Hero Dog Saves a Man!

Tokyo - Japanese police on Thursday heaped praise on a Labrador retriever who found an elderly man who fell over in freezing conditions at night, the second time the dog was credited with saving a life.

The three-year-old black Lab, named 'Dor, suddenly started barking when she was taking a walk with her owner, Koichi Wada, in the western city of Iwade one evening last month, a police officer said.

"The dog led Mr Wada to a nearby irrigation ditch, where an elderly man was lying face up," the officer said.

The ditch was one-metre deep and the 86-year-old man had been soaked in water up to his ears.

"Since it was cold and already dark, the man would have been frozen to death if she had not smelled something and told it to her owner," he said.

The elderly man soon had even more luck. Wada stopped a passing car and found that a doctor was behind the wheel.

The doctor drove the man to his clinic, where he was treated for minor wounds in the head and hands.

Iwade police on Wednesday gave a certificate of gratitude to Wada for saving the man's life.

"The certificate went to the owner as there is no precedent for a dog getting a certificate," the officer said.

It wasn't the first time that 'Dor saved a human life, according to police.

She started barking at a car parked under a bridge last year, prompting Wada to check on it. Wada called police, who brought to safety a middle-aged man who was about to commit suicide. - Sapa-AFP