Honoring heroic dogs

Last Nov. 13, we wrote on Live Feed stories of how pets change the lives of humans. We also wrote that pets get so close to their masters to the point of even dying for them. The stories attracted so many readers requesting for more of the same.

Finally, we are now able to share more of these stories to pet lovers and it came about all because of killer Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) that hit the country, leaving behind indescribable damage and death. In a lifestyle story on another publication, we read Lizza Nakpil’s report of a 19-year-old boy and his pet dog who had disappeared in the eye of the storm in Tacloban, and were found after four days during which the dog wounded, starving, barking for attention had scampered along the river bank until a stranger helped them get to Ormoc and the hospital. The boy’s mom Rosemari Rigana found both at the hospital attached to dextrose bottles.

There is truly nothing like a true-to-life story, and strangely enough, we find a similar report during Hurricane Katrina, billed the deadliest and most destructive Atlantic tropical cyclone that hit in 2005, in the history of the USA. Most of the damage was due to storm surge, protection failures considered the worst civil engineering disaster in US history, with a lawsuit filed against the US Army engineers, designers and builders. Sounds familiar?

Hurricane Katrina was a miserable occurrence for everyone down south, but inspiring stories of heroism have helped give victims something to smile about. That’s certainly the case with the black Labrador ironically named Katrina, who saved a drowning man before rising flood waters would claim his life. The dog, which was later saved by rescue teams, was honored at that year’s Genesis Awards with a standing ovation.  

Another winner came in 2007 when five-year-old German Shepherd named Moti was pronounced Dog of the Year after he found a masked man entering his human’s household and started barking to awaken them. The intruder drew his gun and shot at Moti, and run off without harming anyone in the household. Happily, our hero Moti made a recovery in time to accept the award.

Another Dog of the Year award was given to Pitbull Maya in 2008 when she saved her owner Angela from a male attacker and was praised by the Animal Miracle Foundation. Still another Dog of the Year awardee in 2006 is Honey whose owner got into a car accident with their SUV stuck in a deep ravine. The car owner Michael ordered the five-month-old English Cocker Spaniel to climb out and get help. 

A Beagle named Belle had been trained to call 911 during an emergency. When her master, a diabetic, had a seizure, Belle barked into the phone and saved him. Belle became the first canine to win the Vita Wireless Samaritan Award.

Our last dog heroes are Trakr and Rodelle, the Labrador who helped in saving the last human survivors of 9/11, possibly the most prestigious rescues in history.

After learning of all these stories of canine bravery, perhaps we should adopt the same system of dog awards locally. We are certain that dog lovers everywhere would appreciate that.

(E-mail your comments to [email protected] or contact us through 0917-8991835.)