DOG THWARTS PRISON ESCAPERIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- For 180 fleeing Brazilian prisoners, a dog's bark was indeed worse than its bite.A floppy-eared mutt adopted by Rio de Janeiro prison guards foiled a mass prison break with its barking as a gang of inmates tried to scale the prison walls. ''Guards ran up to the towers to see what was happening,'' a prison spokesman said. ''The prisoners were armed and had tied bedsheets together to try and get out.'' The guards had let Pam, a 10-month-old stray, sleep inside the prison for the past few months. ''I guess he earned his keep,'' the spokesman said. Prison escapes and riots are common in Brazil where the penal system is notoriously overcrowded and understaffed.
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