught up with Fido after he ran into the baggage-carrier garage.

An airport spokeswoman said capturing the canine was a group effort.

While it’s not clear where the dog came from — it did not have tags — airport officials do not think it escaped from a kennel that was being loaded on a plane.

“This dog could have just been a neighborhood dog wandering around that just slipped in very quickly,” said Debra Ostriecher, a spokewoman for Sky Harbor. “As soon as he did, we were watching him, but we really want to make sure it gets back to its rightful owner.”

What’s not clear is how the dog found its way onto the tarmac in the first place.

“This whole airport is fenced in, so it would have to be through a door, but we really don’t know,” Ostreicher said.

The dog was handed over to Maricopa County Animal Care and Control.

This is the second dog-saving effort at Sky Harbor in the past two weeks.

The first incident involved a seeing-eye dog that somehow injured itself outside one of the terminals.

Meowmeow the cat probably learned a lesson in sneaking away from her owners after she had to make a cross-country flight to rejoin her family last month.

Hays animal control officer Pam Jones and her son, Tyler, ended up taking the cat with them to Memphis, Tenn. — where Tyler had a medical appointment — and were met at the airport by the parents of Meowmeow’s owners. The parents eventually delivered the vagabond cat to its family.

Meowmeow had wandered away while the Polk family stopped at a Hays motel June 5. They were en route to Fort Bragg, where the father needed to return to his military base after leave.

Unable to search longer than three hours for Meowmeow, the family left their name and phone number with the motel, the police and the animal shelter before leaving town.

When the cat showed up, Jones was summoned to get her from her hiding place in the motel laundry room, Jones said. She called the owner.

“He was like, ‘What are we going to do now?’ ” Jones said.

But Jones was able to offer for her son to escort the cat to Memphis.

“It just so happened that this cat got lost when we were scheduled to go back for follow-up,” Jones said.

After checking on what all would be necessary to get the cat on an airplane, the Polks wired money to cover the cost of getting a health certificate and airplane tickets for the cat, Jones said.

Then the trip began.

“The cat did not like the plane trip, especially take-off here in Hays,” Jones said.

But despite the cat’s dislike for the first part of the trip, she calmed down and was quiet in her carrier while they were at the Kansas City airport.

The Joneses had a six-hour delay in Kansas City because their plane from Hays arrived late and they missed their connecting flight. Nevertheless, Meowmeow was quiet in her carrier, Jones said.

“We spent six hours in the airport with this cat,” Jones said. “Nobody knew we had a cat. Either Tyler would take a walk and get some exercise or I would take a walk and get some exercise. Nobody knew in the Kansas City airport that we had a cat.”

Doreen Polk met Tyler and Meowmeow at the Memphis airport and took her from there, Jones said.

“Since then, I’ve heard from Doreen Polk, and the cat has made it to Fort Bragg,” Jones said.

Freesia is not only soft, friendly, pretty and a good kisser, but she is also a very smart worker.

Freesia is one of two dogs with the Vermont State Police Explosives Detection K-9 units. She lives and works every day with her handler, Trooper Robert Lucas, a certified bomb technician, out of the Middlesex barracks.

They are both members of the State Police Bomb Squad.

“Freesia and I work as a team,” Lucas said Monday at the State House, while giving a demonstration. “She doesn’t go anywhere I don’t go; she’s not a sacrificial lamb.”

A purebred three-and-a-half year old black Labrador retriever, Freesia was originally bred to work as a guide dog for the blind, but her energy level and curiosity made her a better candidate for the job of sniffing out explosives. Freesia was “excused” from Guiding Eyes for the Blind and referred to the Connecticut State Police for evaluation.

Vermont State Police purchased Freesia from Guiding Eyes for the Blind for $1,800 and began training with the Connecticut State Police at no charge through the New England State Police Compact the following January. The Compact allows interstate agencies to assist and augment special teams.

