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I ran across a couple of stories the other day. In a world entrenched in hardship and strife these stories are uplifting, so I thought I would share them.
It seems an 11-year-old boy was playing in the garden when suddenly the family American pit bull terrier ran across the yard and knocked the boy out of the way of a striking rattlesnake. The dog took the bite to the face and saved the boy from that fate. The dog recovered fully.
A woman was attacked by four armed gunmen demanding her car keys and purse. After giving them what they demanded one man grabbed the woman and started dragging her toward the car.
The woman's mother, hearing the commotion from in the house, ran outside where she was confronted by one of the men who had a knife. The family's Staffordshire bull terrier bit the man several times before being shot in the head. In spite of the gunshot, the dog continued to fight off the attackers until they panicked and fled the scene.
Once the attackers were gone, the dog laid down and died.
There were two stories that involved dog owners being dragged to safety following a car crash. The first one involved a woman who was paralyzed from the waist down. Her dog, a Rottweiler, grabbed her by the leg and dragged her out of the vehicle seconds before it exploded.
The second one told of a crash that propelled a woman through the back window of her car where she laid cut and bleeding on the trunk.
Her German shepherd grabbed her by the collar and pulled her off the trunk and up an embankment to the road where a passing motorist stopped and helped her.
Then there was the story that told of how a Rottweiler foiled an attempted kidnapping. A man arrived at a home where a baby sitter was watching a 6-month-old girl. The man claimed that the baby's father had been taken to the hospital and that the mother had sent him to retrieve the child.
While the baby sitter was making a phone call to verify the story, the man snatched the baby and made a dash for his vehicle. The Rottweiler chased the man down and bit his arm forcing him to drop the child. The man hopped in his vehicle and escaped but without the baby.
Lest you think that all pet heroes are dogs -- it seems a man who had fallen out of his wheelchair was saved by his pet cat who dialed 911 to summon help. The police received a 911 call and when they responded to the call they found the man laying on the floor of his apartment. After falling from his wheelchair the man could not get back up due to his medical condition.
The officer who responded said that he could not think of any other logical explanation. The cat was found on the floor next to the phone, which was still off the hook.
When questioned, the man reported that he had previously tried to teach his cat to dial 911 but was unsure if the cat had learned anything. The phone contained a button to speed-dial 911. Apparently the cat learned enough.
I found it very refreshing to read these heroic and heartwarming stories and I hope they were uplifting for you as well.
• Tug Gettling is the director of the North Utah Valley Animal Services. |
