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From September 2005 ANIMAL PEOPLE:

MULTIPLE AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR KENYAN HERO DOG
Stray Saves Newborn Abandoned in a Kenyan Forest and Wins North Shore Animal League America's Elisabeth Lewyt Award

Mkombozi was a stray, an abandoned dog left on the streets of Nairobi.  She was just a little brown mixed breed with puppies of her own, but not much else to set her apart from the other homeless canines in her neighborhood.  Little did she know that she would soon be a hero and nominated by several people, including actor/director Dennis Erdman and Penelope Smith of Species Link, for North Shore Animal League America's prestigious Elisabeth Lewyt Award for Heroic and Compassionate Animals.  It is truly an amazing story as it was reported in a story by Rodrique Ngowi of the Associated Press…

STRAY DOG IN KENYA SAVES ABANDONED BABY | By Rodrique Ngowi


   
    A newborn baby abandoned in a Kenyan forest was saved by a stray dog who apparently carried her across a busy road and through a barbed wire fence to a shed where the infant was discovered nestled with a litter of puppies, witnesses said.


       The baby girl, named Angel by hospital workers, was clad in a tattered shirt and wrapped in a plastic bag when the dog found her Friday, according to Aggrey Mwalimu, owner of the shed where the baby was discovered in a poor neighborhood near the Ngong Forest in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
       "When the dog picked up the baby in a dirty bag, it came and dropped her behind the wooden building where the dog had its puppies," Mwalimu told the Associated Press on Monday.


       The 7 pound 4 ounce infant was taken to a hospital and "is doing well, responding to treatment.  She is stable…she is on antibiotics," said Hannah Gakuo, spokeswoman of the Kenyatta National Hospital.


       The baby was found after two children reported hearing an infant's cries near their wood and corrugated metal shack.


       "I followed them outside and we started looking around the compound and a nearby plot," said Mary Adhiambo, the children's mother.


       They eventually found the tan mixed-breed dog lying protectively with a puppy beside the mud-splattered baby wrapped in a torn black shirt.  The dog has no name….


Hannah Gakuo of the Kenyatta National Hospital finishes the story:  The little dog was taken in by the Kenya SPCA where animal welfare officials named her Mkombozi or Savior.  Mary Adihambo, the mother of the children who found the baby and the hero dog, eventually adopted Mkombozi..  The Lewyt Award for September 2005 has been presented to Mkombozi to honor the exceptional heroism and courage she displayed as she saved a newborn baby's life.  As a symbol of the award, North Shore Animal League America is sending the remarkable dog and her guardian Mary Adihambo a plaque describing this incredible deed as well as a $500 check.  The League will present the Kenya SPCA with a matching plaque and check in recognition of the organization's rescue and care of Mkombozi.