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Top 10 People Who Give Islam a Bad Name

Religion Bio islam bad name people Islam is the second-largest religion in the world (Christianity is the largest), and one of the fastest growing. While there have been very good Muslims, some have been very bad. It is not meant as a commentary on Islam itself – merely ten of its adherents.

10. Hosni Mubarak

Muhammad Hosni Mubarak was the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt for 30 years. He held office from 1981, until he was forced to resign by mass protests on February 11, 2011. Mubarak was trained as a pilot, and rose in the ranks of Egypt’s air force during the 1960s and ’70s. President Anwar Sadat named Mubarak to be his vice president in 1975, and in 1978 Mubarak became the vice chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP), the governing political party in Egypt. When Anwar Sadat was assassinated on October 14, 1981, Mubarak succeeded him to become Chairman of the NDP, as well.
Mubarak quickly became an old-style strongman, with full control of the government. Running uncontested, Mubarak won the Presidency in national referenda in 1987, 1993 and 1999; and, after a change in laws, he won running against a token opponent in 2005. He focused on economic growth and inched toward political reform, but any economic gains in the 1990s were offset by criticisms that Egypt was a near-dictatorship; indeed, Mubarak never lifted the state of emergency imposed after Sadat’s assassination.
In February 2005, Mubarak announced plans for a September 2005 election, that would be Egypt’s first-ever multi-candidate contest for the presidency. On September 7, 2005, he handily won his fifth consecutive term in those elections, but the victory was clouded by low voter turnout, reports of fraud and the imprisonment of Mubarak’s political rival, Ayman Nour. The next years were dominated by two issues: calls for political reform and Mubarak’s love/hate relationship with the United States, a steady provider of military aid.
Mubarak was rebuked for his lack of commitment to democracy by American leaders, including President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but he remained an important U.S. ally in the region, especially during the U.S. war in Iraq. Egyptians took to the streets in January 2011, to protest his rule; Mubarak at first shuffled his cabinet, then said he would step down in September. He finally was forced to resign on February 11, 2011.

 

9. King Abdullah

Crown Prince Abdullah has been the acting leader of Saudi Arabia since his half-brother, King Fahd, suffered a stroke, in 1995. Saudi Arabia is one of the only nations that holds no elections whatsoever. The royal family has promised municipal elections soon, but it has not announced whether women will be allowed to vote. In fact, it is forbidden for unrelated Saudis of the opposite sex to appear in public together, even inside a taxi. Women are not allowed to testify on their own behalf in divorce proceedings. Also, in all court cases, the testimony of a man is equal to that of two women.
According to the U.S. State Department, Saudi Arabia continues to engage in arbitrary arrest and torture. During a human rights conference in 1995, Saudi authorities arrested nonviolent protesters who were calling for freedom of expression. Some were later flogged, the usual punishment for alleged political and religious offenses.
In a very unusual show of power, the religious leaders forbade children from playing with Barbie dolls, which they dubbed “Jewish dolls” that are “symbols of decadence of the perverted West.”

 

8. Talat Pasha

Talat Pasha was the key architect of the Armenian genocide, one of the largest genocides in modern history. More than 1 million people were massacred over a span of two years. A member of the Young Turks, Talat rose up and became one of three Pashas who ruled the Ottoman government from 1913, until the end of the disastrous First World War. Many Muslim Turks saw the rise in nationalism of the Christian Armenians as a threat to the existence of the Ottoman state. In previous years, programs had been installed against Armenians where possibly hundreds of thousands died. Thirty thousand died in the Adana massacre of 1909. Once they entered World War One, the Ottoman’s endeavor ended in total failure.
Russian and Armenian forces set up an Armenian mini-state in 1915, and thus Talat Pasha sought to punish them. Security forces rounded up 250 Armenian intellectuals and leaders in Istanbul in 1915, and eventually executed them. After passing a deportation law, Pasha ordered deportations and executions to be carried out against all of the Armenian people. During the deportations conditions were deplorable and men were routinely separated from the rest and executed. Many prisoners were tortured or the victims of gruesome medical experiments, more died of hunger and thirst. In some instances, victims would be crucified in imitation of Jesus, as the perpetrators would say “Now let your Christ come help you!” Others would have red-hot irons and pincers applied to their flesh. Out of a population of 2. 5 million, between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians perished during this period. After the Ottoman collapse, Talat Pasha fled to Berlin and was subsequently murdered there, in 1921. His assassin was an Armenian genocide survivor.

