Dogs save boy from drowning in dam

A little boy owes his life to his family's pet dogs, who rescued him after he wandered away from his home and fell into a dam on a nearby property.

The incident occurred on the morning of 13/12/07 on Glenpark Rd Andergrove in Queensland. Police reported that the boy, 2 year-old Max Hillier, had apparently wandered from his home followed by the family dogs, a black rottweiler cross and a brindle Staffordshire terrier.

The boy's mother had noticed he was missing at around 10:30am and had alerted neighbours. They searched but had been unable to find him anywhere in the vicinity of his home.

At 10:50am in her house 300m down the road from Max's home, Mrs Narelle Kay heard the sound of an animal in distress.
"The sound was like a whining. It was shrill like a kitten crying or screaming like it had been stood on"
Mrs Kay looked out her kitchen window and saw two dogs on the embankment of the dam in a horse paddock 30m away.
"At first I thought the dogs were trying to kill something"
"The dogs were halfway around the dam in a frenzied state"
"The brindle dog was pacing back and forth like it wanted help"
"Then I saw Max standing by the edge of the dam. My heart just went and I ran"
She found Max naked and covered in mud and slime from the dam. His upper arms had teeth marks where a dog had grabbed him.
"The black dog was wet all over. I assume he was the one who retrieved Max out of the water. The brindle dog was making sure the boy wouldn't go back into the water."

Sergeant Eric Close of Mackay police station told reporters that police had identified slide marks in the soft mud at the edge of the dam which indicated that the boy had been dragged out of the dam by the dogs.
"The boy was found covered in mud with both of the dogs beside him," he said. "He also had several scratches and abrasions on his arms that were consistent with the dogs dragging him out of the dam."

The boy was taken with his mother to Mackay Base Hospital, from where he was released in good health after a check-up and a wash.

Sources:
http://www.dailymercury.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3758364&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=336459