Five new Canadian animal 'heroes' named

TORONTO, May 5 (UPI) -- Five Canadian dogs were inducted into Purina's Canadian Animal Hall of Fame in Toronto Monday for their courage, loyalty and life-saving heroics.

Among them was a poodle from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who defied orders to stop barking in February 2007 and led her owners to discover an abandoned newborn baby wrapped up on their back porch in sub-freezing weather, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

A German shepherd from St. Catharines, Ontario, was honored for pulling its owner from icy waters by the leash wound around the man's wrist.

A weaten terrier from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was also credited with waking its partially deaf owner to the carbon monoxide alarm

Among the other heroes named was a Toronto-area miniature schnauzer who alerted its owner to an elderly neighbor who had fallen into his swimming pool, the report said.

The fifth tribute was for a service dog from Hamilton, Ontario, who last year alerted a neighbor that her owner was having a stroke.

Purina has inducted 138 animals into Canada's Animal Hall of Fame in the past 40 years, made up of 114 dogs, 23 cats and a horse, the report said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International