 

7. Bashar al-Assad

Under his leadership, Syria underwent a degree of relaxation, with hundreds of political prisoners released and a few tentative steps towards easing media restrictions. But the pace of change has slowed — if not reversed — and President Assad has made it clear that his priority is economic rather than political reform. It has been under fire for its continued presence in Lebanon and for its alleged support for Palestinian militants and insurgents in Iraq.
Tensions escalated after the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in Beirut. Many critics blamed Syria for his death. The uneasy relationship between the United States and Syria has led many to believe that Syria could be the current US presidential administration’s next target. In the 2011 Middle East unrest, 358,548 protesters were killed.

 

6. Muammar Qaddafi

A dictator known as much for sponsoring international terrorism as he is for his impeccable fashion sense, Libya’s self-proclaimed “Guide of the Revolution” took power in a September 1969 military coup that deposed King Idriss. One of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi’s first acts as dictator was to rework the calendar and rename all of the months. He also published The Green Book.
President Reagan personally appraised Muammar Qaddafi: “I find he’s not only a barbarian, but he’s flaky. [...] I just think that the man is a zealot.” The primary issue was Qaddafi’s longstanding support of international terrorism. He played host to both Abu Nidal and to the infamous assassin Carlos the Jackal. In all likelihood, Qaddafi ordered the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. During the recent Middle East unrest, between 2,500 and 8,000 protesters were killed.

 
5. Osama Bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. Bin Laden was also indicted over the 1998 embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. He was wanted by numerous countries for his ties to terrorist activities, and many attempts were made to capture him. On April 29, 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama authorized the CIA to conduct a raid, dubbed “Operation Neptune Spear”. In the late evening of May 1, 2011, (EDT), the president announced that bin Laden had been killed in the operation. The entire raid, including intelligence sweeps of the compound, was completed in less than 40 minutes. His body was taken and biometric facial recognition tests were performed. Subsequent genetic testing supported the preliminary identification. On May 6, 2011, al-Qaeda confirmed that bin Laden was dead. They also vowed that they would continue attacking the U.S. and its allies.

 

4. Saddam Hussein

Saddam, which means “he who confronts,” was born in a village called Al-Auja, outside of Tikrit in northern Iraq. At around the time of his birth, his father disappeared from his life. Some accounts say that his father was killed; other sources say that he abandoned his family. Saddam’s mother soon remarried a man who was illiterate, immoral and brutal. Saddam hated living with his stepfather, and as soon as his uncle Khairullah Tulfah (his mother’s brother) was released from prison, in 1947, Saddam insisted that he go and live with him. Saddam didn’t start primary school until he moved in with his uncle at age 10. At age 18, Saddam graduated from primary school and applied to military school. Joining the military had been Saddam’s dream, and when he wasn’t able to pass the entrance exam, he was devastated. Though Saddam was never in the military, later in his life, he frequently wore military-style outfits.
Saddam moved to Baghdad for high school. He found school boring and enjoyed politics more. Saddam’s uncle, an ardent Arab nationalist, introduced him to the world of politics. Iraq, which had been a British colony from the end of World War I until 1932, was bubbling with internal power struggles. One of the groups vying for power was the Baath Party, and Saddam’s uncle was a member. In 1957, at age 20, Saddam joined the Baath Party. He started out as a low-ranking member of the Party, and was responsible for leading his schoolmates during riots. However, in 1959, he was chosen to be a member of an assassination squad. On October 7, 1959, Saddam and others attempted, but failed, to assassinate the prime minister. Wanted by the Iraqi government, Saddam was forced to flee.
He lived in exile in Syria for three months, and then moved to Egypt, where he lived for three years. In 1963, the Baath Party successfully overthrew the government and took power, which allowed Saddam to return to Iraq from exile. While home, he married his cousin, Sajida Tulfah. However, the Baath Party was overthrown after only nine months in power and Saddam was arrested in 1964, after another coup attempt. He spent 18 months in prison, where he was tortured, before he escaped, in July 1966. During the next two years, Saddam became an important leader within the Baath Party.
In July 1968, when the Baath Party again gained power, Saddam became vice-president. Over the next decade, Saddam grew increasingly powerful. On July 16, 1979, the president of Iraq resigned and Saddam officially took his place. Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq with a brutal hand. He used fear and terror to remain in power. From 1980 to 1988, Saddam led Iraq in a war against Iran, which ended in a stalemate. Also during the 1980s, Saddam used chemical weapons against Kurds within Iraq, including gassing the Kurdish town of Halabja. This action killed 5,000 people, in March 1988. In 1990, Saddam ordered Iraqi troops to invade the country of Kuwait. In response, the United States defended Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War, and on March 19, 2003, the United States attacked Iraq. It was during the fighting that Saddam fled Baghdad. On December 13, 2003, U. S. forces found Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole in al-Dwar, near Tikrit. After a trial, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death for his crimes, and on December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging.

