IN BRIEF: In this post we write about some of the most heroic pets who went out of their way to help their fellow family members. Heroic acts range from saving a toddler’s life. Saving his master’s life when he fell unconscious. This introduces us to another level of psyche of these beautiful, faithful, adorable pets.
Pets are amazing creatures aren’t they? Even though some of us dread a dog licking our feet, most of us love petting animals, especially dogs, cats, birds, fish, and many other varieties.
There have been many studies conducted and theories proven about how pets can help us relieve stress and make us more positive when we are around them. It is the interaction with the pets, especially Dogs, and to an extent Cats, which make them almost human like in terms of sensing our feelings and reacting to them. It is proven that when a Dog tilts it’s head sideways when you are talking to them, it means the Dog can understand how we feel, though on a very basic level.
Besides keeping us happy and entertained, some of the pets act in immeasurable, heroic ways to save their owners or other people. One aspect of pets responding to people in need of help is how we, humans train them to be rescue pets, pets for the blind, Dogs in bomb squads, at airport security, etc. Here are a few accounts of heroic pets going out of their sense of living and risking their lives (with or without knowledge of danger) and saving lives.
A Life Saving Parrot: Denver, COLORADO
Meagan Howard volunteered to baby sit her friend’s child on a warm sunny day. Meagan had a pet Parrot in her apartment, which used to utter phrases such as “Give Me A Kiss”, “Come Here”, and “I Want Out“.
One morning, Meagan prepared a hot Pop-tart for the kid and put it on a small table for the baby to reach. Since it was hot, and kid was watching TV, Meagan went to take a shower. A while had passed when the kid toddled across towards the plate of food (which was still hot, mind you), and took the piece of pop-tart and swallowed it.
The food got stuck in the throat, and the baby’s face started to turn blue. Observing this, Willie, the Parrot, started shouting “Mama, baby!”…”Mama, baby!” for quite a while, until Meagan could hear the kerfuffle and ran out of the bath. She saw the baby choking, and performed a Heimlich manoeuvre, the food popped out of the kid’s throat and she started to breath at ease.
Two fascinating things happened, 1) Meagan says “Willie stopped shouting the moment I took control of the situation“. This is fascinating to see how pets sense, react, and understand way better than what we know about them, and more than we give them credit for. 2) Willie had never said or uttered the word “Baby” before. He chose to shout BABY at the precise moment when the kid was choking.
A Dog Is A True BUDDY
Joe Stalnaker adopted an 8 week old German Shepherd named BUDDY. He taught the puppy to dial 911 emergency when Joe started experiencing seizure symptoms. If and when Joe blacks out or when he is unable to dial, Buddy is trained to use his teeth to press the numbers on the phone to dial the emergency services.
In 2008, 18 month old Buddy called 911 when Joe fell unconscious. The rescuers arrived on time and found Joe on the floor and took him to a hospital. Joe recovered after a couple of days.
Winnie The Saviour
One day at a quite suburb family house, a gas powered water pump started leaking odourless Carbon Monoxide inside the house. Pet Cat, Winnie started meowing at an incredible high pitch, almost like screaming.
By this time, the husband and son were already unconscious. Noticing the screaming, Cathy (the wife), already dizzy and nauseated, was able to sense the issue and call the emergency services immediately. Thanks to Winnie, everyone was saved in time.