Thanks to everyone who, like Cade Brooke, barked in this story that seems to have been picked up and carried everywhere!
The one thing I want to be careful about here is that because the attack supposedly involved two Pit Bulls, I DO NOT want to feed the Breed Specific hysteria against these types of dogs. George was a brave canine hero and nothing should take away from him or his actions. On the other hand, we do not know what fueled the attacking dogs’ behavior. I would want to know why they were loose and what kind of treatment they had received that would make them attack children. Were they being abused at home? What is the full story?
So while we celebrate George who deserves high praise and much tail-wagging at the Rainbow Bridge, let’s be careful not to demonize his attackers who may have been victims as well.
Annie, can we say wonderful things about George on your blog? Here is his story:
He is a real HERO!
Here is the Yahoo News version of the story about heroic George.
Tiny terrier dies after saving 5 kids
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A plucky Jack Russell terrier named George saved five children from two marauding pit bulls, but was so severely mauled in the fight that it had to be put down, its owner said Wednesday.
George was playing with the group of children as they returned home from buying sweets at a neighborhood shop in the small North Island town of Manaia last Sunday when the two pit bulls appeared and lunged toward them, Allan Gay said.
“George was brave he took them on and he’s not even a foot high,” Gay told The Associated Press. “He jumped in on them, he tried to keep them off.
“If it wasn’t for George, those kids would have copped it.”
One of the children, Richard Rosewarne, 11, was quoted in the Taranaki Daily News on Wednesday as saying George fought with the pit bulls to keep them off his 4-year-old brother, Darryl.
“George tried to protect us by barking and rushing at them, but they started to bite him one on the head and the other on the back,” Rosewarne said. “We ran off crying and some people saw what was happening and rescued George.”
But George was so badly mauled that a veterinarian had to put him down, Gay said.
South Taranaki District Council official Graham Young said the two pit bulls had been impounded, and likely would be put down because of the attack.
