Cat Saves Boy from "Otherwise Friendly Dog"

Jessica Burtch
Fri, 08 Aug 2014 21:00:00 -0700
Lifestyle

You've probably seen the video — "My cat saved my son" — but if you haven't, watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Opm9b2WDk. And brace yourselves, dog people, because you're about to fall in love with a cat.

Earlier this summer, Tara the Tabby became a hero and Internet sensation when she thwarted a dog attack by body-slamming, swatting and chasing a Chow-Lab mix many times her petite size away from 4-year-old Jeremy Triantafilo. The little boy suffered a nasty bite on his leg that required 10 stitches — but it could have been so much worse.

Tara has been a member of the Triantafilo family for about six years — and the dog who attacked Jeremy was no stranger, either. He was the neighbor dog and, by all accounts, otherwise friendly.
Updated: Mon Aug 25, 2014

You've probably seen the video — "My cat saved my son" — but if you haven't, watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Opm9b2WDk. And brace yourselves, dog people, because you're about to fall in love with a cat.

Earlier this summer, Tara the Tabby became a hero and Internet sensation when she thwarted a dog attack by body-slamming, swatting and chasing a Chow-Lab mix many times her petite size away from 4-year-old Jeremy Triantafilo. The little boy suffered a nasty bite on his leg that required 10 stitches — but it could have been so much worse.

Tara has been a member of the Triantafilo family for about six years — and the dog who attacked Jeremy was no stranger, either. He was the neighbor dog and, by all accounts, otherwise friendly.

But in my experience, dogs aren't Lassie on Sunday and Cujo on Monday. Many "otherwise friendly" dogs are reactive to the sounds and movements of skateboards and bicycles, as well as those of children. A small child moving awkwardly on a bike or trike, as Jeremy was, can serve as a trigger for aggression that might feel "out of nowhere."

This is why dogs — no matter how friendly, no matter how well socialized, no matter how much they love people and other dogs — should always be on a leash or in a secure yard when not inside the home. It's the only way to prevent attacks like this — and it's the only way to keep your dog safe and out of trouble. The dog in this story is no longer with us.

According to Insurance Information Institute's Loretta Worters, "otherwise friendly dogs" account for more than a third of liability costs for homeowners insurance. My home state of California paid more than $64 million in dog bite claims in 2013 alone. Ouch.

Any dog is capable of biting. And for all of you readers who just thought to yourselves, "Oh, not my dog," think again. A painful spot, strange and stressful circumstances, undetected illness, medication, dehydration — any one of those factors and so many more could cause even your dog to behave out of the norm.

My dogs are all highly trained, and I've dedicated 40-plus years to recognizing and understanding the nuances of canine behavior. But if they're off of our property, they're on a leash. And that is as much an act of love for them as it is a show of respect for the world outside of my own.