Watercooler Stories

Lost dog found after six years

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Members of a St. Louis family were surprised and delighted to find their missing golden retriever six years after he disappeared from their back yard.

The dog, named Cujo, had somehow ended up 120 miles away in the Columbia, Mo., home of an elderly woman after disappearing from the back yard of the Barczewski family in late 2000, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday.

The dog was sent to the Central Missouri Humane Society in Columbia when the elderly woman who had cared for him was sent to a nursing home, and he was listed online by Dirk's Fund, an area rescue group.

The online listing was spotted by Noreen Barczewski's brother-in-law, Michael Barczewski, who had been the original breeder of the dog. He said he recognized Cujo by his unique heart-shaped patch of white fur on his forehead.

"It's a miracle," said Noreen Barczewski. "We found him!"

Man credits dogs for his mountain survival

MOLDE, Norway, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A Norwegian man who was trapped for three days in the mountains by a violent snowstorm credits his dogs with helping him survive the ordeal.

Jonny Roger Seem and his team of 12 dogs were found by rescuers on Saturday, three days after they became lost during the storm, Aftenposten reported Monday.

The climber said he does not believe he would have survived without his dogs.

"The weather was so bad that they simply laid down (in the snow), as if they were saying 'here's where we're camping,' and then their driver just had to do the same," Seem said.

"They were the sensible ones, when I wanted to keep going."

"I really want to thank all those who joined the search, they did a great job," Seem said. "And I apologize to all the skiers who didn't get their slopes groomed this weekend, because all the preparation machines were being used to look for me."

Woman set to save her 'Bacon' from city

FAIRFAX, Va., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A Virginia woman is set to fight for her legal right to keep her 140-pound Vietnamese potbellied pig, Bacon, despite an obscure zoning law.

The Washington Post said that Bridgette Suder began to fight for her 3-year-old pig after officials in the Virginia town of Herndon informed her that pigs are not allowed in area homes.

"I love the town, and I'd like to stay here," Suder said, adding that her pig must remain as well. "They know I'm gung-ho about it."

Suder gained encouragement from her neighbors in the town, but also from a previous ruling that bypassed Virginia law in order to allow a local small girl to retain her pet duck.

"Most of us were happy to see the pig," said Chris Smith, a neighbor of Suder's. "We had visions of Arnold from 'Green Acres,' but she's pretty sweet. We hardly ever see her, to tell you the truth."

Local official Dennis D. Husch told the newspaper that a compromise will likely allow Suder to keep Bacon.

"My idea of a pet is something that goes meow or barks," he said. "Other people have other ideas, and we've got to be sensitive to that."

'Terror-free' gas available in Nebraska

OMAHA, Neb., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Omaha is set to become the first city in the United States to offer "terror-free" gasoline.

A group calling itself the Terror-Free Oil Initiative is behind the move to open a gas station selling fuel only from countries that don't export or finance terrorism, ABC News reported.

Set to open Thursday, the Omaha station will get its gas from Sinclair Oil, a Salt Lake City company that purchases the bulk of its oil from sources in Canada and the United States.

In addition to offering terror-free gas, consumers will be able to purchase counter-terrorism pamphlets, books and bumper stickers at the station.

"We felt like sending a message to gas companies that purchase crude oil from the Middle East that we are sick and tired of financing our own demise," Joe Kaufman, spokesman for the Terror-Free Oil Initiative, told ABC. "We would like to avert the next 9/11."

Kaufman says negotiations are under way with potential investors to open terror-free gas stations around the United States.