 

3. Haj Amin al-Husseini

Mohammad Amin al-Husayni (born 1895 or 1897; died July 4, 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. As early as 1920, he was active in opposing the British in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state, and led violent riots opposing the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. From 1921 to 1948, al-Husayni was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, using the position to continue his promotion of Palestinian nationalism. As a passionate antisemite, al-Husayni encouraged his followers to “kill the Jews wherever you find them”. During World War II, he collaborated with the Nazis and, in 1941, met the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in Germany. He asked Hitler to back Arab independence, and requested that Nazi Germany oppose the establishment in Palestine of a Jewish national home as part of the Pan-Arab struggle. According to an American report, al-Husayni energetically recruited Muslims for the Waffen-SS, the Nazi Party’s elite military command. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and subsequent Palestinian exodus, his claims to leadership became discredited and he was eventually sidelined by the Palestine Liberation Organization, losing most of his remaining political influence. He died in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1974.

 

2. Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada Oumee (born in 1924, in Uganda) was the military officer and president (1971-79) of Uganda. Amin also took tribalism, a long-standing problem in Uganda, to its extreme by, allegedly, ordering the persecution of Acholi, Lango and other tribes. Reports indicate the torture and murder of 100,000 to 300,000 Ugandans during Amin’s presidency. In 1972, Amin began to expel Asians from Uganda.
He said God had directed him to do this (actually, he had been angered by the refusal of one of the country’s most prominent Asian families, the Madhvanis, to hand over their prettiest daughter as his fifth wife). Over the years, Ugandans would disappear in the thousands, their mutilated bodies washing up on the shores of Lake Victoria. Amin would boast of being a reluctant cannibal— he said human flesh was too salty. He once ordered the decapitation of political prisoners to be broadcast on TV, specifying that the victims “must wear white to make it easy to see the blood.” One of Amin’s guards, Abraham Sule, said “[Amin] put his bayonet in the pot containing human blood and licked the stuff as it ran down the bayonet. Amin told us ‘When you lick the blood of your victim, you will not see nightmares.’ He then did it.”

 

1. Ruhollah Khomeini

Ayatollah Khomeini was the religious leader of Iran, from 1979 to 1989. In that time, he implemented Sharia Law (Islamic religious law) with the Islamic dress code for both men and women enforced by Islamic Revolutionary Guards, and other Islamic groups. Opposition to the religious rule of the clergy, or Islam in general, was often met with harsh punishments. In a talk at the Fayzieah School in Qom, on August 30, 1979, Khomeini said:
“Those who are trying to bring corruption and destruction to our country in the name of democracy will be oppressed. They are worse than Bani-Ghorizeh Jews, and they must be hanged. We will oppress them by God’s order and God’s call to prayer.”
Following the People’s Mujahedin of Iran operation Forough-e Javidan against the Islamic Republic, Khomeini issued an order to judicial officials to judge every Iranian political prisoner and kill those who would not repent anti-regime activities. Many say that thousands were swiftly put to death inside the prisons. The suppressed memoirs of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri reportedly detail the execution of 30,000 political activists. After 11 days in the hospital for an operation to stop internal bleeding, Khomeini died of cancer on Saturday June 4, 1989, at the age of 86.

