by RICK MORTON
Not every dog is a Lassie. Not every kangaroo is a criminal detective capable of dismantling complex, lawless plots like Skippy.
But whoa up there, doubters. Animals can and do save lives. Just ask Oreo the fire-warden cat or LuLu the melodramatic, literally-stop-the-traffic Vietnamese pot-bellied pig who drew attention to its owners heart attack.
Oh, you want more? You only had to ask.
Austin Forman was out walking in the US with his labrador Angel when a cougar showed up and went for the attack. Angel leaped between Austin and the cougar and was savaged in the process. Austin ran for his father who shot the cougar, but feared both animals were dead as they slumped to the ground. But when they pulled the cougar off Angel, she inhaled sharply and despite many wounds, made a full recovery.
Do you have any stories to add to the list? How have animals helped you?
Comments
52 Comments so far
I just wanna go home and hug my dogs!
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I’m actually not much of an animal person (never had any) but this made me cry! So beautiful!!
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best. post. ever.
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Great stories Rick. For a change of pace what about animals with strange playmates. Dogs that play with cats aren’t unusual. But we have a neighbour’s foxy that plays with their rooster – and vice versa. They even try to shag each other! All in good fun, of course.
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Oh love that idea Frank! Like the elephant and the dog!
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I’m sick and tired of hearing about dogs! There’s other animals that exist, ya know!
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Refresh your page its obviously not showing the stories about the dolphins, monkeys, cats, rabbits etc.
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That is so lovely! Such heart warming stories
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Thanks for this post
Put a smile on my dial.
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Lovely post. I loved them all, but my favourite stories were the gorilla ones and the dog who was bitten by the snake. Oh, and Roselle the guide dog!
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I was told that a pod of dolphins was found surrounding a scaffolder that fell and drowned from a wharf last year. Such a tragic accident but so beautiful the dolphins were trying to help him and stayed with him.
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when my aunt was 2 years old she wandered away from the farm home and fell into the dam. the family alsatian, woofy, jumed in and gripped her by a shoulder with his teeth. 3 hours later (!!!) my extremely frantic grandparents find them both still in the dam. (she was meant to be with her older brothers who forgot) my grandfather jumps in, takes hold of my aunt and swims to the edge of the dam, handing my aunt to my grandmother. he then has to dive 4 times to find woofy who was so exhausted from swimming with a toddler in his mouth he sunk. woofy lived ^_^. afterwards, my grandfather looks around the walls of the dam and sees claw marks where woofy tried to climb out but the walls were too steep.
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Oh my god, what a story, what a special dog. Gave me goosebumps.
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When I was 15, I was walking my all black Staffie at dusk. We were at the local oval running around, and I was very far ahead of him while he sniffed about. A man approached me and began trying to convince me to follow him to the car park – I immediately went into defence mode, ready to grab the dog and run to the nearest house. The man probably did not see my dog because he was hard to spot in the dark. Before I could even begin to flee, my dog came out of nowhere and made the most unholy noises, and began chasing the man, snapping at his heels. His growling and barking got the attention of people in nearby houses. He spent the rest of the night patrolling our fences and coming to check on me in bed. Such a sweet boy.
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My favorite post by you Rick. Absolutely loved it. Made me cry…great job.
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I have a great dog story. When I was about 7 years old we moved into a new house in the Gold Coast hinterland in the early 1980s. It was very dense bush and we had no neighbors and no telephone line yet. We were all at school and in the morning my father had been cutting trees with a chainsaw. He accidentally severed his hand whilst doing this. All he could do was tourniquet his arm and wait for 5 hours until we came home. As you can imagine he went into shock and started to get extremely cold. We had a beautiful great dane called Dommi who wrapped herself around my father, giving him her body warmth. She did not leave his side once for the entire time. She helped save his life.
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Well that just made me cry
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I love this post so much. Animals are incredible.
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I’m the world’s biggest sucker for animal stories … thank you
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What about the millions (billions!) of rats and mice that have taken multitudes of drugs that now keep many people alive. Thanks little ratties, I appreciate your sacrifice and hope you led a happy life with lots of food and nesting amterial (FYI, lab animals are very well cared for and treated very ethically where ever possible).
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A very good point Goose.
Thanks ratties and mousies although I kill you when I find you in my house I appreciate the sacrifices you make for science
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If you loved this article, read “Animals in War ” by Jilly Cooper. It’s available from the Amazon Kindle store.
I have no stories to share – when I was in high school my Golden Retriever, Buddy slept through someone breaking in while we were at home. In his defence, it was a very hot day.
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These stories are so amazing!
