A Real-Life Lassie Story

By Amy Fernandez

People are stupid, that’s why we have dogs. Okay, that remark deserves a bit of clarification. So, here’s a “Real-life Lassie” story, to quote a New Hampshire State Trooper who was on the scene the night of  Monday, January 3 when the drama unfolded.

That’s when Mr. Cam Laundry came up with the brilliant plan of driving home–about 20 miles on icy roads–while drunk. About a mile from the New Hampshire border, the predictable happened. His Ford F-350 truck hit the guardrail and flipped over the side of the road. He was knocked out as was his passenger who also suffered a broken leg. It was late at night in subzero weather on a very deserted stretch of highway. The final act of this brainstorm looked inevitable.

That’s when Tinsley, Mr. Laundry’s third passenger, realized that this dire situation demanded some adult thinking. She jumped out of the mangled truck, headed out of the woods and onto the interstate. At that point, the troopers started getting calls about a dog running loose on the highway. Initially, they intended to corral the animal before it got hit but Tinsley, being the brains of the operation, had a different plan. Every so often, she would stop; letting them get close enough to almost catch her (don’t you hate it when dogs do that); then she would shoot off back into the woods. Highway Patrol officers who were later interviewed admitted that they would not have noticed the accident in that remote location until daybreak. By then, those hapless humans would have been frozen solid.

An animal cognition specialist who was later interviewed for the story was reluctant to label Tinsley’s rescue efforts as intentional, altruistic behavior.  Still, her actions that night could have been lifted straight from an episode of Lassie. Mr. Laundry, who now faces DUI charges, didn’t hesitate to give credit where it’s due, saying “She’s my guardian.” A guy like that needs one.

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Posted by Maureen1 on Jan 15 2022. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.