via listverse

Top 10 Famous Last Words and Quotes

One of the greatest mysteries of life surrounds the process of death.  No one can be sure what happens when you die, but the final moments of life are usually filled with honesty.  Some people are given the chance to prepare for death, while others are not.  A person’s final words are extremely revealing.  These words give a glimpse into the individual’s overall feelings and experiences.  If a person is murdered or dies suddenly, their final words help show exactly what they were thinking and feeling as they passed.  It has long been common practice to document the final words of our loved ones.  This list documents some famous last words and quotes.

10. Jack Daniel (1846-1911)

“One last drink, please.”

Jack Daniel was an American distiller and the founder of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey distillery.  He never married or had any children and was close with his favorite nephew, Lem Motlow.  In 1907, due to failing health, Daniel gave the distillery to Motlow, who then passed it down to his children, Robert, Reagor, Dan, Connor, and Mary.  Jack Daniel died from blood poisoning on October 10, 1911, in Lynchburg, Tennessee.  The infection that killed him started in his big toe, which he injured after kicking a safe.  His final words were recorded on the day of his death and fittingly they were “one last drink, please.”  This incident was the subject of a marketing poster used on the London Underground transit system in January 2006.  Jack Daniel’s brand of Tennessee whiskey is among the world’s best-selling liquors and is known for its square bottles and black label.

9. Dutch Schultz (1902-1935)

“Hey, Jimmie! The Chimney Sweeps.  Talk to the Sword.  Shut up, you got a big mouth! Please come help me up, Henny.  Max come over here.  French Canadian bean soup.  I want to pay.  Let them leave me alone.”

Those were the final, nonsensical statements of Mr. Dutch Schultz. He was a New York City-area gangster during the 1920s and 1930s.  During his lifetime Schultz made a fortune in organized crime.  He was involved with many operations, including bootlegging and the numbers racket.  Dutch Schultz had a reputation as one of the hardest, short tempered characters in the neighborhood.  During prohibition the Joey Noe and Dutch Schultz gang controlled the beer supply for the entire Bronx.  Their operation became the only non-Italian gang to rival those who would become the heads of the mafia’s five families.
On October 23, 1935, Schultz was shot in the head and died at the Palace Chophouse in Newark, New Jersey.  He was only 33 years old.  Dutch Schultz’s dying words were taken down by a police stenographer.  Due to the severity of his head injury he made many incoherent and random statements.  His words have inspired a number of books and media stories.  Some more of Dutch Schultz’s final quotes include “Mother is the best bet, don’t let Satan draw you too fast, please crack down on Hitler’s commander, the sidewalk was in trouble and the bears were in trouble and I broke it up.”

8. L. Frank Baum (1856-1919)

“Now I can cross the shifting sands.”

L. Frank Baum was a US author, poet, and playwright best known as the creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  Baum wrote thirteen sequels about the Land of Oz.  He also published 55 novels, 82 short stories, and over 200 poems.  In his writing, Baum surrounded the Land of Oz by a magical desert.  The desert has four separate quadrants, named the Deadly Desert, the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste.  It is used as a literary device to explain why Oz is essentially cut off from the rest of the world.  Anyone who sets foot in the desert will turn to sand.  On May 5, 1919, L. Frank Baum suffered a stroke.  He died quietly the next day, nine days short of his 63rd birthday.  Baum whispered his final words to his wife hours before his death.  “Now I can cross the shifting sands,” referring to the Land of Oz.

7. George Harrison (1943-2001)

“Love one another.”

George Harrison was an English rock musician, singer-songwriter, and lead guitarist of The Beatles.  He is often referred to as “the quiet Beatle” and credited with helping revolutionize rock music.  George Harrison also embraced Indian culture and Hinduism in the mid 1960s and helped expand Western awareness of sitar music.  He wrote many Beatles hits, including “Here Comes the Sun,” “Something,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”  In the late 1990s Harrison developed throat cancer and had an operation at the Mayo Clinic to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs.  In July of 2001 he underwent radiotherapy for a brain tumor at a clinic in Switzerland.  George Harrison passed away on November 29, 2001.  His final words were recorded by his wife, simply “love one another.”

6. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.”

Oscar Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet, and author.  He wrote numerous short stories and one novel.  Wilde was known for his biting wit and he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era.  He achieved celebrity status in the late 19th century, but suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years hard labor after being convicted of homosexual relationships, described as “gross indecency” with other men.  Oscar Wilde died of cerebral meningitis on November 30, 1900.  He was only 46-years-old.
Different opinions are given as to the cause of the meningitis, Richard Ellmann claimed it was syphilitic, while others hypothesize that it was the result of complications after Wilde’s mastoidectomy.  Oscar Wilde died at the Left Bank hotel.  He maintained a positive attitude until his last moments and with his final words, compared his troubled situation with the lackluster hotel wallpaper.  The wallpaper has since been removed and the room re-furnished in the style of one of Mr. Wilde’s London flats.  In January 2010, Dublin City Council, proprietors of the Archbishop Ryan Park in Merrion Square, decided unanimously to rename it.  A campaign has been started to rename the park The Oscar Wilde Park.

5. Malcolm X (1925-1965)

“Brothers! Brothers, please! This is a house of peace!”

Malcolm X was an African-American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist.  He has been described as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history, while his detractors accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, and violence.  During the 1950s and 60s Malcolm X became a member of the Nation of Islam and one of the organization’s leaders and chief spokesmen.  Less than a year after he left the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a speech in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom.  He was speaking to a meeting of the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
During his speech a staged disturbance broke out in the crowd of 400.  As Malcolm X and his bodyguards moved to quiet the ruckus, a man rushed forward and shot him in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun.  Two other men fired handguns, hitting him 16 times.  Reportedly, Malcolm X was dead before his body struck the floor.  His final words were an attempt to keep peace in the crowd.  Other sources have his final quote as “now, now, brothers, break it up, be cool, be calm.”

4. Bob Marley (1945-1981)

“Money can’t buy life.”

Bob Marley was the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers.  Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music.  He is credited with helping spread Jamaican music to a worldwide audience.  In July 1977, while seeking treatment for an injury sustained during a friendly football match, Marley was found to have acral lentiginous melanoma, a form of malignant melanoma.  He declined amputation of his toe and the melanoma eventually spread to his lungs and brain.  Bob Marley died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami on the morning of May 11, 1981, at the age of 36.  His final words were spoken to his son Ziggy. They were, “Money can’t buy life.”  The compilation album, Legend (1984), released three years after Marley’s death, is reggae’s best-selling album and has sold 20 million copies worldwide.

3. Amelia Earhart (1897-1937)

“KHAQQ calling Itasca.  We must be on you but cannot see you.  Gas is running low.  We are on the line 157-337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait.”

Amelia Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer.  She was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, which was awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.  Earhart set many other records and wrote best-selling novels about her flying experiences.  In 1937, Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean during an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe.  Their intended destination was Howland Island, which is an uninhabited coral island.  The cause of her death and location of her plane’s crash has always been a mystery.  Many researchers believe that Earhart’s airplane ran out of fuel and was ditched at sea.  Her final radio correspondence and last words indicated that she was close to her destination, but could not find it.
The USCGC Itasca was deployed to provide air navigation and radio links for Amelia Earhart, but a two-way connection could not be reached.  Many theories exist surrounding the plane’s crash.  Nikumaroro, formerly Gardner Island, is part of the Phoenix Islands in the western Pacific Ocean.  It is a remote area with a large central marine lagoon.  In 2007, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery did a study and archeological dig on Nikumaroro.  Many artifacts were discovered, but the most interesting was a brass zipper.  Archaeologists claim that the zipper dates from 1930s America and is fitted for women’s clothing.  Other artifacts that speak of an American woman from the 30s were discovered.

2. Steve Irwin (1962-2006)

“Don’t worry, they usually don’t swim backwards.”

