Woman rescues soldier's dog

An angel swooped down during the holiday season to rescue a woman's dog from the middle of traffic last Monday.

Lea Venegas is taking care of her son Martin's boxer while he serves the U.S. Air Force overseas in undisclosed locations. However, last Monday, her neighbor called her at work in Midland to let her know the animal went missing. A person broke into her house Dec. 3, leaving a hole in the fence for the dog, named Iron Mike Tyson, to escape.

Venegas said she searched for hours looking for the dog all around Odessa.

"It was my son I was worried about. I wanted him to be focused on what he needed to do," Venegas said. She said prayers for Tyson since her son was worried about the boxer's whereabouts.

Calling the Odessa American last Tuesday, Lea wanted to place an advertisement. She said a minute or two later, she received a call from the paper that another person found the dog and had tried to place an ad.

Toni Newby was the person who found the dog. In fact, Newby said she stopped traffic to get the dog off the street on West County Road, opening her car door to let the animal inside with a lure of french fries.

"People were honking and being very rude, but I was not going to let the dog stay in traffic," Newby said. She said other animals have been saved through past efforts as well.

This is the third deployment for Martin. Serving in the military police, he has won multiple recognitions, including one for saving Iraqi dignitaries in Baghdad. Venegas said it was important to locate the dog with her son coming to visit in March. She is impressed with Newby's efforts and gave her an angel ornament as thanks.

"I feel so fortunate," Venegas said.