In honor of Local Pet Heroes

April is National Pet Month, to celebrate pets and spread awareness about the positive impact pets have on people. Every pet lover knows that each pet is special in its own way and this is enough for us to love them. Some pets are braver and have helped others in many different ways. Here we have shared a few stories for you to read and feel a prouder to be a pet parent.

Addae’s Point of View on how things went

I live in a town called Emalahleni with my family and I am a furry member of it. When my elder brother and sisters go to school, I play with Mom and Dad or whoever is in the house. Sadly, some days even they have to go to a place where they cannot take me; it is called ‘work’. Such days are only fun because I get to visit my grandparents! To visit them I have to sit in the car and I get to taste the wind; it’s yummy!

Yesterday, as usual, I was visiting my grandparents, and Grandpa took me out for a walk in the park. It is a local park where all of my friends come and we like to play, the grass is green and there are many butterflies that we can chase around for fun. Like any other day, we were running around the park and grandpa was sitting on one of the benches, when a strange dog appeared suddenly and bit one of my friends, a Yorkshire terrier, and ran away. I saw him running towards the children's play area, where small babies were playing. I knew that the dog would bite one of them too, so I ran as fast as I could toward the children's play area. As the strange dog came near the play area I tackled and bit him in the leg. He got angry and growled at me before biting me in the neck. It hurt so much, but I had to save the kids. I kept attacking him and soon the human security guards came and captured him and I was taken to the vet hospital. Later mom-dad praised me for saving the small humans and gave me many treats and new toys! It was the happiest day for me.

Astra’s narration about her brave dog

Daisy stood out from the litter of pups; it was love at first sight for me. Where all the other pups were trying to jump out of the crate, she was the only one keeping them from jumping. Since that day she has been a vital part of our family. Daisy has always been an active pup; she loves running around the house and in the yard and keeps barking at the new people that visit us. I am pretty sure that if we did not properly introduce them to her before opening her leash, she could bite the ‘stranger’. Whenever someone unknown is visiting us, I keep her in my arms, assuring her that they are friends; only then would she calm down. I love her for this; she has always kept us safe and is very protective of me.

The incident that I remember distinctly is the one day she put herself in danger and saved me. We were on our routine evening walk, and as I turned to a smaller street there were some drunks toiling around the area. I kept walking, ignoring them, talking to Daisy, but one man started to follow us. He tried to mug me using a knife, but Daisy bit him in the leg and as he cried out and dropped the knife, we both ran away. After reaching a safe distance, I called the police on him and returned home safely. It could have turned out really ugly. Daisy could have gotten hurt or I might have gotten injured; anything could have happened, but I am happy and relieved that nothing of that sort happened, the man was arrested later. Daisy was given a ‘Brave Citizen’ award by the locals!

Bottom Line

As we just read, these pets were very brave and they have inspired many others. Each pet is special and all of them have their own bravery stories. Let’s celebrate all the local four-legged heroes of ours this National Pet Month and honor them with lots of love, affection, respect, and of course treats!