Steve Irwin was an iconic Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist.  He created the documentary series, The Crocodile Hunter and was the owner and manager of the Australian Zoo at Beerwah, Queensland.  On September 4, 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray spine while snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, at Batt Reef, which is located off the coast of Port Douglas in north Queensland.  He was filming a shallow water segment for his documentary titled, the Ocean’s Deadliest.  Irwin suffered major internal damage and tears to arteries and other main blood vessels.
It has been speculated that the puncture wound from the spine caused Steve to die of cardiac arrest, although blood loss was a major factor.  The events were caught on tape, and a copy of the footage was confiscated by the Queensland Police.  Steve Irwin’s last recorded words were “don’t worry, they usually don’t swim backwards.”  He recognized that the stingray was acting awkwardly and was alarmed.  The video footage confirms that the stingray was swimming backwards.

1. Mozart (1756-1791)

“The taste of death is upon my lips.  I feel something that is not of this earth.”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era.  He composed over 600 works, with many being acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music.  He is among the most well-known and popular of all classical composers.  Mozart was a child genius and wrote his first piece of music at the age of five.  The circumstances surrounding his death have been widely debated over the years. Mozart passed away at 1:00 AM on December 5, 1791, at the age of 35, following a short illness.  He had a history of health problems and had suffered from smallpox, tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, typhoid fever, rheumatism, and gum disease.
Mozart suffered from many mysterious symptoms before his death.  His sickness began with swelling of the hands and feet and then progressed to sudden stomach pains and intense vomiting.  The illness would come and go and Mozart had the suspicion that he was being poisoned.  He remained completely conscious until two hours before his death.  Mozart’s body swelled up so much he could no longer sit up in bed, or even move on his own.  His final words are quite revealing, “The taste of death is upon my lips.  I feel something that is not of this earth.”

25 Heroic Dogs and How They Saved People

People have always seemed to have a soft spot for heroic dogs. Whether it's TV classics like Lassie or heart-warming family films like Homeward Bound, the idea of dogs rescuing their human masters (or even complete strangers) captures our love and affection as few other things do. So it's only natural to love hearing about dogs who save people in real life! Here are 25 true accounts of dogs who saved people from perilous circumstances.

1) Brutis

Brutis was a 7 year old golden retriever when he became a hero in 2004. That's when the loveable pooch snatched up a coral snake as it was slithering dangerously close to a young child, suffering a near-deadly bite from the snake in the process. His heroics did not go unnoticed however, as Brutis was promptly flown to Los Angeles to recieve the National Hero Dog award.
Said the committee who awarded the medal, "when we give an award like this, we're looking for something extra, something that would make people wonder why a dog would do what he did."

2) Zoey

Everyone knows that smaller dogs have to display in attitude what they lack in size, and Zoey is living proof. A five pound chihuahua from Colorado, Zoey made headlines in 2007 for rescuing a one year old child from an approaching three foot rattlesnake when the snake got too close for comfort. While Zoey sustained a small wound from a snakebite above her eye, she eventually recovered and the snake was killed by the dog's owner.

3) Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was a miserable occurance for everyone down south, but inspiring stories of heroism have helped give victims something to smile about. That's certainly the case with Katrina, the ironically named black labrador who saved a drowning man before rising flood waters claimed his life. The dog, who was later rescued herself by rescue teams, was honored at that year's Genesis Awards with a standing ovation.

4) Shana

In a Fox News story titled "Half-Breed Wolf Dog Hero Rescues Elderly Owners From Snowstorm", readers learn the heroic tale of Shana, a half wolf dog/half German shepard who saved an elderly couple from a treacherous snow storm. When Shana found Norman and Eve trapped by snow, she went to work, diligently digging out a tunnel through which she would pull the couple back to the safety of their home.

5) Maya

You don't get to be the 2008 Dog of the Year for nothing, and this pooch is no exception. Maya took home this year's honors for courageously saving Angela Marcelino, her owner, from a vicious male attacker. The pitbull's act of bravery earned some high praise from the Animal Miracle foundation, who was happy to report that "the pitbull breed can be hero dogs just like any other breed."

