Dog survives, and putzes, too

Most people who hear about this story will probably go, "Aww, that’s so cute!"

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. – Thanks to a high-tech electronic gadget and a big warm dog named Velvet, three climbers rescued after a harrowing fall and a night in the wind and cold high on Mount Hood are expected to be fine.

[. . .]

Searchers credited the group’s rescue to two things — Velvet, a black Labrador mix who provided warmth as the three climbers huddled under sleeping bags and a tarp, and the activation of an emergency radio beacon the size of a sunglasses case that guided them to the group.

My reaction: If you’re going to go on a suicide mission, leave the poor mutt at home. And, by the way, if, after reading all the other stories about climbers getting trapped or stranded and dying in a winter storm, you still insist on going out there in the middle of February, I think you should do a little jail time for reckless endangerment of the rescuers. Assuming you survive, you putz.