It’s A Wonderful Life

George Bailey learned it the hard way; seeing what would the world have become if he hadn’t existed at all. I gotta believe it’s the same journey taken by his namesake, Bailey the dog.

During a visit to Lake Anne near Reston, Va., with his family, police officer Lance Hamilton administered mouth-to-snout resuscitation to his dog, Bailey, after the dog was injured near a dock, the Centre View (Va.) Connection reported. The dog was injured while in the water as he fetched a ball.

Perfect technique led to the resuscitation.

Hamilton held the dog’s mouth closed and breathed rescue breaths through the snout while uncle Greg Dunphy gave chest compressions, reviving Bailey after about a minute.

But what happened to injure Bailey?

A veterinarian who cared for Bailey said the dog was electrocuted and had water in his lungs. An electrical problem on the dock was found soon after and fixed before anyone else could be injured, the newspaper reported.

So if Bailey the dog hadn’t survived that jump from the bridge into the icy waters of the local river the previous Christmas, think of all the people that may have been electrocuted had he not been around to ‘test’ the waters this time? Surely Bailey knew this and is a hero for it…and if the bell I just heard is any indication, Clarence the labradoodle just got his wings.