Posted on 05/08/2007 12:15:41 AM PDT by DieHard the Hunter
George, the nine-year-old Jack Russell terrier who defended a group of children from being attacked from two pitbulls, will receive a posthumous medal for bravery from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The award will be the second for George, after American Jerrell Hudman said he was sending his Purple Heart medal awarded during from the Vietnam War to New Zealand to honour the bravery of the terrier.
The recognition comes after two pitbulls rushed at five children walking to a dairy in the Taranaki town of Manaia, last month.
The children, accompanied by George, were threatened by the pitbulls which were aiming for a four-year-old boy.
George started barking and charged at the pitbulls as the children ran away.
George's owner, 69-year-old Alan Gay, said the pitbulls savaged George until a passing motorist intervened and managed to separate the dogs.
George was later put down because of his injuries and the pitbulls which attacked George were destroyed.
The SPCA's annual meeting in Wellington on Sunday voted to award George the society's Medal for Bravery.
National chief executive, Robyn Kippenberger said the decision was taken unanimously by representatives of the SPCA from across New Zealand.
"George was a very brave little dog, who almost certainly prevented severe injury, if not death, to at least one of the children.
"It's truly tragic that he paid with his own life for his instinctive act of courage. Our hearts go out to George's owner, Alan Gay, and to the children involved in this dreadful incident."
The medal is normally awarded for outstanding acts of bravery by humans in defence of animals.
"But, in George's case, we are honouring an animal's outstanding act of bravery to save humans. It seems a highly appropriate thing for us to do," she said.
Mr Gay will receive George's medal from Ms Kippenberger at a ceremony at Manaia Primary School on May 18.
Mr Hudman was so moved by the Jack Russell's story of sacrifice that he was sending George his Purple Heart medal, The Taranaki Daily News reported on Saturday.
Mr Hudman,58, of Austin, Texas was a US Marine for 30 years and described George as a little warrior.
He said his wife Alice came across George's story when she was reading news on the internet.
George's picture now graces the wall in the Hudmans' computer room.
Mr Hudman said the dog-loving couple immediately decided George's memory deserved the medal, awarded to him in Vietnam in 1967 for being wounded in combat.
"I was with the Ninth Marines and we were up by Kontum and a mortar round came in and landed in a hole where myself and some other Marines were. I was one of the lucky ones who survived."
The Purple Heart is one of three he received in Vietnam and it will arrive in Manaia by post within the next few weeks.
It’s early, just took out the trash (Tuesday), fed and watered the dog and cats, having some coffee and watching ESPN. And hating all Pit Bulls. And feeling love for this brave little doggie. And hating ALL Pit Bulls.
and the brainless idiots who breed, raise, and own them.
A little girl was attacked in Indianapolis this past weekend.
252 stitches to her face.
Shoot the dog, THEN THE OWNER.
The original story about this made me bawl!
I’m convinced some angels take the form of our furry friends and surely George was one of them.
What a fiesty little guy! How traumatic for those kids!
Pit bulls-
I’ve actually seen some that were sweet, but I do believe they ALL have the genetic makeup to be mean and to get caught up in the “mob mentality.” There are just TOO MANY stories about pit bulls attacking humans!
I’m a dog lover, but that is one breed that should be eradicated.
Don't worry the pit people here on freerepublic will be along to defend their four legged psychopaths soon enough
> And hating ALL Pit Bulls.
There is *nothing* to love about the “pitbulls” we have in New Zealand: they aren’t a proper breed, they are a mungrel mix of several large breeds, with all the aggressive traits built-in — exactly what a reputable breeder would never do. There is no breed standard for these particular mutts. I feel convinced that we must be talking a different dog to the likes that, say, Kanawa owns.
The NZ “pitbulls” owned by the gangstas are the “Saturday Nite Specials” of the canine world. No reputable gun owner or dealer would advocate “Saturday Nite Specials” to be in general circulation, and similarly no reputable dog owner or breeder would advocate “pitbulls”.
The sooner these “Saturday Nite Specials” are taken off the street and exterminated, the better.
> and the brainless idiots who breed, raise, and own them.
Like these ones:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1826963/posts?page=265#265
This particular story (little 2 y/o girl killed in gang driveby shooting) has really ignited in New Zealand. Two rival gangs with nothing better to do than deal drugs and shoot at each other’s houses.
It is people like this who should never own guns or dogs. That they breed their own vicious dogs has got to be a concern: they certainly won’t be bred as cuddly pets. They will be bred to be lethal offensive weapons.
Adding insult to injury, many of them won’t even bother to license them: how many dog control officers will have the courage to enter a fortified gang compound to seize vicious unlicensed dogs?
I do not care what anyone else says in defense of these scurvy mungrel “pitbulls”, they are not dogs that ought to be kept. Nobody should be permitted to breed dogs for the sole purpose of being a dangerous offensive weapon.
UPDATE here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dailynews/4052811a6002.html
More honors for George the Jack Russell Terrier!
Did you see where the post-tornado animal rescue folks up in Kansas were having trouble with a pit bull they had saved?
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