Man rescues pet rabbit from River Liffey 03-07-2011 P2

This daring rescue too place in Dublin's city center on a beautiful July evening. Let me tell you the story of what happed.
A well known and liked homeless man who has fallen upon hard times keeps two pets a small Jack Russell Terrier and a rabbit. They are his companions and rarely leave his side. On this particular evening a young man of 18 decides to commit a horrible act of animal cruelty by stealing the rabbit and tossing in into the river Liffey. The homeless man leaps to the rescue of his beloved pet and braves the tidal river. Miraculously he manages to save the rabbit from drowning but in the process becomes stranded below the bridge. Freezing cold and unable to reach the bank the awaits his own rescue by the Dublin fire brigade.

Half way through the rescue the man is seen scuffling with the rescue team this was down to the fact they were taking him away from the bridge where his dog was waiting.

Reports after the event claim the person responsible for throwing the rabbit into the river was arrested on charges of public disorder and animal cruelty. he is due in court July 21st to face the charges. The homeless man and his pets are fine and can still be seen begging on the streets of Dublin.

The rabbit's name is Bernie and the man's John.

UPDATE: Tuesday July 12th at 11.45am ARAN will be giving this man an award for his compassion and bravery. email ARAN for more.

Video by Sebastian Dooris.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Man
• rescues
• pet
• rabbit
• from
• River
• Liffey
• 03-07-2011
• Dublin
• Ireland
• news
• breaking
• animal
• love
• animals
• dog
• bunny
• ARAN

[hiPrettyMaryK]

@kannywhat How is he not fit for an animal when he cares enough for his own rabbit to actually jump into the river and save it? So you're saying that it was his fault some asshole decided to grab his rabbit and throw it into a river? If anything, the person who threw the rabbit into a river is inhumane and should be fined for animal cruelty.

[OliveYou1114]

@kannywhat NO ONE deserves to have a pet, something they love, nearly killed. No animal deserves to be hurt like this. It doesn't matter that he's homeless, he still loves the rabbit and he's still a human being with a beating heart and blood running through his veins. He has the same emotions as you and I. He's caught in a bad circumstance, yes, but that does NOT say anything about the content of his character.

[bamster987]

@sugarmelonchewgumbon ikr and i dont hunt but killing animals 4 sport is just so crule but killing 4 food is useful animals eat ppl but the dont kill us 4 sport

[sugarmelonchewgumbon]

@explodinghead1

Yup. Very well-said.

[sugarmelonchewgumbon]

@bamster987

"If you hunt for sport, no offense?" What the hell are you so apologetic for?! Hunters, especially ones who hunt for "sport" are murderers and suffer from inferiority complex about their masculinity.

[deli06]

He is always outside arnotts on Henry st I always stop and talk to him and give him a few pounds lovely guy :)

[iTechOrange]

i seen him outside croker after the all ireland final

[bagpussarah]

Does anyone know where this guy usually is? I'd love to send him something to say 'thanks' for being so amazing.

[Tiiik8]

I just hate it when the people just gather around making it hard for the rescuers to move about. One time my dog chased a sheep into the river boyne, the only people who helped were a young couple, me and my business teacher (she just happened to be there and who is sound). Everyone else just gathered around, not trying to get my dog or trying to pull the sheep back in. But at the end the sheep swam acrossed the river into the cow field and was brought back by the farmer.

[Thistoxiclove]

What kind of sick fuck grabs a rabbit out of someones hand and throws it over a bridge? like really? this is why i hate people. whoever did that can go fuck themselves up the ass.