Incredible Stories of Heroic Pets

Eileen has MS and uses a wheelchair. One day, her dog Mandy saw her fall into the pool, wheelchair included. Mandy raced around the pool's perimeter, made enough noise to alert Eileen's husband and neighbor, and tried rescuing her human buddy by jumping into the pool. What an absolute heroine! We'd all be so lucky to have a Mandy in our lives.

Cats can be accused of many things—indifference, grumpiness, and arrogance. But they're hunters and fighters, through and through! Oscar is Maria's rescue cat. He survived a coyote attack before they met. He also helped Maria evade a potentially nasty scorpion. Oscar lives life at a leisurely pace, but on this day, he rushed to her side to eliminate the threat.

It helps to have a little buddy to while away the hours on the graveyard shift. This is just what Jean used to do with the stray cat that roamed into the hotel she worked at. Eventually, Jean adopted the cat and named it Hobbit. Little did she know what a trusted companion Hobbit would come to be. At the first signs of a fire near her apartment, Hobbit roused a sleeping Jean with nips and vocalizations.

Jeremy opened the freezer for breakfast and was all set to tuck in when Sally, the family dog, bounded to his side, whining and restless until he followed. It turns out Sally spotted the new kitten go into the freezer. She wouldn't rest until Punsey had been swiftly located and saved.

In 2008, Moko could often be seen swimming the east coast waters near New Zealand's North Island. When the bottlenosed dolphin spotted two beached pygmy sperm whales, she was able to do something the humans had long been trying and failing to—she got them to follow her back into the deeper water and saved their lives in the process.

Pigeons get a bad rap for being dull and slow-witted. But we forget the role these maligned birds played in military endeavors. Take Cher Amie, for example. He flew for the U.S. Army during WWI and relayed a dozen important messages before being shot. He even delivered the message which brought about the rescue of 194 soldiers. Cher Amie could teach us a lesson or two about diligent service.

This blue-eyed cutie caused a minor miracle. Magic, a mini therapy horse, won AARP's Most Heroic Pet prize in 2010. What did Magic do? She visited a patient in an assisted living facility, and her sweet disposition coaxed a response from a woman who hadn't uttered a word in three years. The woman said "Isn't she beautiful?" to the astonishment of the staff, and the communication didn't stop there.

What happened when an infectious disease broke out in an isolated Alaskan village in 1924? Togo and his pals saved the entire community by delivering essential medication. Balto ran the final stretch, so he often gets the applause, but Togo ran longer than any of the others to accomplish the mission. RIP, Togo!

Harrowing images emerged from Japan during the 2011 earthquake. But a tender, life-affirming scene stood out for many. It was the image of a dog standing next to his injured friend, offering a comforting paw stroke every now and then. The dog didn't leave his buddy's side without a bucket-load of gentle encouragement from rescue workers, who took the hurt canine to a clinic.

Pit bulls' reputations precede them. They're known as vicious, lethal dogs to everyone but the families they belong to, who swear they are like teddy bears when they're well-adjusted and loyal watchdogs to boot. Lefty is just such a faithful companion. One evening, armed robbers entered Lefty's home and shot at her owner. The brave dog took the bullet instead and lived to bark the tale.

Max, a rescue dog, paid it forward when he saved his elderly owner's life after a faulty wall heater caused deadly carbon monoxide to stream into their San Francisco home. Max pulled his owner out of bed to wake him up, and this thoughtful and timely action made all the difference.

In 2022, a Belgian Malinois saved her owner from a mountain lion. The two were walking, with Eva running ahead and retracing her steps to ensure Erin was following. On one such return, she found a mountain lion attacking Erin and courageously entered the fray. Sadly, she sustained fatal injuries and died a few weeks later.

That's right, there's no Bad Bunny here. Bunny, in this case, isn't a rabbit at all, or a Latin rapper, for that matter. He's a rescue pit bull who, a mere year after living with his owner, Chad, was able to perform a rescue in return. Bunny noticed Chad collapse in the bathroom after having a stroke and sped out to the driveway to call for assistance.

Guide dogs and service dogs were some of the heroes saving lives on 9/11. Right before Tower One collapsed, Roselle led her blind owner Michael to safety down the many flights of stairs and through smoke and blaring sirens. An amazing feat! Trakr, a German shepherd, is another hero: he dug through rubble to find the last survivor.

Duke, a Vizsla, is trained to find peanuts and saves his owner, who is extremely allergic, every day with his keen sense of smell that can detect the substance even in small quantities, such as in dust.