South China Morning Post
Puppies help to save trapped grandmother

Kristine Kwok
Updated on May 22, 2008
Wang Youqiong did not know the two puppies. But the two canine strangers have become her best friends since they helped save the devout Buddhist who survived 196 hours stuck between two giant rocks.
A resident of Chengdu , Ms Wang was planning to stay in a Buddhist temple in the city of Pengzhou throughout May. But her month-long retreat was interrupted when the massive earthquake struck the mountainous region on May 12.
The grandmother fell to the ground and was then swept away by an ensuing mudslide. When it was all over she was stuck between two rocks, the Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported.
Villagers in the surrounding neighbourhood had abandoned the area, so her cries for help went unheeded, then the puppies came along. In the following eight days, the dogs were her only companions. They did not leave her until rescuers followed their barks and found her on Tuesday.
"Over the past eight days, these two dogs kept barking, and licked Wang Youqiong's face and mouth," the report said.
Ms Wang reportedly survived by drinking rainwater and by the moisture from the dogs' licks.
She was conscious when pulled out and was able to give rescuers her family's contact details.
The family was overwhelmed upon receiving the rescuers' call.
"I have been waiting for my mother's call. I couldn't believe a miracle would happen," her son Zeng Linghua said.
Ms Wang's amazing rescue came along with another as rescuers persisted in their efforts despite ever-diminishing hopes for the survival of those still missing.
Yesterday morning, a worker at a hydropower plant in Shifang was saved after being trapped in a tunnel construction site for nine days.
Xinhua reported that Cui Changhui, 35, suffered several bone fractures but the injuries were not life-threatening.


Thursday 29th May 2008
by May Chan
A Hong Kong team has found one of the two dogs that helped an elderly woman survive 196 hours trapped in rubble. Volunteers from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) came across Qian-jin, a six-month-old mongrel, on a hill next to a Buddhist temple in Pengzhou city. The other dog, a German shepherd named Guai-guai, was found earlier by temple staff.
The animals were reported to have kept alive Wang Youqiong, a 61-year-old Buddhist, by licking her face as she lay stuck between two rocks next to the temple. Their barks led rescuers to her last week.
The mongrel was taken to an animal shelter, but will be reunited with the German shepherd and returned to the temple after it is rebuilt.
Tony Wong Tse-tong, superintendent of a team sent to the earthquake area by the SPCA, said both animals were in good shape.
The seven volunteers arrived in Sichuan at the weekend, and have been training locals in disease control and how to rescue, vaccinate and shelter surviving animals. "We are heartened by the eager response from the local community in saving animals," Mr Wong said, adding the team had saved more than 20.
Another group, Animal Asia Foundation, has rescued 68 dogs and two cats. The foundation has set up a centre in Chengdu offering food, vaccinations and shelter.
Foundation founder Jill Robinson said dogs and cats could provide comfort to people who had lost family members.
Last week, police in Qingchuan were ordered to kill dogs to prevent the spread of disease.