When was about 18 I was walking along a bush track coming home from the beach, with my (placid!) dog Toby. I felt like I was being watched so I stopped walking, then I realised everytime I stopped, another person, who I couldn’t see in the bush also stopped. I was really starting to get freaked out and then Toby started this terrible growling, sounding about 4 times as big as he actually was – he was so brave! Then we ran away down the track and weren’t followed anymore, but I truely believe it was all thanks to Toby and his protective nature!
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I was hungry once but then I ate a steak. Thanks, steak animal!
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Is this comment meant to be funny or to show off your extreme wit?
Have some respect for these amazing animals. Your comment added nothing positive to this post at all.
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Eleven likes says it did. Lighten up.
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No thanks. I’d prefer to be someone who appreciates a positive post and how amazing these animals are. Not someone who needs to bring negativity just to get some thumbs up. How sad.
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There’s only one person being negative here!
So you don’t like a cheeky answer to Rick’s question, I get that. Just move on!
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wow. what amazing stories.
Just wow.
those dolphin stories are amazing.
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My gorgeous dogs have never “saved” us as such, but they are amazing. Twice now Rusty has behaved differently towards me – stayed by my side, followed me everywhere, wouldn’t let me out of his sight, even moreso then usual. Lo and behold after a few weeks of this behaviour each time we found out I was pregnant, and he stayed like that until the babies were born.
Bridget (who sadly we lost to cancer in February -still struggling with her loss) would wake up and sit with me for every feed, every nappy change, every cuddle my children needed when they were born. Then once they were sleeping through the night she checked on them at least twice every single night (I would hear her clacking her nails down the hallway and into their room) and then she would come back to me, “talk” to me in her half-dingo way and wag her tail as if to say “they’re fine mum, go back to sleep now”.
Amazing companions.
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my mums cattle dog (Josephine) would do that when ever mum was sick. every time, without fail, before she got diganosed with cancer or a blocked bowel Jos would sit and stare at mum. also, after i told Jos (i obviously didn’t expect her to understand but i thought she deserved to be told it) that mum had died, she gave up and three days later died as well. i miss them both and hope they are at peace. animals are so amazing.
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Holy cow. We had a Blue Heeler called Josie (after our Aunt Josephine) as well! She passed away at the ripe old age of 17 and it was devastating.
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Good name.
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CharlizeTheron apparently recently said she doesn’t feel like a single mum because her dogs get up with her for nighttime feeds etc too. So sweet!
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oh wow! what amazing stories! animals are beautiful and smart!
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Loved this!! Thank you
It made my day!
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Talk about moved to tears! And the way that we treat animals is bloody shameful.
POOR TARGET.
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ah rick, u made me smile again….this is heart warming to read
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A have a couple of stories no where near as cool but still in my opinion cool. Lol. My sisters lorikeet saw my niece pick something up she was told time and time again to leave alone and screamed out PUT THAT DOWN. My sister turned around shocked and greatful. I have cfs so I am asleep a lot sometimes. When I’m in a bad cycle my dog can tell when I need to rest or if I need to be worken up. I have a weird sleep thing where I am somewhat conscious but can’t wake up no matter how hard I try. At those times she will jump on me and lick me like crazy til I am up. She will wake me up if I’ve slept waaay too long so I can eat and drink. I keep water close by but shes only woken me when I have no water and haven’t been drinking. I don’t know how she can tell. I also get crazy migraines and she will let me use her as a pillow or curl around my head. She just seems to understand what I need from her when I’m sick. The rest of the time she’s a bit naughty
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The photo galleries have stopped working!!! Can this please be fixed?
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They work on most browsers, but we’re trying to make them better. Hang in there!
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Wow. This just shows how important it is to protect and care for animals, as they would (and do) for us.
The gorilla picture is just incredible.
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After putting together this post I went home and anointed my flatmate’s cat ‘fire warden’ in the hope he would be as valiant should a tea towel catch fire above our stove. I feel safer.
PS: I loved putting this together. Loved it.
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And I’m sure I speak for many when I say we LOVE what you have done. Thank you!
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Rick, I am currently unemployed and supposed to be trying to find my passion so I can re-invent myself. Stuff like this is not helping. I could sit here and read this sort of thing all day. Love, love, love animals. Hang on a minute! I may have stumbled onto something!
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I am beaming now…thanks for the pick-me-up.
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this made me so happy i cried.
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I wish Jambo the gorilla was my friend. How utterly beautiful!
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There’s also the Newfoundland named Gander who saved a camp of Canadian soldiers by taking a grenade thrown by the Japanese and charging right back at the attackers: http://www.cracked.com/article_19578_5-most-badass-soldiers-ever-happened-to-be-dogs_p2.html
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Oh man that is so cool! Poor Gander.
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Thanks Rick. Those clever, kind animals just made my day!.
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