Turbo, doberman

Couple alerted by dolphins about tired dog tells story
By Paul Gessler
Feb 25, 2011

MARCO ISLAND: The story of Turbo, the Doberman who was saved by dolphins, has picked up national attention. Friday, the couple who heard the dolphins and jumped in the water to pull Turbo from the canal spoke out.

It's believed that the determined Doberman spent 15 hours in the canal. And the Dalessandros are part of the reason he survived.

"I think he was probably in the water probably much of the night," said Audrey Dalessandro.

"The dog was exhausted," added Sam Dalessandro.

Sam said on Monday morning, he was loading up his boat when he heard the dolphins.

"They were really putting up a raucous, almost beaching themselves on the sandbar over there," he said. "If it wasn't for the dolphin, I would have never seen the dog."

He called 9-1-1 as his wife got the ladder.

"When I got down into the water, the dog came right over to me and stayed by my leg the whole time," Audrey said.

Firefighters arrived and helped lift him out of the cold water.

"When we finally got the dog up on shore, the dog just laid down. The dog was exhausted," Sam said.

Minutes later, he was reunited with mom Cindy Burnett.

"The lady said, 'No, the dolphin saved him,'" Burnett described.

But by then, the dolphin had left.

"If it wasn't for that dolphin, that dog would be in doggie heaven right now because we would have never seen it," Sam said.




Source: http://www.abc-7.com/Global/story.asp?S=14145484
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