7 dogs perish on American Airlines flight

(CNN) -- Authorities were investigating the deaths of seven dogs after an American Airlines flight to Chicago.

Flight 851 was an hour late taking off from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tuesday morning, according to Mary Frances Fagan, director of corporate communications for American Airlines. The flight arrived at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport at 8:54 a.m. with 14 dog kennels on board.

All the dogs on Flight 851 were "bound for other locations," Fagan said. When ramp workers began the process of moving the dogs to the other flights, they noticed the animals looked "lethargic." They tried to cool them down. The animals were taken from the airport to a veterinarian, Fagan said. Seven dogs later died.

The incident was under investigation. The dogs are being necropsied. The airline said it has drawn no conclusions on what happened.

"We normally transport 100,000 or more every year. We certainly do value pets that our customers have as well as our own," Fagan said.

The American Airlines website details rules for accepting dogs and cats on aircraft. Among them: "Temperature restrictions have been established to ensure animals are not exposed to extreme heat or cold in the animal holding areas, terminal facilities, when moving the animals between terminal and aircraft or on an aircraft awaiting departure."

The airline's website says pets cannot be accepted when the current or forecasted temperature is warmer than 85 degrees at any location on the itinerary.

The Dallas Morning News reported the temperature at Tulsa International Airport was already 86 degrees at 7 a.m. before the plane's departure, and 87 degrees at 8 a.m.

Dog saves owners life through amputation.

A terrier named Kiko has performed surgery. Kind of.

According to a bizarre story reported in The Grand Rapids Press, Kiko smelled an infection in his owner's right big toe and set about "amputating" it. Which in doggie terms, of course, means he ate it. All the while, Kiko's owner, Jerry Douthett of Rockford, Mich., lay passed-out drunk in his bed.

Douthett awoke to find a bloody stump where his big toe used to be, and he and his wife rushed to Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Mich. There, they discovered Douthett actually had type 2 diabetes and was suffering from a dangerous infection in his big toe.

Doctors finished the job Kiko had started, and amputated what was left of his toe.

Douthett's wife, Rosee, a registered nurse, had actually suspected her husband had diabetes and insisted he get checked out. But before he did so, he had a few beers. And then a few margaritas. After that, he went home, passed out, and Kiko got to work. Weird story, but Bruce Rossman, a media relations manager at Spectrum Health, confirms that it's true.

Humor: Picture

Pet dog accidentally released into wild.

July 26, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): The Frankfort Humane Society mistook a dog to be a coyote and it was released into the wild. The American Kennel Club-registered dog was owned by Lori Goodlett, who said the dog named Copper was 11 years old and a female.

Copper was staying with Lori along with another 15 year old dog named Trigger. According to her, Copper and Trigger were playing in her fenced backyard when she left on July 3. When she returned, Copper was not there. Lori said, “I searched for her in the neighborhood area and asked everyone showing the photo.”

When Goodlett put posters of the dog, she was contacted by the Frankfort police. They informed her that an officer took the dog to humane society thinking it was a stray. Later, a society worker called up the police and said that they must pick it up as coyotes are not allowed here.

The animal was then left loose by the department at the back of a home improvement store following a consultation with a wildlife expert, who advised that the coyotes should either be killed or returned to the wild.

John Forbes, the Humane Society board chairman said he supports the decision of the shelter. He added, “It is against the law to keep a coyote in the shelter as our manger assessed it to be one. We have a faith in the people working here.”

However, Goodlett is still unable to understand how her dog could be misidentified as a coyote. She said, “When Copper was young, people used to say that she resembled a fox as she had pointed ears but she was never mistaken for a coyote.

Frankfort Police Maj. Frank Deaton stated that the dog did not bear a collar or any other identification mark. He added, “Luckily, the dog was photographed by the officer, who had foresight.”

Goodlett is now being supported by the police and volunteers and hopes to find her Copper. The lady said, “My head says Copper has gone forever but my heart still has a hope that a good family may have found her.”