CLINTON, Utah (ABC 4 News) - We've all heard cats have nine lives, but ABC 4 found a dog that has a few extra as well. The little dog was run over by a train, not once, but twice -- and survived.
His bark is back. And he's getting healthier everyday, which is pretty amazing considering on Sunday night, the Shih Tzu was nearly smashed by a train near Kearns High School.
"I saw this little guy between the rail,” said Fred Krause, “and of course and it was too late to do anything about it."
Krause is a Utah Railway engineer and at the time he didn't know if the dog had survived the rail line encounter, but he figured the odds weren't good.
“There's nothing you can do,” Krause said. “It breaks your heart. But there's nothing you can do."
After Krause made his delivery to Kennecott, he began the return trip to Midvale and he spotted the Shih Tzu again. He was alive and playing a game of chicken with the train.
“I'm flashing the lights, blowing the horn, trying to get him out of the rails,” Krause said. “And he just ran right down the rails at us. I tried to slow down, got it from 20 miles per hour to 15 miles per hour when we hit, thought for sure we killed him."
Because Krause has his own Shih Tzu, a seven year old named Milo, he couldn't stop thinking about the canine. So when he got off work, he went into doggie detective down the tracks.
"I took my flashlight and walked down the rails and saw a heap of fur and thought this is it,” Krause said. “I shined a light on him and he turned around and looked at me."
Krause decided to take him to the vet and then home and help him recover. But now that he's getting better, he's not sure about the fortunate dog's future.
"If he can get along with Milo we might keep him,” Krause said. “If we can find the original owners we'll give him back. Or if not we'll find a home."
Krause says the Shih Tzu is about ten years old. The dog doesn’t have a name, but Krause and his wife are working on that. Krause said it won't be "Lucky" though, because that’d be too cliche'.
