Quick-dialling beagle saves owner's life

A Florida dog that chomped for help by cellphone, saving the life of her owner in a diabetic seizure, fetched a humanitarian award in Miami on Monday.

Belle the beagle dialled the emergency number 911 on her owner Kevin Weaver's cellphone last February when he began to convulse and lapsed into unconsciousness.

Weaver, a resident of the central Florida city of Ocoee, originally had gotten Belle for companionship. But after learning about a non-profit organisation that trains dogs to alert diabetic owners of oncoming seizures and to respond, he decided to have her trained as a medical assistant.

With a lick and sniff of Weaver's nose, Belle can detect his blood-sugar levels. When they drop below normal, she is trained to warn him by whining and pawing at him.

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