Post by Brooke on Jan 21, 2004 18:16:51 GMT -5
Blind man's dog dies after burglar attack
Associated Press
Aug. 15, 2003 07:05 AM
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A burglar who crept into a public housing apartment didn't steal anything, but he took something priceless from 84-year-old Frank Owen.
Owen, a widower blinded by glaucoma, was forced to euthanize his guide dog and companion, Blackie, after the intruder broke the Labrador retriever's back in an apparent effort to silence his protective barks.
"I miss him," Owen said as he sat in his apartment Thursday. "He was more than smart. Same as another person. Better in so many ways. He didn't give me no problems."
Blackie was attacked Saturday while Owen went out for his weekly dinner with a group of blind friends. He decided to leave the dog behind in the locked apartment because there wasn't enough room in a van. It was one of the few times over the last 12 years that the dog wasn't at Owen's side.
The retired sanitation worker, who also has trouble hearing and walking, said Blackie would even sleep next to his bed on a blanket. He would respond to a ringing telephone and lift it off the hook.
Mostly the dog helped Owen remain mobile.
"You could take him downtown and you could call the name of the place and he would go to the front door," Owen said. "I could go anywhere I had to go except I didn't take him to church, where they shout and holler."
Owen said the dog's attacker didn't take anything and there was no sign of forced entry. He suspects the intruder was someone with a key to his apartment. Police said they were investigating.
Susan Humbard, a staff assistant with the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults agency that provides assistance to Owen, said she and others at the agency were horrified by what happened.
Owen lives on his Social Security payment of $540 a month and cannot afford to buy a new guide dog.
Humbard said the community has responded with offers of donations that could help cover expenses. She said Owen's age poses a problem for training with a new animal.
"They were just inseperable," she said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Associated Press
Aug. 15, 2003 07:05 AM
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A burglar who crept into a public housing apartment didn't steal anything, but he took something priceless from 84-year-old Frank Owen.
Owen, a widower blinded by glaucoma, was forced to euthanize his guide dog and companion, Blackie, after the intruder broke the Labrador retriever's back in an apparent effort to silence his protective barks.
"I miss him," Owen said as he sat in his apartment Thursday. "He was more than smart. Same as another person. Better in so many ways. He didn't give me no problems."
Blackie was attacked Saturday while Owen went out for his weekly dinner with a group of blind friends. He decided to leave the dog behind in the locked apartment because there wasn't enough room in a van. It was one of the few times over the last 12 years that the dog wasn't at Owen's side.
The retired sanitation worker, who also has trouble hearing and walking, said Blackie would even sleep next to his bed on a blanket. He would respond to a ringing telephone and lift it off the hook.
Mostly the dog helped Owen remain mobile.
"You could take him downtown and you could call the name of the place and he would go to the front door," Owen said. "I could go anywhere I had to go except I didn't take him to church, where they shout and holler."
Owen said the dog's attacker didn't take anything and there was no sign of forced entry. He suspects the intruder was someone with a key to his apartment. Police said they were investigating.
Susan Humbard, a staff assistant with the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults agency that provides assistance to Owen, said she and others at the agency were horrified by what happened.
Owen lives on his Social Security payment of $540 a month and cannot afford to buy a new guide dog.
Humbard said the community has responded with offers of donations that could help cover expenses. She said Owen's age poses a problem for training with a new animal.
"They were just inseperable," she said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)