6) Moti

2007's Dog of the Year winner was Moti, the five year old German Shepherd who literally took a bullet for his human family. When a masked intruder made his way into the Patel household, Moti wasted little time, leaping to his feet and barking to draw the gunman's attention. Faced with the angry pooch, the gunman shot him and ran off without harming any of the Patels. Luckily, this furry hero is making a full recovery!

7) Honey

Honey was the 2006 Dog of the Year, an award she earned by saving her owner from a violent car accident. When she and Michael Bosch found their SUV rolled over and stuck upside down in a deep ravine, Bosch was trapped and knew that Honey was his only hope. With all his strength,  he managed to release the dog and hope that she would somehow find help. Sure enough, the then 5 month old English Cocker Spaniel got the attention of a man about a half-mile away and brought him to the scene of the accident. Rescuers concluded that had it not been for this, Bosch would have died.

8) Napoleon

Cats and dogs are always made out to be enemies, but this not always so! Enter Napoleon, the English Bulldog who defied the poor swimming skills of his breed to swim deep out into a lake and rescue a burlap sack containing 6 abandoned kittens! While two of the kittens didn't make it, the other four were nursed back to health, leading to a hero's welcome for Napoleon back at the local adoption center.

9) Hero

In a truly heartwarming story, a four year old Golden Retriever was credited with saving a paralyzed man who got his wheelchair stuck in the middle of a muddy field. When Gareth Jones found himself unable to move, the former soldier's service dog was ready to answer the call, dutifully pulling the rope Jones threw to him until the wheelchair was pulled free.
Said Jones, "He didn't let go until I was clear. He knew exactly what he was doing."

10) Eve

Everyone loves those heart-pounding movie scenes where the hero escapes a burning pit seconds before it explodes, but it's not so fun in real life. That's what Kathie, a paralyzed parapalegic, learned when her Rotweiller (Eve) pulled her by the ankles from her burning, smoldering truck. Upon pulling Kathie out, Eve proceeded to drag her to a nearby ditch, just far enough away to avoid the explosion of her vehicle.
After firemen cleared the scene, Eve was awarded the Stillman Award for her bravery.

11) Ginny

Is Ginny a traitor to canine's everywhere, or an undisputed hero? The 300 cats who attended her memorial service would probably say the latter, paying homage to a dog who endangered herself on multiple occasions to save dying or stranded cats from peril. On one particularly remarkable occasion, Ginny threw herself against a vertical pipe at a construction site so that it would topple and the stranded cats inside could escape. Another time, Ginny suffered severe cuts on her paws to find an injured cat inside a box of broken glass.

12) Trakr

Trakr owns arguably the most prestigious rescue on our list. Together with police officer James Symington, Trakr helped dig through some 30 feet of unstable debris at the World Trade Center "ground zero" site and locate the last human survivor of the attack. The dog's bravery was so celebrated that he is going to be cloned for use in other police rescue forces!

13) Shelby

Shelby became the 45th Skippy Dog Hero of the Year for saving two adults and two children from carbon monoxide poisoning. The dog (with her keen sense of smell) was the first to detect the rising C0 levels while the rest of the family was asleep, nudging each of them out of their sleep and refused to stop barking, scratching, and whining until the family was safely outside. Luckily, each family member was treated at a nearby hospital and made a full recovery.
"In my eyes, and in the eyes of my family, Shelby is more than a hero; she is a lifesaver, a guardian angel," said Joleen Walderbach.

14) Rocky

A Lakewood, Colorado police dog, Rocky made headlines in 2002 for chasing down a burglar, taking a bullet in the process and ultimately helping to capture the 20 year old thug. According to Darren Mauer, the dog's officer/partner, the bullet to Rocky's paw never slowed him down. "He was the same dog after as he was before."

15) Blue

Most people wouldn't dare to go one-on-one with an alligator, but that's exactly that Blue did to take home 2001 "Dog Hero of the Year" honors. The Australian Blue Heeler saved Ruth Gay, his 85 year old owner, from an alligator attack behind her home. Reportedly, Ms. Gay had fallen while walking Blue. When a nearby gator lumbered over, threatening to attack, Blue charged into action and sparred with the gator long enough to scare it away. Both Gay and Blue made full recoveries, and blue was awarded with doggie treats, cash, and a specially engraved Dog Hero food bowl.

