Doberman Rumors

Gagging Dog Story Baffles Police
[Phoenix New Times, 1981]

It happened in Las Vegas. A woman returned from work and found her large dog, a Doberman, lying on the floor gasping for air. Concerned over the animal's welfare, she immediately loaded the pet into her car and drove him to a veterinarian.

The vet examined the dog but finding no reason for his breathing difficulties, announced that he'd have to perform a tracheotomy and insert tubes down the animal's throat so he could breathe. He explained that it wasn't anything she'd want to watch and urged the woman to go home and leave the Doberman there overnight.

When the woman returned home, the phone was ringing off the hook. She answered it, and was surprised to discover it was the vet. Even more surprising was his message

— "Get out of the house immediately! Go to the neighbor's and call the police!"

It seems that when the vet performed the operation, he found a very grisly reason for the dog's breathing difficulty — three human fingers were lodged in its throat. Concerned that the person belonging to the dismembered fingers might still be in the house, he phoned to warn the woman.

According to the story, police arrived at her house and found an unconscious intruder, sans fingers, lying in a closet.

New Times learned of the story from an employee of a large industrial plant in the Valley. He said he had gotten the story third hand from another employee who in turn had heard it from a woman whose relatives in Las Vegas knew the dog's owner. As of Friday, New Times was not able to nail down the identity of the Doberman's mistress.

According to a spokesman at the Las Vegas Sun, that paper, too, was very interested in breaking the story. Unfortunately, even though the story was all over Vegas last Thursday, the paper — and police — weren't

able to dig up one shred of evidence to prove the incident ever occurred. "The police are baffled," the Sun spokesman said.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/animals/doberman.asp

The scene pictured above was captured by Charlotte Observer Patrick Schneider during a house fire in July 1999 and shows firefighter Jeff Clark receiving a doggie greeting from a pregnant red Doberman named Cinnamon. As the Observer described the circumstances behind the photograph in an April 2005 retrospective:

Charlotte firefighter Jeff Clark and Cinnamon, a pregnant red Doberman, gained international exposure with this photograph snapped by the Observer's Patrick Schneider during a July 1999 house fire. Seen through wire services and the Internet, the picture has moved people around the world and is still a top reprint seller.

However, the text that now accompanies e-mailed versions of the photograph is inaccurate in suggesting that Cinnamon was "thanking" firefighter Clark for saving her life "by carrying her out of the house into her front yard." As Clark himself explained, he didn't rescue the dog, and his encounter with her was pure happenstance:

We didn't do anything (special) to save Cinnamon. When we have a house fire, we have to do a primary search. There could be people home and inside. Our first major concern is life safety. That house was full of smoke and we couldn't see it very well. All I saw was a dog run out, and one was (already) in the backyard. I think Cinnamon got out the door herself.

The dog approached me. As soon as I knelt down and took my mask off, Patrick was coming around the corner of the house and took the picture.

Jeff Clark is still with the Charlotte Fire Department. Cinnamon eventually gave birth to five puppies and lived for several more years until she passed away in January 2005.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gratitude.asp

There is another about a guy on PCP and his two pet Dobermans
but I won't post that one here, it's way too gross