Buzz
Most people can recall a cherished pet that held a special place in their hearts. It might have been a thoughtful gift from a loved one who's no longer with us, or perhaps an animal that brought comfort during childhood. Regardless of the origin, animals have played a significant role in the lives of many.
In some cases, the importance of these animals is beyond words. Many individuals owe their lives today to the courageous actions of their pets. Here’s a list of ten remarkable animals who saved their owners from peril.
10. Babu
Among the many stories that emerged following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, Babu, a Shih Tzu, lived with her 83-year-old owner, Tami Akanuma, in Miyako, Japan. Shortly after the quake struck, Babu signaled that she wanted to go for a walk. Though it was earlier than usual, Akanuma agreed and took her outside. Just as they were about to leave, the town’s tsunami warning system began sounding, prompting Akanuma to make a quick decision to evacuate.
Yet, Babu had other plans. She began leading Akanuma toward a nearby hill, tugging at her leash whenever Akanuma tried to go in a different direction. After a trek of nearly 1 kilometer (0.6 miles), they reached the top. When Akanuma turned to look back, she saw her town in ruins. Almost everything had been destroyed, including her own home—had it not been for Babu’s instinctive guidance, she would have been caught in the disaster.
9. Cluck Cluck
Cluck Cluck, a pet chicken from a family in Alma Center, Wisconsin, became a local hero on December 27, 2012. That morning, Dennis Murawska and his wife Susan Cotey were still asleep when Cluck Cluck, who usually rested in the basement, began loudly clucking at 6:15 AM. Finding her unusual noise at such an early hour strange, Dennis got up to investigate. He soon discovered that the garage was ablaze and the fire was spreading quickly toward the rest of the house. The smoke detectors in the garage had malfunctioned and failed to alert the family to the fire.
Dennis quickly roused his wife, and they managed to escape the house just in time, narrowly avoiding disaster. Cluck Cluck was left behind, but firefighters later found her unharmed. In an ironic twist, Dennis’s neighbor had originally owned the chicken and had planned to euthanize her because she wasn’t laying eggs. Feeling sympathy for the chicken, who also had a deformed foot, Dennis persuaded his neighbor to let him take her in.
8. LuLu
LuLu, a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, was the beloved pet of an elderly couple in Presque Isle, Pennsylvania. Initially, she had been owned by their daughter, but after spending considerable time at the Altsman household, she became their new pet. Weighing in at over 68 kilograms (150 lbs), LuLu was mostly known for her intense love of jelly doughnuts. But that all changed on August 4, 1998, when Jo Ann Altsman, who had suffered a heart attack 18 months earlier, experienced another heart attack while home alone.
Jo Ann managed to call for help, but she was too far from the road for anyone to hear her cries. Her dog Bear, however, just sat there barking uselessly. It was LuLu who sprang into action. She squeezed through the doggy door, wandered into the road, and lay down, effectively stopping traffic. A kind passerby followed LuLu back to Jo Ann, who was rushed to the hospital. LuLu’s reward? A big, delicious jelly doughnut.
7. Mila
Mila, a captive beluga whale at Polar Land in Harbin, China, became a hero in July 2009. During a competition, divers were challenged to sink to the bottom of the 6-meter (20 ft) cold-water beluga tank and stay submerged as long as possible. The twist? It was a free diving contest, meaning no breathing equipment was allowed.
Yang Yun, a 26-year-old woman, was at the bottom of the tank when the freezing temperatures caused her legs to seize up. Struggling to swim to the surface, she began to run out of breath. Sensing her distress, Mila quickly swam over, grabbed Yun’s leg, and propelled her to the surface. Beluga whales have tiny teeth, so Yun was unharmed. Fortunately, Yun survived the ordeal and fully recovered.
6. Willie
Willie, a Quaker parrot, belonged to Megan Howard in Denver, Colorado. In November 2008, while Howard was babysitting a toddler named Hannah, Willie noticed the child beginning to choke on her food. Howard had just stepped away to the bathroom. The quick-thinking parrot flapped his wings and screeched loudly. When Howard returned, she heard him repeating “Mama baby” repeatedly, realizing that the child was turning blue.