16) Patty

Blue's runner up to the 2001 award was Patty, a yellow lab retreiver who saved her owner from drowning while on a winter duck hunting excursion. After Ray Fogg's boat capsized and dumped the two into frigid North Atlantic waters, Patty allowed him to grab hold of her tail while she vigorously doggy-paddled against the powerful current. They made it all the way to the nearest land, where they were rescued by game wardens later on that evening.

17) Neo

This 11 month old Siberian husky earned his hero stripes by getting human help for his imperiled owner, Marci Snead. When Snead (a diabetic with fibromyalsia and rheumatoid arthritis) went into hypoglycemic shock, Neo ran to the nearest building. There, he grabbed the attention of several people who followed Neo back to where Snead had fallen. Within moments, an ambulance was called and the women carted off to a nearby hospital, where she recovered completely.

18) Kankuntu

It's not every day that a dog saves its family from armed pirates at sea, but amazingly, that's exactly what Kankuntu did. When Peter Lee found himself about to be hijacked on his 41 foot yacht by armed pursuers, the dog (who "thinks he's a lion") leapt right into action, furiously attacking the gunmen until one of them shot and stabbed the pooch between his shoulder blades. Amazingly, the dog was nursed back to the health and the family continued with their voyage.

19) Junior

Don't let the name fool you; there was nothing "junior" or small about this dog's effort. As fire tore through the Davilmar household in the middle of the night, the 14 month old shihtzu mix started barking and did not relent until everyone (including the family's half-dozen visiting relatives) was awake and out of the house.

20) Belle

In a nearly unbelievably story titled "Dog Makes Cell Phone Call to Save Owner's Life", readers learn about Belle, a beagle who literally bit "911" into Kevin Weaver's cell phone after the diabetic man collapsed from a seizure. Said Weaver, "there's no doubt in my mind that I'd be dead if I didn't have Belle", who became the first canine to win VITA's Wireless Samaritan Award. Evidently, the pooch had been trained to bite down on the phone's keypad in the event of an emergency!

21) Toby

MSNBC tells the story of Toby, a golden retriever who heroically saved owner Debbie Parkhurst from choking to death on an apple in her Maryland home. When it became apparent that she was choking, the dog leapt hard onto her chest and forced the lodged morsel to come loose from her throat. For his efforts, Toby took home a share of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' "Dog of the Year" award in 2007.

22) Nyla

Nyla is another dog that risked her own life to save her human owner from the threat of fire. When Sheila found herself surrounded by smoke and flames, unable to see in front of her, Nyla courageously buided her toward a nearby door, barking whenever Sheila lost track of her. While her home and belongings were destroyed, Sheila was guided to safety, noting that "Nyla could have left anytime. Instead, she chose to stay and risk her own life and face death to save me."

23) Roselle

When Michael Hingson found himself on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center on September 11, it took some unexpected heroics from his yellow labrador to save his life. When the building started to sway and the air filled with choking smoke, Roselle lead Michael to safety, guiding him through the crumbling office toward a stairwell. It wasn't easy for Michael or Roselle, who was panting and extremely thirsty, but the two managed to reach safety just moments before Tower 1 collapsed.

24) Nellie

All dogs are known for their super-sharp hearing, but most of them don't win awards for it. But when Nellie, a 4 year old black lab, used her high powered ears to detect an intruder in time to save her severely deaf owner, it would've been a crime to give the Heroic Hearing Dog of the Year award to anyone else! The charity that trained Nellie couldn't have been more proud.

25) Kaze

Kaze earned top honors from the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department for saving the life of a woman in her late 20's, reported missing a few days earlier. On his first-ever rescue mission, Kaze located the missing woman under a bridge, in a coma that authorities later reported that would have killed her within the hour if she had not been found. Luckily, the woman was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered after a week's time.


source : under Animals, Animal, Top 10 Unique Nikinis,  Hero, People, Useful, Great, DOG