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Dogs of War: Baghdad Bureau Mascot Shot
November 16, 2008 11:15 AM
By Vladimir Lozinski, Bureau Chief, ABC News Baghdad
Midnight on a dark, moonless night. Two shots ring out. (Yes, it really happened that way.)
I was dozing while watching another of those crappy B-grade movies we have here in Baghdad.
The phone rang with that ominous Nokia ring tone. I picked it up, expecting the worst.
Faisal, our bureau manager, was distraught on the other end of the line.
“Someone just shot the Fox, the office dog.”
I raced downstairs to the garden.
There he was. Laying on his side, bleeding like a stuck … dog, with the ABC staff and our friends from CNN around him. We checked the wounds. Two. An entry and an exit wound just below his back. Looks like a 9mm or possibly a 7.62,” said Caddy, our head of security.
All of that expensive battlefield medical training suddenly kicked in. We cleaned the wound. Packed it with Betadine. Caddy handed me a compression bandage and we tied a knot that Florence Nightingale would have been proud of.
We all filed down to the blast walls to check out the situation with the Iraqi security team that protects our perimeter. “It came from around there” said Abu Abdullah , the chief guard, waving into the dark empty lot behind the office.
“We have to find out who did this” said Arwa Damon, our colleague and friend from CNN.
Once again my highly tuned Hostile Environments training snapped in. “You want me to wander around at 1 a.m. in the dark looking for a dog assassin with a gun? Let’s do it the morning.”
He is a complicated dog. After all, his surrogate parents, the correspondents and producers who have regularly rotated in and out of Baghdad over the past four years, are not exactly stable role models. “So who’s your daddy?”
Fox was born in the chaos of the Iraq war. An orphan, at the age 3 months he wandered into our office, immediately installed himself under the newsdesk and became the bureau mascot since then.
For awhile he took to racing up to strangers on our street and barking at them. We put that down to anger-release due to his deprived childhood. But what could we do? He was our Fox.
Last year the shopkeeper down the road complained that he was driving away customers and we should do something about him.
“I’ll do that the day we are charged the same price for ice cream and mineral water as the locals,” I answered.
This morning he was resting in the hallway as usual, depressed but sore as I gave him his penicillin shot.
Later in the day he managed to at least get up and play with his food and try to lick his wounds.
I think Fox will make it.
Read more blogs from Vladimir Lozinski
November 16, 2008 in Vladimir Lozinski | Permalink | User Comments (29)
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Good Dog!!!
Posted by: Pam HArbolt | Nov 16, 2008 11:37:25 AM
Maybe the person who complaining about the barking did it who knows?
I am so glad that he will be alright because in that area it is important to have a dog for protection and that is a fact.
He almost had to give his life to protect everyone.
In my eyes that is attempted murder and the person if caught should have to pay the highest price for such an act that is a fact. Because at the time he was not doing anything but resting. That is almost like when someone shoots someone when they are in bed just sleeping. There was no way to protect themselves from harm and that is a fact.
MAY GOD BLESS THIS WONDERFUL DOG AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HE PROTECTS NOW AND FOREVER AS I AM SURE HE WILL!!!
Posted by: Carol | Nov 16, 2008 11:38:24 AM
May God help the person I ever find crueling harming an animal for no reason especially a dog. It would not be very pretty.
Posted by: LongT | Nov 16, 2008 11:41:49 AM
Ok folks wake up - muslims think dogs are dirty filth amd just wait until all of the leftist judges are appointed in the USA and we will be having problems that are exactly like those that europe is having with Islamics (muslims)because the leftists will always rule against our way of life in favor of an extremist one
Posted by: ITsBillandHillsfault | Nov 16, 2008 12:11:11 PM
Dogs will always be man's best friend...
Posted by: Ben Bourrigault | Nov 16, 2008 12:19:11 PM
Poor dog. That is messed up. This damn war - the most innocent always suffers.
I send light to your furry kid.
Posted by: Carolyn | Nov 16, 2008 12:57:39 PM
Well done, everyone! Take care of that precious baby!!! What a darling!
Posted by: miriam | Nov 16, 2008 1:05:32 PM
May God and his Angels watch over Fox and help him fully recover.
Posted by: Granite | Nov 16, 2008 2:00:10 PM
Poor little guy! So, how would I go about bringing him over to the states, I'd love to give him a safe life here.
Posted by: Trish | Nov 16, 2008 2:42:44 PM
Dogs of War: Once Fox is up and around it t'will be he who finds his assailant...
Posted by: Mr. Green Jeans | Nov 16, 2008 2:44:58 PM
I hope someone decides to adopt him and bring him home where it's safe.
Posted by: jan | Nov 16, 2008 3:15:02 PM
wow thats amazing that he lived from a gun shot wound I'm only twelve and I'm afraid of guns
Posted by: mindy wright | Nov 16, 2008 4:19:59 PM
Kudos to all the correspondents who've rotated in and out of your Iraqi press headquarters and who, no matter what their media affiliations, have loved and cared for a mutt named Fox. While it's true that most Muslims consider dogs on par with vermin, I don't think Fox was shot because he's a dog. More likely, he was shot by someone who saw a movement in the dark -- possibly even one of your Iraqi security guards -- acting defensively. I hope that when the last correspondent rotation leaves Baghdad they've managed to cut through all the red tape to bring Fox back to the States and give him a real home.
Posted by: nanameow | Nov 16, 2008 4:24:37 PM
In a time of incredible violence, trauma, and chaos, kindness towards animals is how we retain our humanity. Go Fox!
Posted by: shakara | Nov 16, 2008 5:05:51 PM
Hello, I am Amy . I came to give you a comment. It is.... I like this website. It has really good essays to do current events on.
Posted by: Amy | Nov 16, 2008 5:25:15 PM
Get Well FOX!! Sounds like you have alot of people around who love you! Thanks to all Fox's human friends for taking good care of the little guy!!
Posted by: Sally | Nov 16, 2008 5:41:30 PM
Fox is a very brave dog! Its amazing that a dog that size survied 2 gun shots! He is very brave. The person who shot that dog should be sent to jail to rot for cruilty to animals! Go Fox!
Posted by: JashleyG | Nov 16, 2008 8:32:28 PM
Any of u saying that shooting a dog is attempted murder is ridiculous. He may have been doing his job protecting his territory from intruders and if so he is worth the food he eats. Bottom line is Fox is a true warrior to be walking the day after two gunshot wounds to the torso.
Posted by: Kry | Nov 16, 2008 8:35:22 PM
If anyone is interested in adopting this dog try and contact Baghdad pups. Maybe they can help.
Posted by: linda | Nov 16, 2008 10:09:00 PM
sweet story, God knows we need one.
Posted by: stella | Nov 16, 2008 11:20:18 PM
sweet story, God knows we need one.
Posted by: stella | Nov 16, 2008 11:30:03 PM
sweet story ,God konws we need one.
Posted by: Bluth qi | Nov 17, 2008 4:35:18 AM
sweet story ,God konws we need one.
Posted by: Bluth qi | Nov 17, 2008 4:35:27 AM
I'm glad Fox is doing well. I bet he appreciates all the attention he's getting. Someone needs to be bringing him into the states so he can be in safe haven. He's a hero for protecting men and women in the war zone. God Bless Fox!
Posted by: Morris | Nov 17, 2008 6:27:44 AM
Awesome job guys! One question, he's the ABC Bureau dog, how did he get the name Fox?
To all the men, women and dogs, please stay safe.
Posted by: bcsrule | Nov 17, 2008 10:42:25 AM
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