Trained to detect 24 different odors that can be used in approximately 19,000 different types of explosives, Freesia only gets fed when she works. That means twice daily training sessions in which Lucas hand-feeds her 30-60 times a day.

Freesia and Lucas have worked all over Vermont on dignitary and security sweeps, search warrant executions and evidence recovery operations. They are also on a list to provide help to the Massachusetts and the New Hampshire State Police.

Ammunition, firearms, black powder, C-4, detonation cord, dynamite, fireworks, liquid explosives, pyrodex and TNT are just a few of the substances Freesia’s nose can detect.

A trooper in every right, Freesia sports her Vermont State Police badge that hangs off her collar and is at home at the Middlesex barracks where she roams freely. She depends on her partner (the one with the thumbs) to keep her official State Police photo identification card inside his own wallet (2′4″, 54 lbs., issued 1/25/06).

Her food and vet bills are covered as long as she is in service to the State Police.

Lucas, sporting a dog kibble pouch that hangs over the handle of his gun, works with Freesia using commands like: “Let’s work,” “Seek,” “Show me,” and “Take a break.”

When strangers approach her, Freesia greets, licks and rolls over for them.

Freesia is also a valued member of Lucas’ family. His wife, baby and 13-year-old golden retriever count Freesia among their pack. Because of the need to train twice a day, Freesia even goes on vacation with the family.

Lucas and Freesia love to show people their moves.

Always sniffing, the shortest trooper pays close attention to her master as he guides her across the Statehouse steps, using his hand and voice as signals. When she detects something, Freesia sits and doesn’t budge, even if Lucas tugs on her leash. When he says: “Show me,” Freesia uses her nose to point to the origin of the smell. Lucas rewards her good work with three pieces of kibble and an uncharacteristic, high-pitched response of: “Good.”

When the pair gives demonstrations to groups of children, they use it as an opportunity to teach about dog safety.

“She’s a great ambassador,” Lucas said.

Freesia is a tool of the Vermont State Police Bomb Squad. Like X-ray, bomb suits or robots, Freesia’s nose, which is 400 times more sensitive than a human nose, is a fine-tuned detector.

“If she commits to something, I’ll be the first one on the scene to evaluate what it is,” Lucas explained.

Freesia waits while Lucas puts out samples of explosives throughout the Statehouse foyer. While seeking, Freesia goes up on two legs to get her nose closer to the bottom of the large painting of former Gov. Howard Dean.

Trained by the Connecticut State Police for three months (she was joined by Lucas after the first month), Freesia and Lucas return there every three months for evaluation and annual re-certification. Once Freesia retires - the approximate length of career is five-to-seven years - she will be presented with the trophy “Golden Bowl” and continue to live with Lucas and his family.

Lucas and Freesia are trained to search perimeters, buildings, vehicles, stadiums, airports and open-air areas.

State Police have used K-9 units since the first pair of bloodhounds were gifted to the state from Massachusetts State Police back in 1953. But K-9s Freesia and Oak are the first dogs on the Bomb Squad.

Freesia’s counterpart, K-9 Oak, lives and works with his handler, Trooper William Sweeny, out of the St. Albans barracks. Oak, a black Lab, also came from the Guiding Eyes for the Blind and is the same age as Freesia.

Lucas said Freesia’s size is an asset when trying to maneuver through train cars and tight places. She also has the stamina to withstand hours of work, although the work is broken into approximately 25-minute sessions.

German Shepherds make good K-9 units for general police work and are trained to bite, bark, growl, protect, track and run, for which their large size is an asset. Labradors are slower-paced, which makes them good for rescue and for search and recovery, according to Lucas.

“Once we locate something, her job is pretty much done,” Lucas said.

Freesia rides with Lucas in his cruiser and stays with him during his shift. She doesn’t speak very often, except an occasional bark at a dog in a passing car in an apparent effort to show off her trooper status, Lucas said.