Two Year Old Found In Abandoned Building Warding Off Squatters, Thieves

In New Bedford, Massachusetts, The Standard Times reports:

• Nicole Amaral thought she was hallucinating when she saw a dog peeking out of the second story of a dilapidated building on Coggeshall Street. But the 11-year-old animal lover got her mother to stop the car. Sure enough, a dog was there, barking out a window. The family called Animal Control. They weren't the first to notice the dog. New Bedford Animal Control officers said they have gotten several calls about Berta, a 2-year-old German shepherd that has been kept at the house to ward off squatters and thieves since the building was destroyed by arson less than a year ago. The house is uninhabitable by humans, but the rules are different for dogs. "As long as (the owner) provides shelter, food and water" for the dog, it is allowed to stay in the house, Animal Control Officer Mary Ellen Barlow said. She assured concerned neighbors that the dog is well cared for. "He's in good shape," she said.

Source: German shepherd guards New Bedford house hit by arson.