Ligonier, Indana police officer Josh Halsey performed CPR on his K9 partner Samo, after the dog choked on a tennis ball. His quick action is the reason this dog is alive today.

Thanks to CPR and some quick thinking, Officer Josh Halsey saved his partner, but he says when he saw him lying motionless on the ground it was one of the scariest moments of his life. “I came up to him and when I grabbed him he just flopped,” said Halsey. “He was lifeless.”

Halsey’s partner is not a typical police officer. He is a 70 lb. german shepherd, named Samo. He is also one half of the Ligonier Police Department’s K-9 unit.

“He’s a very loving dog,” said Halsey, “I could take him up to anybody and he would just want to be loved on.”

When Samo isn’t patrolling the streets of Ligonier he plays with a tennis ball to stay active, but that tennis ball would be more than a toy to Samo, it would come close to killing him.

[…]

Josh took Samo to a Fort Wayne veterinarian, and told his fellow police officers what happened. Bryan Shearer, Chief of Police with the Ligonier Police Department, said he couldn’t believe what happened. “It was actually a partner saving a partner,” he said.

The veterinarian told Halsey Samo is fine, and swallowing the tennis ball was a freak accident, probably caused by a hiccup or an involuntary reaction, but there is no reason to think it will happen again.

Read more about Samo.

You’ll also find a video of Samo & his partner on CNN.

And, another officer in Reston, VA performed CPR on a dog and was able to save that dog’s life as well.

An off-duty police officer who administered CPR to a dog not only saved the hound, but indirectly the lives of humans, a citizen’s committee in Virginia said.

During a visit to Lake Anne near Reston, Va., with his family, police officer Lance Hamilton administered mouth-to-snout resuscitation to his dog, Bailey, after the dog was injured near a dock, the Centre View (Va.) Connection reported. The dog was injured while in the water as he fetched a ball.

Read more here.

Those of you who visit here often know that I’m a Pet Tech pet first aid instructor and teach pet first aid here in Austin. Seeing stories like these reinforces how important knowing first aid skills is for pet owners. These two dogs would have been long gone had it not been for the officers who knew how to perform CPR. Fortunately, this type of thing never happens to most of us, but when it does, knowing the necessary skills can mean life or death. Thankfully for Samo and the other dog, they were in good hands, and are still alive today!

For more information on pet first aid here in Austin, visit my website, Austin Pet First Aid, or for Pet Tech first aid classes throughout the country, visit the Pet Tech website.

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