Howard rushed to Hannah just in time to clear the obstruction from the toddler’s throat, saving her life. In recognition of his heroic act, Willie was awarded the Red Cross’s Animal Lifesaver Award, becoming the first parrot to receive such an honor. Howard later said, “If [Willie hadn’t] warned me, I probably wouldn’t have come out of the bathroom in time because she was already turning blue, her lips were blue and everything.”
5. Inky
Inky, a kitten once left malnourished on a cat lover’s porch, was adopted by the Kruger family. Glen Kruger quickly bonded with the three-month-old cat and nursed her back to health. This bond proved crucial on January 23, 2009, when Glen fell down his cellar stairs, breaking his arm and fracturing a vertebra.
While everyone else in the house was asleep and unaware of Glen’s cries for help, Inky, now seven years old, was wide awake. Glen instructed her to fetch his wife Brenda, and the cat responded by scratching at the bedroom door. Brenda, thinking Inky simply wanted to go outside, got up and saw her husband lying at the foot of the cellar stairs. Glen’s injuries left him permanently disabled, losing over four inches in height, but he survived because of Inky’s quick thinking.
4. Pudding
Pudding, an eight-year-old cat, had been put up for adoption. When Amy Jung, a resident of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, saw him, she instantly fell in love and decided to adopt him on the spot. It turned out to be one of the most significant decisions she ever made. To add an element of fate, Jung hadn’t even planned to adopt a cat that day; she had only brought her son to play with the cats, who roamed freely around the shelter.
On the night of February 8, 2012, Jung brought Pudding home and went to bed around 9:30 PM. However, as a diabetic, she wasn’t aware that her blood sugar was dangerously low. She began to experience a diabetic seizure. Without hesitation, Pudding sprang into action, waking her up. When she was unable to move, he ran to her son’s room, waking him up. The young boy quickly called his father, and following his dad’s guidance, administered the life-saving medication that his mother needed. Jung says that Pudding still meows persistently whenever her blood sugar drops too low, nudging her until she takes her medication.
3. Baby
Baby, a 13-year-old tabby, lived with her owners Josh Ornberg and Letitia Kovalovsky in a suburb of Chicago. On the night of January 25, 2010, Baby became a life-saver. Ornberg and Kovalovsky, who was seven months pregnant at the time, were asleep when a fire broke out in their home. Without warning, Baby jumped on her owners in a way they had never seen before, urging them to wake up.
The couple quickly realized the fire had spread to their bedroom and tried to extinguish it with their home fire extinguishers, but were unsuccessful. They called 911, and fortunately, everyone—including Baby—escaped the fire unscathed. Baby disappeared for a short time after the incident, but she was eventually found and reunited with her family.
2. Angel
The name ‘Angel’ couldn’t have been more fitting. On the night of January 2, 2010, in British Columbia, Angel, an 18-month-old golden retriever, was walking alongside her 11-year-old owner, Austin Forman, as he gathered wood for his family’s furnace. While usually playful, Angel was unusually calm that evening, staying close to Austin. Suddenly, a cougar lunged at Austin, but Angel leapt in between them, putting herself in harm’s way to protect him.
The big cat attacked the dog, biting down on its head, while Austin ran to his mother to tell her to call the police. When the local constable arrived, he fired two shots, killing the cougar. Austin’s cousin then had to pull the dead animal off of the golden retriever, who was covered in blood. Angel was quickly rushed to the vet, where she underwent an hour-long surgery to repair her fractured skull. She made a full recovery and was rewarded with a “nice juicy steak.”
1. D-Boy
D-Boy, a rescued pit bull, had only been living with his new family in Oklahoma City for three months when he became a hero. In 2008, Roberta Trawick and her family were relaxing on their living room couch when an armed man broke into their house and ordered them to the ground. D-Boy, hearing the commotion, rushed in from another room and lunged at the intruder in defense of the Trawicks.
Despite being shot three times, including twice in the head, D-Boy continued to fight. The intruder, frightened by the dog’s bravery, fled the scene. D-Boy was rushed to an emergency veterinary hospital, where doctors were able to remove the bullets and save his life. The vet later credited D-Boy’s tough head for his survival. For his heroism, D-Boy received the Human Society’s People’s Hero Award, and thanks to the community’s generosity, his medical bills were fully covered.
