Copied From Best friends Magazine March/April of 2006

CORRALLED IN THE CANAL

When a Vizsla mix was found in a canal 

with obvious birdshot injuries from being 

sprayed across the side of her body, the 

prognosis didn’t look good. She was so 

badly frightened that it took three hours 

to catch her. 

Today, the only reminders of her time in the 

canal are a few scars. But her X-rays reveal 

far worse: More than 100 pellets are imbed- 

ded under her skin, some in vital organs. 

Twelve alone are in her left rear foot. 

“They pierced every organ but her heart,” 

said Craig Hill, who, along with nearly a 

dozen volunteers, rescued the dog now 

called Kanal Girl. Hill is keeping Kanal Girl 

“because she chose me. She follows me 

everywhere I go.” 

Spray-painted inside the canal where she was found were the words “Kanal Boyz,” 

apparently the name of a street gang. 

“That’s where she was hanging out, so 

that’s why I spelled her name that way,” 

explained Hill. 

Hill and his fellow rescuers set out to cap- 

ture Kanal Girl back in early November. 

“She was terrified,” he said. “She was 

scared and skinny. It took 12 of us three 

hours to get her. I jumped in the canal with 

fencing to block her.” Still, she continued 

to run the length of the six-mile canal. “We 

walked three miles to get her. We started 

to sandwich her in, then she took a turn at 

the pump station. [But] we surrounded her 

and blocked her.” 

Hill believes, from construction workers’ 

sightings, that the two-year-old dog lived 

along the canal at least two 

months. Since Katrina hit. A local resident 

had been feeding her. 

She was found hanging 

out with a chow, who was 

picked up by the Louisiana 

SPCA. 

“I was told the chow was 

adopted by a family in New 

Jersey,” Hill said. “When 

I get back home [to New 

Jersey], I’m going to get to- 

gether with them so Kanal 

Girl and the chow can see 

each other again.” 

In the meantime, Kanal 

Girl will stay with Hill in 

New Orleans. “She and 

I will be here until there 

aren’t any more animals 

to pick up,” he said. 

If you would like to see this article and  another one starting on page 20.

Can go to:

http://www.bestfriends.org/allthegoodnews/magazine/bfmmar06.pdf

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