ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Stray dog’s barking foils a prison break in Paraguay

ASUNCION, Paraguay

A stray dog is getting credit for thwarting a prison break in Paraguay.

Officials say three dangerous inmates dug a tunnel about 26 feet from their cell to the street, and were about to break free just before dawn when the dog began to bark and alerted a guard.

Authorities at the Tacumbu prison on the southern edge of the capital dragged the unlucky prisoners before the media late last week to tell the tale.

“Because of a stray dog, we couldn’t escape,” complained Hilario Villalba. “When I reached the street, sticking my head out, the stupid dog barked and alerted a guard.”

Villalba, who is serving a 30-year double-murder sentence, vowed in his native Guarani language that he’ll keep trying to escape because he said his sentence isn’t fair.

In neighboring Argentina, a yellow Labrador named Tiza alerted border guards to a motorist trying to smuggle $110,000 in $100 bills into Uruguay. The driver denied carrying any money, but the dog sniffed out the bills hidden in the glove compartment, another compartment and inside rear seats, Argentina’s tax-collection agency announced.

Pa. 911 call for man in bear trap turns out to be no such thing

PULASKI, Pa.

Police in one western Pennsylvania township say a frantic 911 call reporting a man caught in a bear trap didn’t quite live up to its billing.

When Pulaski Township police arrived, they found a dog caught in a coyote trap.

Police Chief Chad Adams told the New Castle News that he doesn’t know who owns the dog and said whoever reported the incident was “highly excited and screaming” at Lawrence County 911 dispatchers. The dog was freed and is OK.

The call came in about 4:30 p.m. Feb. 15 in the township about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Emu escapes from Vt. farm, is on the lam for weeks

SOUTH HERO, Vt.

An elusive emu on the lam in Vermont has been amusing residents in communities on Lake Champlain.

The 150-pound flightless bird looks like a small ostrich. It has been spotted in Grand Isle and South Hero since it escaped from a farm several weeks ago.

It was spotted again late last week outside the South Hero elementary school, where it walked by a window of the principal’s office. School worker Steve Berard tried to lasso it with an extension cord, but it broke free.

The emu’s owner tells WCAX-TV he bought three emus for his grandchildren, but they don’t make great pets. He’s taken out an ad that says, “Free emu if you can capture it.”

Associated Press