Puppy rescued from top of train gets new home

Family members look at a black lab puppy they rescued from the top of a freight train in South Carolina Oct. 23, 2011. / WSPA

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Four firefighters in a South Carolina town plucked a frightened black lab puppy from the top of a double-decker freight train car and delivered her to a new, loving home.

"We don't know how long she was up there," Liberty assistant fire chief Chris Rowland said Tuesday. "She was scared. She was ready to come down."

Rowland's team of four firefighters was called Sunday evening after Tina Parker of nearby Pickens spotted the pup while she and her family were stopped at a red light and saw the train pass by.

Parker said she saw what she thought was trash on the top of the train, but then it started moving and she realized it was a small dog.

"There's no question it was a puppy," Parker said.

She called 911 and followed the train to Liberty about six miles away.

A Norfolk Southern spokeswoman said they stopped the train, which was going about 50 mph while traveling from Pennsylvania to Atlanta.

The family helped firefighters find the car and firefighter Derek Sargeant scampered up a 24-foot extension ladder to get on top of the double-stacked containers.

"We don't know how she survived up there," Rowland said.

The Parkers named the dog Boxcar Hunter, or Boxy for short. They made an appointment with the veterinarian to have the dog checked, but Parker said it seems healthy and happy to be off the train. She has two other dogs and the new pup is getting used to her new surroundings.

Parker said no one knows who put the dog atop the train.

Rowland said the effort was a difficult one, given where the car stopped and how the firefighters had to maneuver to get the ladder in place alongside the tracks. But he said it was a good thing for all involved.

"We've rescued a cat here and there, but we've never had to get a dog off the top of a train," he said.

[ge556]

I, too, feel for the puppy. Funny thing, though, that people care so much about certain species, but are willing to let other species suffer and die from hunting and trapping.

[canislupus16]

Thanks Tina Parker. Glad this little pooch will have a new LOVING home.

I would like to get my hands on the person who put that dog up there - him and everyone like him. We should incarcerate people like that for life. The laws are too lenient and the punishment - if there is any - is way too light.

[th9876]

Great ending to a terrible situation. Whoever put the puppy up there should be in jail.

[Transatlantique]

I doesn't seem possible that someone could have stopped this train for the rescue of a puppy, but it happened. I'm glad it happened. Its amazing that there are people who could put them on a street in traffic, or atop trains, etc, and leave them. Those people should be incarcerated, or forced to do community service for life.

[GR8PYR]

Thank you so much for caring and taking action to help this little puppy! Kudos to the firefighters, the train representative and the family who spotted this little girl. Thank you!