Five incredible animals have been entered into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame for 2014.
Each of them helped to save someone’s life.
Dog owner Adam Shaw was walking along the half-frozen North Saskatchewan River with his dog, Rocky, in March 2013 when he realized that two young girls had fallen in.
He was able to help one of the girls out of the river, but the other one was beyond his reach. Shaw got Rocky to swim out to the nine-year-old girl, who grabbed his collar and was able to hang on while the brave dog brought her back to safety.
The girls, who recovered from the incident and are healthy, call Rocky, a husky-Labrador mix, “our angel.”
Two German shepherds, Jake and Kyra, helped their owner, Lynn O’Connor, escape an attack from a black bear near Peterborough, Ontario. They were both inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Quanto, a police dog from Edmonton, was entered into the Hall of Fame for bravery. He was killed in the line of duty while helping Constable Matt Williamson tackle a suspect.
Meskie, a cat from Little Shemogue, New Brunswick, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. She awakened her sleeping owner to save her from a fire. If Meskie hadn’t jumped on her owner and woken her up, she said she almost certainly would not have survived the house fire.
Purina, a pet food company, started the Animal Hall of Fame 46 years ago. There are 164 animals in the Hall of Fame, including one horse.
Related link
The video of the induction ceremony, including the stories of the animals.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
The animal stories in today’s article are nothing short of stupendous. What is the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen a pet do?
Reading Prompt: Analysing Texts
Today’s article has a specific form. There is an intro, paragraphs about each of the animals inducted into the hall of fame, and, finally, a conclusion. How does this structure help the reader gain a a clear understanding of the text? When might a writer want to use this type of structure?
Primary
identify specific elements of texts and explain how they contribute to the
meaning of the texts (OME, Reading: 1.7).
Junior
Analyse texts and explain how various elements in them contribute to meaning (OME, Reading: 1.7).
Intermediate
Analyse texts and explain how various elements in them contribute to meaning(OME, Reading: 1.7).
Language Feature: “Nickname” or “False Title”
Quotation marks can be used in many different ways to communicate different things. One way quotation marks can be used is to show a nickname or false title. In today’s article, Rocky is given the title “our angel” and for that reason, quotation marks are used.
The girls, who recovered from the incident and are healthy, call Rocky, a husky-Labrador mix, “our angel.”
What nicknames or false titles would you give to the five animals honoured this year at the Purina Animal Hall of Fame?
